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Wow, what a week in ol' Metro!

We are just two days before the election and two days post-casino announcement. The timing of this week's casino unveiling caused this old gumshoe to do a little head-scratching, so read on . . .

During the Request for Proposals process for the destination casino project, the provincial government has been saying it would announce the winning bid in mid-May. It was widely thought that date was selected so the casino announcement would not be made in the dying days of the municipal election campaign.

So what does Finance Minister Victor Boudreau do? He drops the casino bombshell four days before the vote. Why the rush?

Sleuth suspects it may be due to some last-minute shenanigans involving supporters of the four casino bids.

As he reported last week, Sleuth received one of those brown envelopes that had plenty to say about the casino bid of CEI Investments (New Brunswick) Inc. That was followed by a tip early this week that another "brown envelope" had surfaced saying some things about the Dieppe casino bid. All this was just a few days after Downtown Moncton Inc.'s Daniel Allain wrote an opinion piece for the T&T which revealed some components of the Maritime Casino ULC proposal.

Despite the best efforts of the province and the independent overseers of the RFP to keep all details of the process secret, details were starting to leak out faster than water from a rusty gardening can.

So Victor was forced to show his hand, so to speak, prematurely. Sleuth hears, by the way, the winning bid by Sonco Gaming raised a few eyebrows in ol' Metro, where it was thought the two leading contenders were CEI Investments, which was also eyeing a Magnetic Hill location, and the downtown Maritime Casino ULC bid.

***

Speaking of downtown, Danny Allain and friends at DMI, as well as the city's new council may do well to peer down the road at Halifax.

Basking in the glow of the World Hockey Championships, Halifax is opening talking about the need to replace its 30-year-old Metro Centre with a new complex, boasting 15,000 seats.

If downtown proponents thought a casino would reinvigorate our city core, just think what a 12,000-seat Moncton Metro Centre downtown would do?

***

Turning to provincial politics, Sleuth hears that local lawyer and T&T columnist Marie Claude Blais is seriously considering a run at the Tory leadership.

Sleuth's sources in Freddy Beach spoke to Marie-Claude recently. She discreetly sidestepped the topic, but it's no secret that high-level meetings have already been held in Moncton and Kent County to gauge her support.

Blais finished a respectable second to Health Minister Mike Murphy in the 2006 election and her profile within the party has been climbing ever since. Besides, Tory insiders think with all the problems the Shawn Graham Liberals have been having this spring, there's a real chance their party could seize party in 2010.

Besides Blais, Sleuth hears the usual names such as Bruce Fitch, Claude Williams and Paul Robichaud are still undecided, while David Alward seems to be full steam ahead.

***

Sleuth hears this year's Assomption Life Run will be held in memory of Sean Collins, the son of Moncton East MLA Chris Collins and his wife Lisette.

The run, set to take place June 7 at Anna Malenfant School in Dieppe, will see proceeds go to the donor's choice of the Sean Collins Mission or the Atlantic Cancer Institute. The Sean Collins Mission was set up after Sean's death last summer as a charity to direct funds to the Tree of Hope campaign and other charities that help sick children in New Brunswick. With the success of the Sean Collins' book, Ten Needles, the Mission has already directed more than $130,000 to charities.

Sleuth hears several members of the legislative assembly will be running in Sean's memory this year, including his parents, Health Minister Mike Murphy and family, Finance Minister Victor Boudreau, Human Resources Minister Wally Stiles who has recovered from a recent heart attack, Local Government Minister Carmel Robichaud and Energy Minister Jack Keir.

A new song, penned by Moncton's own Peter Post, performed by the local band Big Whale and produced by Robin Ettles, will also be released later this month in Sean's memory. It is called "Run" and will be featured during the June relay. Sleuth heard the song this week and it rocks!

***

Sleuth hears the final phase of the $6 million renovation project at Delta Beauséjour is nearing completion, with a bold, contemporary look from lobby to the top floor.

The walls have just come down in the area where l'Auberge Restaurant used to be. In its place is a unique restaurant/bar bar called Triio. Chef Stefan Mueller and his team are busy creating a new menu for the spot, featuring delicious plates of "trio" presentations.

***

And finally . . .

Watch for Education Minister Kelly Lamrock to land in town soon -- perhaps even this week. Lamrock's purpose in Metro is to deliver a speech, but Sleuth's sources say he has booked enough time to sneak away and meet with Birchmount School parents. The Birchmount crowd has been lobbying for a safe drop-off zone at their school for years and it has only been recently that Lamrock has agreed to the meeting. Health Minister and Moncton North MLA Mike Murphy has been working this file hard, apparently. So, is Kelly is just coming to listen to the parents or is he bringing his chequebook?

* Have you heard the latest gossip? Do you know some juicy rumours? Sleuth wants to know. Send your best info to sleuth@timestranscript.com, fax it to 859-4904 or drop it off to Sleuth, c/o Times & Transcript, 939 Main St., Moncton, N.B.