FLASHBACKS
15 years ago (Oct. 3-9, 1995)
Campbell unveils tax-cutting election platform
With rumours swirling of a fall election, Liberal Leader Gordon Campbell told delegates to the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention this week his party would slash taxes, reduce the size of government and pay down the province's spiralling deficit if elected.
Mr. Campbell repeated previous pledges to remove the school levy from property taxes and eliminate the province's corporate capital tax, and said a Liberal government would also cut personal income taxes.
His platform invited comparisons to Ontario Premier Mike Harris, whose pledge to cut personal income taxes propelled his party to a landslide election victory in June.
As well, Mr. Campbell pledged to crack down on welfare recipients, reform B.C.'s labour laws and introduce balanced budget legislation, policies that also appear in Mr. Harris's manifesto, the Common Sense Revolution.
However, Mr. Campbell rejected those comparisons, saying, "I've been talking about this since 1993, before I even heard the name Mike Harris."
The Liberal Leader told reporters the full platform would be released "once [Mike]Harcourt has the courage to call the election."
Flash forward: On May 28, 1996, the NDP, under recently installed leader Glen Clark, scored a narrow 39-33 seat election win over Mr. Campbell's Liberals.
25 years ago (Oct. 3-9, 1985)
Red-light district proposed by council
Under pressure to deal with rampant prostitution in Vancouver's Mount Pleasant neighbourhood, city council this week moved to create a red-light district in a rundown warehouse area bordered by Alberta and Ontario streets and Second and Fifth avenues.
Council voted Thursday to spend $30,000 on new street lighting in the area and an additional $6,000 on wooden barricades designed to keep prostitutes and their customers off Mount Pleasant's streets.
Plans call for the area bordered by Broadway, Yukon, Fifth and Quebec to be designated "local traffic only" between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. daily.
Mayor Mike Harcourt, who has been urging sex-trade workers to relocate, called the efforts part of a "peace pact" between prostitutes and frustrated Mount Pleasant residents.
However, Marie Arrington, of the Alliance for the Safety of Prostitutes, said the warehouse area is deserted and unsafe at night, adding that "better lighting won't solve the problem."
Mr. Harcourt denied trying to create a red-light district and criticized the media for "sensationalizing the issue."
Flash forward: The red-light experiment didn't last long. And in 2000, residents of the Fraser Street and East 25th Avenue part of town blamed an increase in prostitutes and drug dealers on ongoing crackdowns in nearby Mount Pleasant.
Special to The Globe and Mail