Another thought on the tourism aspect of the debate...Singapore, which is a pretty successful tourism destination, banned chewing gum many years ago in an effort to clean up the streets. (Hot weather + discarded chewing gum on street = mess) Quirky? Yes. Weird? Sure. Are their streets clean? Yes. Is tourism healthy? Yep. Singapore stands out as a clean, safe tourist destination to many visitors from all over the world.
The point is, having no cell phone service in N.D. likely wouldn't have any negative impact on the tourists that go through there (which most do...it's basically a "wide spot in the road to somewhere else." I don't think they're considered to be a "tourist DESTINATION" so I believe it's basically a "gas and go" place. (Just my opinion and no offence intended to New Denver!)
Maybe Telus should simply maintain a couple of nice pay phones there and leave it at that. Besides, if you're driving along through the mountains and just have to make a cell phone call, the range would be limited anyway...I think it's a "line of sight" issue...if your phone can't see the tower, you ain't gonna' get consistent service as you motor down the road. There are lots of mountains around there to get in the way.