Spirit Bear Becomes B.C.’s Official Mammal

Premier Gordon Campbell introduced legislation this week to make the Spirit Bear the official mammal of British Columbia.

• Earlier this year the B.C. Government joined with First Nations, industry, environmentalists and other stakeholders to announce the protection of a total of 1.8 million hectares in the Central and North Coast, including critical Spirit Bear habitat.
• The Kermode or Spirit Bear is a black bear that has white fur due to a rare genetic trait.
• Other provincial symbols include: Pacific Dogwood (floral emblem), Jade (mineral emblem), the Western Red Cedar (arboreal emblem), the Stellar's Jay (bird emblem) and the B.C. Tartan (a blue, white, green, red and gold tartan).

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Funding Will Help Protect Indigenous Languages

The B.C. Government has dedicated $1 million to the preservation of indigenous languages in British Columbia.

• This commitment is a part of building a New Relationship with First Nations.
• The funds will be used to support activities such as: language immersion programs, expansion of First Voices technology and examining the feasibility of a B.C. First Nations’ art and languages centre.
• Preserving First Nations’ languages will provide benefits in the aboriginal community including: improved literacy, increased youth graduation and achievement rates and greater self-esteem.

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B.C. Gives $2 Million for Emergency Shelter Supplies

The provincial government is providing emergency shelters across B.C. with $2 million for supplies, announced Minister Responsible for Housing Rich Coleman.

• The funding can be used to purchase items such as clothes, blankets, shoes and toiletries.
• Nearly 60 shelters in 30 communities will receive the funding.
• The Emergency Shelter Program operates with a budget of $20 million and supports approximately 870 year-round shelter beds and over 380 cold/wet weather beds.

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Government Helps Communities Bust Grow-Ops

Changes to legislation will help local authorities target and shut down marijuana grow-ops, announced Minister Responsible for Housing, Rich Coleman.

• Electricity companies will now be required to provide municipalities information about residences with unusual power consumption, a common sign of a grow-op.
• Grow-ops in homes also pose an electrical safety risk and are more likely to catch fire than a typical house.
• Marijuana grow-ops are currently estimated to be a $7-billion industry in B.C., largely controlled by organized crime.

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Province Invests $16M in New Biodiversity Lab at UBC

• Supported by this funding, the Beaty Biodiversity Research Centre is expected to open in November 2007 and will house over 30 scientists and their students in a four-storey, 12,600-square-metre centre.
• Multidisciplinary research will focus on the origin and maintenance of biodiversity and how factors such as climate change, species decline and other human disturbance affect ecosystems.
• The funding comes through the B.C. Knowledge Development Fund, which has supported 494 projects with over $342 million to date.

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