"Battle of Hastings" resumes again · 1.02.08

The Hastings Park Conservancy, a citizens’ group fighting to prevent the expansion of gambling at Hastings Racecourse, isn’t giving up.

The neighbourhood group wants all of Hastings Park – not just the track, but all Playland and Pacific National Exhibition facilities – returned to its natural state as a public park. The PNE isn’t going anywhere (although about 10 years ago it looked to be on its last legs), so the Conservancy has trained its guns on the racetrack. It wants the British Columbia Court of Appeal to reverse a 2006 B.C. Supreme Court verdict that upheld Vancouver City Council’s approval of the installation of slot machines at Hastings Racecourse. That final approval had been given the previous year after a long political battle, but the Conservancy succeeded in delaying the installation of slots until this past November.

While the Hastings Park Conservancy’s drive to “restore” the park to its “natural state” is admirable from an environmental perspective, I suspect that there is something more going on here. Conservancy president David Bornman is also pastor at West Coast Christian Fellowship. He is also linked to the anti-gambling group Gambling Watch Global. This would indicate that the Conservancy may have been hijacked in the name of a social-conservative agenda.

The hearings wrapped up yesterday, 31 January. The decision of the Court of Appeal could take up to six months. By that time the new gaming facilities will be complete, and the 2008 Hastings racing season well-underway.

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What do you think?

  1. Big surprise, in a typical “let’s change the morality of the entire world and turn back the clock” maneuver, these opponents forget one major thing: gambling has been going on there for over one hundred years not to mention at every convenience store in the province. It is here to stay despite these efforts.

    — Dr. T. Yatcak · Feb 6, 09:38 AM · #

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