Leaked Document

by Neil Zacharjewicz

NORTHEASTERN MANITOULIN and the ISLANDS - Someone within the organizational structure of the Town of Northeastern Manitoulin and the Islands has been leaking confidential documents to the proponents for the Quality Inn hotel/conference centre at Low Island.

This became apparent on the first day of the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) hearing examining the issue of the rezoning and redesignating of the property for the proposed project, owned by the Streetwise Development Corporation, which took place on Tuesday, June 29 at the NEMI Recreation Centre. It was during a cross-examination of the town's chief witness, planner John Kennedy, author of the Manitoulin Official Plan, that Russell Cheeseman, legal counsel for the Streetwise Development Corporation,  produced a copy of a May 21, 2004 letter from Mr. Kennedy to Northeastern Manitoulin and the Islands (NEMI) Mayor Joe Chapman.

The letter stated that, on the basis of the information provided to him by the town, Mr. Kennedy could not support the position of NEMI council before an OMB tribunal. He indicated he could find no sound planning reasons behind council's decision to deny the applications of the Streetwise Development Corporation to have its property rezoned and redesignated.

When asked by Mr. Cheeseman why he was serving as the town's witness, Mr. Kennedy explained that the letter referred to council's initial request to secure his services. At that time, he said, he was provided with a package that included letters from local residents who objected to the proposal, as well as copies of the applications. Mr. Kennedy said that, on the basis of the information he had received, he did not believe that the town had a strong case. He also noted that the letter in question was never signed, and therefore incomplete.

But Mr. Kennedy indicated he based his initial opinion on a very narrow focus: the documentation he was provided with. Later, after examining further documentation, he felt a sound land use planning case could be made against approving the rezoning and redesignation of the property.

Early the next morning, before the second day of the OMB hearing, NEMI council met for an In Camera session, after which it passed a motion stating it "formally objects to privileged documents being introduced as evidence by counsel for Streetwise Development during the course of the OMB hearing." In a recorded vote, Councillors Tom Batman, Tony Ferro, Marcel Gauthier, Bill Koehler, Sam Nardi, Jim Stringer, Jib Turner and Mayor Chapman voted in favour of the resolution. No one voted against the motion. Councillor Gary Green was absent from the meeting.

However, when Mayor Chapman appeared before the OMB tribunal to present the motion, adjudicator David Culham advised the mayor that while he would consider the motion, he would not allow the mayor to testify on political matters, as it was his assignment only to take into consideration planning evidence.

Stephen Watt, legal counsel for the Town of NEMI, confessed he was surprised to discover that Mr. Cheeseman was in possession of a confidential town document.

"Never in 15 years have I seen a confidential document from an In Camera session leaked, particularly with the intent it be used against the municipality," Mr. Watt stated. "It is not an issue of the content. It is the principal of leaking an In Camera, confidential document."

When councillors are elected, Mr. Watt said, it is important that they understand the basic rules of municipal procedure: items are brought forward, they are voted on, and whatever position receives the highest number of votes is the position council accepts. He indicated that a councillor has a legal and ethical duty to support a majority decision of their colleagues whether they personally agree with it or not.

 "For a councillor to lose a vote, attend an In Camera session and then take a confidential document from that meeting and give it to anyone, particularly someone who is working against council's position, is a breach of the public trust and a slap in the face to the voters who elected that person," stated Mr. Watt.

He added that it is his position, as a municipal lawyer, that once a member of council acts in this fashion, the whole system of government breaks down.

Mr. Watt noted that he had no problem with the content of the leaked document.

"It didn't affect our case. It's the principle of the thing," he said.

by Neil Zacharjewicz

LAKE MANITOU - Five-year-old Skyler Trimmer proved he had the heart of a hero when his father, Ed, fell out of and was run over by the family boat.

"It was kind of a silly thing to begin with," explained a recovering Mr. Trimmer.

Last Friday, at approximately 1:30 pm, Mr. Trimmer and his son, Skyler, were returning from a fishing trip on Lake Manitou, near their home on Holiday Haven Road in Assiginack Township. All morning, Mr. Trimmer explained, he had been trying to catch a mouse that had been running around in his boat. While the pair were boating on the calm waters of the Manitou, Skyler's hat blew off into the water. Mr. Trimmer indicated he swung the boat to go back for the hat. Once the hat had been recovered, he turned back onto his original route and began to accelerate.

It was at this time that Mr. Trimmer spotted the mouse, which he was able to reach with his left hand while steering the boat. He was able to stun the mouse, but in doing so, it moved just beyond his reach. So Mr. Trimmer decided to let go of the motor long enough to throw the mouse overboard. It proved a dangerous miscalculation.

While his hand was off the motor, Mr. Trimmer encountered the wake he had generated from turning around to retrieve his son's hat. The sudden buffeting of the boat knocked him forward, out over the side of the boat.

"The boat ran over top of me," Mr. Trimmer said.

When he emerged, Mr. Trimmer realized that his lifejacket had been sliced into two pieces. He had been struck by the propeller.

"I didn't realize at first that I was hurt," he said. His biggest concern was his five-year-old son, who was all alone in a boat that was driving in circles. Mr. Trimmer said he tried to yell to his son to throttle down the boat, but his son later told him he could not hear him.

Still, young Skyler knew what he had to do. He throttled down, then steered the boat over to where his father floated. Then, he assisted his father in climbing aboard. The pair succeeded in steering the vessel to shore, where Skyler went to find help.

Mr. Trimmer was transported to the Manitoulin Health Centre in Little Current, where he received numerous stitches to close slices on his shoulder and the back of his neck. He confessed to having a number of bumps on his head, as well. He spent two days recovering in hospital, and will spend the rest of the week off work. He said the main concern at this time is infection.

The Manitoulin detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) stated that had it not been for the calmness and quick-thinking of Skyler, that Mr. Trimmer could have died as a result of the mishap.

"I'm very proud of him," Mr. Trimmer said. "He was pretty scared with it all."

Mr. Trimmer explained that his family spends a lot of time in the boat, and while he had been teaching Skyler's older brothers how to drive the vessel, he had not yet taught Skyler. However, he said Skyler's experience in the boat likely contributed to his knowledge.

"They watch and they learn," Mr. Trimmer said.

He said while he was not really thrilled about sharing his story with anyone, if someone read or heard his story and was more safety conscious as a result, then it would be worthwhile.

"We always wear our lifejackets," Mr. Trimmer pointed out.

The Manitoulin OPP have submitted Skyler Trimmer's name for formal recognition with a life saving award.

by Neil Zacharjewicz

NORTHEASTERN MANITOULIN and the ISLANDS - Following two days of testimony, the fate of the proposed Quality Inn at Low Island now lies in the hands of David Culham, adjudicator for the Ontario Municipal Board.

Mr. Culham conducted the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) hearing on the hotel issue on Tuesday, June 29 and Wednesday, June 30, which was held at the NEMI Recreation Centre. He heard testimony from three parties on the matter, including representatives for the Streetwise Development Corporation, the proponents of the project; the Town of Northeastern Manitoulin and the Islands, who turned down the proponents applications for a Zoning By-Law Amendment and an Amendment of the Official Plan to allow for the construction of the proposed hotel; and Julia McCutcheon, a concerned area resident.

Stephen Watt, legal counsel for the Town of Northeastern Manitoulin and the Islands (NEMI), argued that while the proponent of the project would suggest that rezoning and redesignating the property was merely an issue of changing some letters on a map, it was actually an intensification of the original condominium and hotel project proposed by the LUSH Corporation approximately 15 years ago. At that time, the council of the day agreed to a proposal that would have seen the construction of 90 townhouses, tennis courts, a club house, and saw a piece of property on the north side of Water Street zoned C2 for the purposes of the construction of a hotel, with a minimum of 50 rooms, provided the condominium project proved successful. It did not, and eventually the lands associated with the condominium project were sold to the Streetwise Development Corporation, who continued with the condominium project. The C2 zoned property currently is owned by the municipality.

The proposal from the Streetwise Development Corporation, however, would see the hotel constructed on the south side of Water Street, Mr. Watt noted, moving it uphill, away from the water and into a residential area. It also represented a change from 90 units on an eight acre parcel for condominiums, to 90 units on a 3.4 acre parcel for the proposed hotel.

It was pointed out by Mr. Watt that while Donald McCullough, the planner hired by Streetwise Development Corporation for the Ontario Municipal Board hearing, suggested the property was a good site for a hotel, he also admitted it was a good site for residential purposes. He noted that Mr. McCullough had initially provided the adjudicator and the legal representatives with a map which he referred to as a site plan map, but later conceded was a sketch map to try and advance the proponent's application. A site plan diagram, Mr. McCullough explained, "would have to be in much greater detail." Mr. Watt argued that the proponent did not provide the municipality with any supporting documentation with regard to the request for rezoning and redesignation.

Mr. Watt indicated that John Kennedy, the town's planner and author of the Manitoulin Official Plan, had disagreed with Mr. McCullough's position with regard to the amendments.

"I don't believe it is good planning to approve these amendments," Mr. Kennedy had stated under oath. It was noted by Mr. Watt that Mr. Kennedy, who had also developed the Secondary Plan for Little Current, had expressed the intent that commercial policy land-uses be consolidated along Highway 6, reducing the impact on the residential area. Mr. Watt continued to argue that there was no evidence to suggest that the project was moving forward. He suggested there was an absence of details and no tangible development proposal for council to consider.

"I would submit that you do not have any detailed information," Mr. Watt stated to the adjudicator. Furthermore, he suggested the onus was on the proponent of the project to put forward the information if the Streetwise Development Corporation wished to see the project proceed. He cited the case of Park Edge Developments, a 1996 decision by the OMB, which involved a project in Rockwood, Ontario that was vigorously opposed by the local residents for many of the same reasons the Streetwise proposal has been opposed: traffic congestion and proximity to the park. Mr. Watt pointed out that, in the Park Edge Developments case, it was determined there was a lack of evidence on the impact on the existing community. Much like NEMI, he said, Rockwood was a small community with limited resources.

He also cited a case in Whitby, where the community spent 15 years trying to attract development.  It was determined that, if development was located in Iroquois Park, a developer might become interested. That case went to an OMB hearing, and it was determined that the private use by a commercial interest was in conflict with the public use of a park facility.

Michael Hennessy, the lawyer for Ms. McCutcheon, indicated his client supported the position taken by the town.

"This is simply, in their view, the wrong site for commercial development," Mr. Hennessy stated.

He pointed out that, before the development of the property near Low Island for condominiums, some citizens from the community had recognized the need to increase the recreational space near Low Island, and went to considerable effort to assemble the lands in that area for recreational purposes. That property was turned over to the town by the Little Current Lions Club. Subsequently, the town was approached by a person with a vision and some initiative, and following a "seduction process," everyone became enthused with the condominium project, and were convinced it would be a boon for the town. However, he noted that, in the end, the zoning was somewhat of an unhappy affair.

"While the project never flew, the zoning stayed," Mr. Hennessy said.

The process 15 years ago bears some similar parallels to the situation of today, Mr. Hennessy suggested, in that there is a request to have the property rezoned for commercial use, and residents are concerned that this zoning is inappropriate.

"There are legitimate planning concerns," he stated.

 Mr. Hennessy noted that, during the course of the hearing, Ms. McCutcheon and Debby Turner, had expressed concern about the fundamental difference in human activity as it occurs in a park and a hotel.

Ms. McCutcheon, in her appearance before the board, had indicated that the park has always been utilized in a constant, but not intensive, manner. She expressed concern that the human activity associated with a hotel would not be compatible with a public park, and pointed out  that the community would have to go past the hotel in order to access the park.

"This is THE park. It is the only big place where you can do any sort of recreation," Ms. McCutcheon said. "I feel bad about (the youth) having to run the gauntlet of this human activity."

Earlier in the hearing, it had been revealed by Chief Patrick Madahbee that the Aundeck Omni Kaning First Nation (AOK) was anxiously awaiting a resolution to the situation, as they were prepared to become one of the partners in the new facility and had been gathering funding for such a project for some time. Ms. Turner indicated she could not understand why AOK would not locate a hotel facility in their own community, as they already had some ideal property on the outskirts of the reserve. She also expressed concern that, as it exists now, two vehicles could barely pass one another along Water Street if there were pedestrians walking in the area.

Mr. Hennessy said that, during the course of the hearings, there had been no argument that the community would benefit from the development of a new hotel/conference centre, but he said there was no demonstration that the facility needed to be built on the property in question. He said that while the adjudicator had heard testimony from close to a dozen local residents expressing support for the project, many of them would be happy so long as the development occurred within the town, and not necessarily at the site in question.

"They simply don't want to lose this facility," Mr. Hennessy said.

Russell Cheeseman, legal counsel for the Streetwise Development Corporation, disputed Mr. Watt's claim that the move from 90 units on an eight acre parcel for condominiums to 90 units on a 3.4 acre parcel in the proposed hotel was an intensification of usage. He pointed out Mr. McCullough had stated that one hotel unit was not equal to one condominium unit.

He also expressed concern with the suggestion that there were other commercially zoned properties on which a hotel/conference centre could be developed. He pointed out an inventory of such property was never presented, and at no time was there ever any evidence presented of properties that were zoned, serviced and ready for development. He said the concept of other potential properties was simply a "straw man" thrown out by the town's representatives just asking to be knocked down. He said it left the impression that there was other property available.

During the course of the hearings, Mr. Cheeseman indicated, efforts were made to "scope down" the proposal, limiting what sort of development could occur on the property, something to which his client had agreed to do. However, he pointed out that, prior to the hearing, the town had never approached the Streetwise Development Corporation to ask the company to scope down the proposal.

As for any lack of proof that the proposal would proceed, Mr. Cheeseman noted that it was the sworn testimony of Chief Madahbee that his community has agreements in place, and that they would begin kicking in money once the rezoning and redesignating of the property occurred. Furthermore, he said if the town was concerned that it had not seen a proposal from the developer with regard to the hotel/conference centre prior to making its zoning decision, then they should have request more information.

Mr. Cheeseman questioned the relevance of the Park Edge Development case, noting that it was a hearing over commercial competition, a "Store Wars" case that dealt with the question of need.

"This is not that case," he said.

As for how relative the Whitby case was, Mr. Cheeseman indicated that the issue of the proximity of the hotel to  park was a case already fought in NEMI 15 years ago, when the town passed Official Plan Amendment 42, which originally allowed for a condominium/hotel project on the waterfront.

"That case has already been fought in this municipality," he said.

There is already one commercial zoned property across the street from the proposed development, Mr. Cheeseman said, and that property is owned by NEMI. The town has chosen not to develop that property, and instead use it for Open Space purposes, Mr. Cheeseman said.

Mr. Cheeseman characterized Ms. McCutcheon's concerns as those of someone fearing change, and noted her primary concerns were emotional and sociological in nature. He pointed out she had indicated she was not opposed to the development, but merely the site chosen. He also questioned Mr. Hennessy's assertion that the original rezoning 15 years ago was an unhappy affair, pointing out that if the municipality had been unhappy with the rezoning of the property for commercial uses, then council could have repealed the zoning.

"They never did it," he said. "The designation exists today."

Mr. Cheeseman asked that the adjudicator rule in his client's favour.

Mr. Culham indicated that he would do his best to come to a decision within the coming weeks, noting he is usually able to make a decision fairly quickly.

"No one was without a surprise in term of information (during the course of this hearing)," Mr. Culham said.

by Jim Moodie

LAKE HURON-Many people moaned about the wet, windy long weekend in May, particularly those who had planned to put in a dock, but those same people are surely happy now with the relatively deep water they see lapping at their docks. The record high rainfall in May caused the level of Lake Huron to shoot up 23 cm, and as of last Friday the lake was 33 cm - more than a foot - higher than it was at the same time last year, according to Chuck Southam, a water resources engineer with Environment Canada.

This is, of course, good news for recreational boaters, shoreline dwellers and the shipping industry. But is it really a sign that lake levels are stabilizing? Even with the current spike, Lake Huron remains 25 cm below its long-term average, and many fear that increasingly lower water levels will be the trend in years to come. They see the glass as half empty, not half full.

Mr. Southam says it's premature to speculate. "It's too soon to be sure if we are leaving the low water period of the past few years. What really matters is what kind of fall we'll have." He adds that level fluctuations are always unpredictable, noting that prior to May's deluge, "I would have found it hard to believe the lake would pop up 23 cm in one month."

George Purvis of Purvis Bros. fishery is pleased that the water has risen at his Burnt Island docks, but he's skeptical that this means a prompt return to normal lake levels. "It's going to take more than one wet spring," he says.

Mary Muter, chair of the Georgian Bay Association's environment committee, describes the current situation as "a slight blip on the curve," adding, "the long-term doesn't look good."

Ms. Muter and her colleagues in the GBA point to the St. Clair River as the main culprit for draining Lake Huron. A study prepared for the association by Baird and Associates, a firm of hydrological engineers, contends that deepening of the channel over the years due to dredging and scouring has increased the outflow, resulting in a permanent withdrawal of 60 billion litres.

Mr. Purvis, who brought his family's new fishing tug up through the St. Clair River last month from Lake Erie, says the banks of the river are now lined with steel pilings and topped with expensive homes, particularly on the American side. "My feeling is the water can flow a lot easier along there than if it was a natural shoreline," he says.

Environment Canada's Mr. Southam agrees that dredging projects and shoreline alterations in the St. Clair and Detroit rivers have had an impact on Lake Huron. "Some of the work has been compensated for (adding weirs or some other compensating measure to maintain flow characteristics), but we acknowledge that there have been some uncompensated projects," he says. "More work needs to be done to assess how St. Clair has affected Huron's water levels."

Measuring the impact of such man-made changes, however, is complicated, according to the water resources engineer. "The St. Clair and Detroit River is an erodable system, but whether it's eroding from dredging, which was last done in the 1960s, or naturally because of above average outflows, we don't know. There's not a simple answer, and it will take a lot more study."

There are many other factors influencing levels in Lake Huron, notes Mr. Southam. "One thing really impacting Georgian Bay is crustal movement," he indicates, explaining that "the last glacier depressed the crust, but since it retreated the crust has been rebounding."

Manitoulin, for instance, is rising at a rate of 27 cm per century relative to Lake Huron's outlet at Sarnia, says Mr. Southam. While that might seem like a barely perceptible shift, it does contribute to lake levels. The Island has risen 11 cm since 1964 - a year when record low water levels were recorded. "If we had the same lake-wide level now as we did 40 years ago, the water depth would be 11 cm shallower because the land has risen that much," points out Mr. Southam.

Another influence on lake levels is the water drawn by municipalities, some of which is not returned to the source. "If hundreds of towns are drawing water and 100 per cent of it is not going back, that's going to add up," suggests Mr. Purvis. He also points out that "there's a huge waterworks at Grand Bend that provides water to London, and that water doesn't go back into Lake Huron at all."

While Mr. Southam feels that the amount of water London takes from Lake Huron is relatively "teeny" when you look at the big picture, he agrees that this water is permanently removed. "The discharge goes into the Thames River, which goes into Lake St. Clair," he says.

For the Georgian Bay Association, this would be just one more way that St. Clair steals from Lake Huron. The main problem for the GBA, though, is the increased rate of flow through the river. The Baird study determined that between 1954 and 2001, Lake Huron was lowered by 50 cm - more than a foot-and-a-half - due to changes in the outflow.

The GBA has also been distressed to discover that, in 1917, the International Joint Commission (the quasi-judicial body that regulates the Great Lakes) ordered the construction of underwater weirs (submerged stone walls) in the St. Clair River to reduce outflow from Lake Huron, yet the weirs were never completed. Foundations were constructed, but the project was then abandoned.

"When we pointed this out to the IJC, the current commissioners were unaware of the order," says Mrs. Muter, adding, "Now they're aware."

Mrs. Muter believes the failure to follow through on the project is doubly unfortunate, because not only would the weirs have reduced the outflow, "had they built them they would have also recognized what was happening with the river. The weirs would have become covered in silt and they would have figured out that the bottom was being scoured and deepened by the current."

The GBA is currently lobbying the Canadian and US governments to provide funding for a study of water levels on the upper Great Lakes. Mrs. Muter is impatient with Environment Canada, which is still working on a study of the lower Great Lakes, and "keeps putting off" the issue of Lake Huron, pleading that "they don't have the staff or the funds right now," according to Mrs. Muter.

The US Army Corps of Engineers has "admitted that they built the foundations for the weirs, but never finished the project," says Mrs. Muter.

Canada, however, has been "vague" in its response to the GBA's concerns, she says, "because they want to preserve international relations. I think this is unconscionable - Environment Canada should have been on top of this all along. This is a finite resource we're playing around with, and it's time Canada stood up for its rights."

Eastern and Northern Georgian Bay, from an ecological point of view, are particularly vulnerable to a drop in lake, says Mrs. Muter. "Because of our steep granite shorelines, there's nowhere for species to go once wetlands dry up." Apart from hosting important aquatic life, wetlands also buffer extreme fluctuations in lake levels.

According to the report prepared for the GBA by Baird and Associates, the level of Lake Huron is projected to decline by a full metre over the next 40 years.

For those interested in learning more about such matters, the GBA will be participating in an Environment Day on July 21 at the Whitefish River First Nation. Among the topics addressed will be water levels and wetlands.

Gambling series Part II

So who plays these games anyway?

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the second installment of a three-part series on gambling in Ontario prepared for the Expositor by writer Michael Erskine. The first article examined what legal gambling venues exist and types of gambling offered in the province and on Manitoulin, as well as what happens to the proceeds of gambling. This second part of the series will examine gambling from the viewpoint of the gamblers themselves. Next week's third and final installment will examine the social impact of gambling and gambling operations on a community.

by Michael Erskine

ONTARIO---"Come on baby, papa needs a new pair of shoes," is an iconic line from countless movies, from mainstream blockbusters to the B-grade late night drive-in fare (think straight-to-video in today's vernacular), it is usually uttered by some unshaven, disheveled frantic loser running on too much caffeine and shattered nerves. But how close is that picture to the reality of gambling in Ontario today?

Not very, says Jim Cronin, especially when it comes to the most pervasive form of gambling in the province: lottery tickets.

Lottery players parallel every demographic over 18 in the province.

"No group, either by age, education or income, plays lotteries significantly more than any other," he said. "People with less incomes tend to play less, and to spend less when they do play."

Two thirds of Ontario residents play lotteries, meaning they have played a lottery in the past and they do plan to play in the future. But over a quarter of Ontario adults play at least once a week, securing lottery tickets as the most popular form of gambling against all comers.

When it comes to gender, men and women play lotteries in the same proportion as their numbers represent in the overall population of the province, and in all areas of the province the demographics of people playing hold up.

If you look closely at age however, there is a slightly significant variation, people aged 35 to 54 play slightly more than those under 35 or over 54.

Education-wise, college-educated individuals play in numbers slightly above what their population demographic would suggest, and people with a university education tend to play slightly less.

People who work full-time, outside the home are much more likely to play lotteries than part-timers, homemakers, retirees, students or the unemployed. Generally, the more you make the more you play, except for the $50,000 to $74,000 income group, which plays marginally lower than the $30,000 to $40,000 quartile. Overall, the average (mean) income of players is very marginally higher than the mean income for Ontario residents as a whole.

While those who make under $30,000 spend less when they play than those who make over $30,000, spending also drops slightly as income level increases over the $49,000 mark.

So when it comes to lottery players, the movie profile hardly holds up.

The average casino player tends to be slightly older than the average population in the province, and to have a slightly higher education than the average, but they are also overwhelmingly blue collar.

Regardless of age, gender, education or income, the slot machines are the number one favourite casino activity, with a bullet, accounting for nearly three quarters of the games played. Table games like roulette, or card games like blackjack and poker come in a very distant second and third on the list.

When it comes to gambling closer to home, bingo in its various forms, takes centre stage. After lottery tickets, it is the most popular form of gambling to be found on the Island.

First Nation bingos have long financed many social and community programs, including very significantly, the annual Little NHL pilgrimages by young Native hockey hopefuls.

While the female gender dominates the bingo hall, plenty of men can be found wielding dabbers at community centres across the Island.

In the words of one local male gambler, "I prefer poker, but it is hard to find a game around here."

Bingo is a deep-seated tradition on Manitoulin through all of its communities, and both the Central Manitoulin and Little Current Lions Clubs operate a newspaper bingo through the pages of The Manitoulin Expositor.

"It has really become a major source of funds for us," said Bingo Chair Garry Elliott. "We upped the prize faster from where we first started though, we found a lot of people didn't start playing till it got over a thousand."

Funds from the Lions Newspaper bingo support the endeavors of other service and community groups, as well as individuals in need in the community.

There has been significant controversy erupt with the creation of government sanctioned gaming, especially casinos. Service groups have documented severe drops in the revenue from their bingo events, once a casino comes into town,

"If I had the choice between playing blackjack or bingo," said one Native gambler who said he makes a bi-monthly trip to the Rama or Kewadin casinos, and once a year  a pilgrimage to the gambling Mecca of Las Vegas, Nevada, "I would go to blackjack every time."

"I like going to bingo," said a female player. "It's a chance to get out of the house."

Many players said they regard the bingo hall as a much healthier alternative for going out in an evening to the bars.

"It doesn't hurt anyone," said one young female player, who said she often goes to bingo once or twice a week. "You don't see someone coming home from bingo and beating up on their family like they were drunk."

When it comes to gambling, the real image is closer to your mother or neighbour across the street than the James Cagney movie version, or even the flamboyant image of Maverick or Kenny Rogers' 'the Gambler.'

The vast majority of gamblers are not classified as 'problem gamblers,' compulsive gamblers or addicts. In fact, although statistics are hard to pin down, estimates are between one and seven percent of gamblers are at risk of developing a problem. They are just normal, everyday folk seeking a diversion and perhaps a little chance at a better life for little risk.

For those few percentages that develop into problem gamblers, the situation can be devastating to families, friends and businesses.

Next week, the third and final installment of this series will look at the darker side of gambling, its social impact on individuals and communities, as well as the services that exist to help problem gamblers.