Free Olympic tickets for Kelowna’s Mayor?

By Adrian Nieoczym Kelowna.com Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010 | 3:30 pm

There is no definitive word yet on whether Kelowna Mayor Sharon Shepherd will be taking free Olympic tickets from the B.C. Lottery Corporation. But at this point, it appears unlikely. BCLC –the crown corporation responsible for lotteries, casinos and other gaming in B.C.– has offered free Olympic tickets to senior politicians from 20 municipalities where casinos or other gaming facilities are located. The Mayor of Chilliwack, Sharon Gaetz, recently made headlines for turning down the offer, saying it would be both immoral and against the law. The B.C. Community Charter forbids municipal politicians from accepting gifts unless they are “incidental” to their official obligations. The Mayor of Kamloops meanwhile, Peter Milobar, has said he sees no problem with taking the tickets.

Kelowna is home to a casino, whose proceeds help fund the local RCMP, so Kelowna.com phoned the Mayor’s office to see if Shepherd is among those who have been offered the freebies and if she will be taking them. However, Shepherd is away on holiday and cannot be reached for comment. City manager Ron Mattiussi said that while he can’t be certain, he’s pretty sure she is not taking any tickets. “My guess is… I don’t think she was invited or if she was she turned them down because I’m not aware that she’s actually going to any Olympic events.” He added that normally, when Shepherd receives an official invitation, she informs the other councillors about it at an open council meeting, which hasn’t happened. As well, Shepherd and Mattiussi have chatted about the Olympics several times and Mattiussi figures if she was planning on attending any events, she would have mentioned it. “At this point I can’t confirm it but usually something like that I’d know and I’ve never heard about it,” he said.

Coun. Luke Stack is acting Mayor in Shepherd’s absence. He too doubts Shepherd will be going to the Olympics. “From my understanding we have not had the offer made in Kelowna,” he said. “To the best of my knowledge it’s never come to our attention and it’s never crossed our minds that we would ever get any tickets.” From Stack’s perspective, even if an offer of free Olympic tickets were made, it would be wrong to take them. “Speaking on my behalf I would take the same position as the Mayor of Chilliwack, that we wouldn’t accept any free tickets. I think the [law] is quite clear, we shouldn’t be accepting any gifts,” he said. Over in West Kelowna, Mayor Doug Findlater said he has not been offered Olympic tickets by BCLC or anyone else. “I haven’t been offered tickets, wouldn’t taken them, wouldn’t go,” he said, adding he didn’t like the idea of Olympic tickets being given away as gifts. “They should be put on the market and be sold to help pay for the Olympics.”

BCLC responded by e-mail to questions about who was offered the free tickets, whether any of the invitees are from Kelowna, why the tickets are being offered and who is paying for them. The e-mail said:

• BCLC’s stakeholder relations program is an ongoing program that works to strengthen relationships with local governments where gaming facilities are hosted.

• BCLC is an Official Supporter of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games and as part of this agreement, has access to event tickets. We have elected to integrate Olympic activities into our Stakeholder relations plans.

• We’ve issued 20 invitations to senior public representatives for various events including hockey, figure skating, speed skating, skiing, and opening and closing ceremonies.

• These invitations were sent to senior public representatives in some of the communities where BCLC operates gaming facilities. BCLC will confirm participants in the stakeholder relations program following the events due to the potential for ongoing scheduling changes