Capital Report~March 9, 2007
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Health Minister George Abbott introduces amendments to the Tobacco Sales Act in the B.C. Legislature.  March 6, 2007.

Province Takes Major Steps to Reduce Tobacco Use

The Tobacco Sales Act will be amended to limit the promotion and sale of tobacco products and ban smoking in all indoor public places, including schools and on school grounds, announced Health Minister George Abbott.

  • Tobacco use kills over 6,000 British Columbians each year, and costs the B.C. economy $2.3 billion every year. Cigarette smoking is the primary risk factor for diseases of the circulatory system, cancers and respiratory diseases. Passive smoke kills up to 140 people in B.C. each year.
  • The new amendments will ban tobacco use in schools and on school grounds by September 2007. They will also ban smoking in public doorways, near public doors, windows and air intake, and will ban tobacco sales in public hospital and health facilities, public universities and colleges, public athletic and recreational facilities, and provincial buildings.
  • The amendments will also allow for regulations to ban the display of tobacco products in all places where tobacco is sold that are accessible to youth under 19, including products like lighters and caps with tobacco brands on them.

Click for more information.

TransLink Reorganization to Increase Efficiency for Lower Mainland Transit Users

A number of structural changes will be made to TransLink, the Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority, to help restore public confidence in the body, announced Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon.

  • A new governance structure will be created, including a Council of Mayors to provide high-level direction and a Board of Professionals to oversee the implementation of projects and plans.
  • An independent TransLink Commissioner will have the authority to control transit fares.
  • A balanced approach will be used to fund TransLink projects through road users, transit riders, and property tax payers.  The parking site tax will be eliminated.

Click for more information.

New Legislation Introduced this Week

Legislation introduced this week strengthens the Coroners Act, improves public accountability and increases securities transfer safety.

  • Amendments to modernize the Coroners Act establishes and clarifies in law the role of the Child Death Review Unit, lays out how information is shared with other agencies and with the public to prevent future deaths and ensures every child death in B.C. is reviewed. The act also contains provisions aimed at safeguarding personal information.
  • The Child and Youth Statutes (Representation Improvement) Amendment Act 2007 strengthens the provincial child welfare system by increasing accountability and enabling proactive public reporting.
  • The new Securities Transfer Act will provide a modern legal foundation for securities transfer practices and keep British Columbia aligned with other jurisdictions across North America.

Click for more information.

Saturday, March 10
Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources Minister Richard Neufeld appears on Fairchild Radio from 11:30-12:00pm.

Thursday, March 15
Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources Minister Richard Neufeld joins Joe Easingwood on CFAX from 9:30-10:00am.

Thursday, March 15
Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon joins Vaughn Palmer on Shaw TV – Voice of BC from 8:00-9:00pm.

Thursday, March 29
Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources Minister Richard Neufeld joins Vaughn Palmer on Shaw TV – Voice of BC from 8:00-9:00pm.

Quotes This Week

"And it brings us to nine years of steady growth in capital spending which is quite remarkable.  If that's not the longest run in the province's history, it's certainly one of the longest. Probably next year it will be up again, given all the Olympics activity, so we'll have a decade of expansion of business investment."
Ken Peacock, Economic Research Director of the Business Council of British Columbia.  Vancouver Sun, March 7, 2007.

"[B.C. is] now up to 17 per cent (of national mineral exploration spending).  We've seen a tripling of our on-the-ground activity. The numbers speak volumes about what's happening."
Dan Jepsen, Executive Director for B.C.'s Association for Mineral Exploration.  The Kamloops Daily News, March 7, 2007.

 


Did You Know?
  • The unemployment rate in B.C. is a record-low 4.0 per cent.

  • B.C. gained 83,900 full-time jobs over the past year.

  • The 2006 female unemployment rate was 4.9% - the lowest annual rate on record.

  • The unemployment rate is in single digits in every region of the province for the twenty-second straight month.

  • Compared to December of 2001, the unemployment rate is lower in every development region of BC.

  • Auto theft in B.C. dropped by 19 per cent in 2006 from the previous year and break-ins were down 13 per
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