$231 Million to Fund B.C. Highway Improvements
The Province and the Government of Canada will jointly fund up to $231 million worth of National Highway System improvements in B.C., under the Building Canada Plan.
- The first project to receive funding involves building a nine-kilometre four-lane highway west of the existing two-lane section of Highway 97 between Winfield and Oyama.
- On Nov. 6, 2007, the Government of Canada and the Province of British Columbia signed an Infrastructure Framework Agreement under Building Canada worth $2.2 billion for infrastructure initiatives from 2007 to 2014.
- Federal funding for these investments comes from the $33-billion Building Canada Plan which will support a stronger, safer and better country.
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PNWER Calls for Streamlined Trade, Travel Over Border
Getting the holders of enhanced driver’s licences across the border faster and allowing them to use their cards for North American flights are among the key recommendations to streamline cross-border travel and trade issued by the Pacific NorthWest Economic Region.
- More than 500 B.C. enhanced driver’s licences (EDL) are now in use for Canada-U.S. land and sea border crossings under the first phase of the EDL program.
- PNWER is calling on the two federal governments to ensure a convenient border crossing experience for travellers and those attending the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.
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B.C. Welcomes Ontario to Western Climate Initiative
Premier Gordon Campbell congratulated Ontario for joining the Western Climate Initiative (WCI), adding the partnership is a positive step forward in creating a strong and balanced cap-and-trade system in North America.
- Ontario’s incorporation into the WCI partnership now creates access to an even larger market that will lower compliance costs for industry to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
- In April 2007, British Columbia was the first Canadian province to join the WCI.
- The WCI is now the largest climate collaborative in North America, representing approximately 20 per cent of the U.S. economy, 73 per cent of Canada’s economy.
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