Capital Report ~ September 21, 2007
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Premier Gordon Campbell was joined by more than a dozen B.C. celebrities to help launch Team Power Smart, a BC Hydro campaign to help build awareness of ways everyone can help make a difference by conserving energy. In the face of growing electricity consumption across B.C., the Premier is encouraging all British Columbians to help restore the province to electricity self-sufficiency by 2016. Simple steps like replacing conventional light bulbs with compact fluorescents can help reduce environmental impacts while saving families money.  September 20, 2007.

BC Hydro Drafts Team Power Smart

BC Hydro announced the draft of more than 20 prominent British Columbians to lead Team Power Smart - a province wide initiative to encourage B.C. residents to conserve electricity.

  • Team Power Smart will promote energy conservation throughout British Columbia by having each leader demonstrate tips to conserve electricity and show how simple lifestyle changes can make a difference.
  • If all the families in B.C. that usually leave their computer and monitor running 24 hours a day, turned them off when they are not in use, energy saved each year could power every arena in the NHL for 62 seasons.
  • Many electronic devices continue to use power even when you are not operating them. The amount of energy consumed by electronics in a year when they were not in use could power Whistler Blackcomb resort for 43 years.
  • Everyone in British Columbia can join Team Power Smart at www.bchydro.com/teampowersmart.

Click for more information.

Premier Commits to Build Northern Cancer Centre

A new cancer centre will be built in Prince George as part of a multifaceted strategy to ensure northern British Columbians receive the best possible cancer care, announced Premier Gordon Campbell.

  • A new cancer centre in the North will be attached to Prince George Regional Hospital and will include radiation therapy and the addition of a cancer lodge to support patients and their families with accommodations.
  • The strategy includes increased training and support for northern physicians on cancer control, including access to BC Cancer Agency resources through outreach and telehealth services.
  • Development of the strategy will cost approximately $100 million, which includes the new centre, renovations to PGRH, radiation and diagnostic equipment and expansion of the oncology services throughout the north.

Click for more information.

First-Year Med Students Doubled, Nursing Spaces Up 82%

Advanced Education Minister Murray Coell presented this year's class of 256 first-year student doctors with white lab coats to celebrate the fulfilment of government's promise to double the number of spaces for first-year medical students in British Columbia.

  • As of this year, the Province is funding 256 first-year spaces in the University of British Columbia's faculty of medicine. The program is delivered in collaboration with the University of Victoria, the University of Northern B.C., and all the province's health authorities.
  • Nursing programs have been allocated 326 new spaces, bringing the total increase since 2001 to 3,347, or 82 per cent.

Click for more information.

Saturday, September 22
Langley MLA Mary Polak will be featured on Constituency Report from 8:00-8:30am and 5:00-5:30pm on Shaw Cable 4 in the Lower Mainland.

Attorney General Wally Oppal will be a guest on the Sean Leslie Show on CKNW from 3:05-3:20pm to discuss crime prevention.

Sunday, September 23
Port Moody-Westwood MLA Iain Black will be featured on Constituency Report from 8:00-8:30am and 5:00-5:30pm on Shaw Cable 4 in the Lower Mainland.

Quotes This Week

“The B.C. Government's recent announcement that it will support tuition-free adult basic education through the Read Now program is an endorsement of its commitment to learners.”
John Boraas, Dean of the School of Access, Camosun College. Times Colonist, September 21, 2007.

"The numbers for B.C. are extraordinary. We've seen almost a tripling of the size of the [mining] industry in the last five or six years, in terms of the revenues it's generating. Employment is up. Exploration is up….Policy changes by the current government over the last five years have really helped to improve the state of the industry."
Michael McPhie, President and CEO of the Mining Association of B.C. September 20, 2007.


Did You Know?
  • The next phase of the new Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria has begun with the request for proposals to design, build, finance and maintain the new 500-bed hospital.

  • For the fourth straight year, the B.C. Government will match all donations made during the Raise-A-Reader campaign.

  • The $32 million renovation of East Kootenay Regional Hospital is complete, making more services available to local patients.
    © 2007 Government Caucus of British Columbia. All Rights Reserved.