Capital Report~March 6, 2009
Capital Report is for anyone who would like to keep up-to-date on the B.C. Government Caucus. To subscribe to Capital Report click here rather than replying to this email. To learn more about the B.C. Government Caucus click here.

Premier Gordon Campbell lights up the 45-foot tall Olympic Rings that will greet travellers at YVR. The rings were designed and built by B.C. companies using high-efficiency LED lights that use only 8.8 per cent as much energy as regular lights.

YVR Visitors to Receive Olympic Welcome

Visitors to British Columbia travelling through YVR will know they’ve arrived in a proud Olympic host province, thanks to a 14-metre tall Olympic rings logo.

  • The rings have 20,385 individual LED lights that can be programmed for complex light show displays.
  • The Olympic rings are located on Grant McConachie Way, the main road leading to and from Vancouver International Airport.

Click for more information.

Royalty Program to Encourage Infrastructure Development

The Province is encouraging infrastructure development with a request for applications to oil and gas companies operating in British Columbia to participate in the 2009 Infrastructure Royalty Credit Program.

  • The program, first offered in 2004, continues to be aimed at increasing competitiveness and stimulating activity in B.C.’s oil and gas industry by facilitating access to new and underdeveloped areas of British Columbia.
  • Since 2004, B.C.’s Infrastructure Royalty Credit Program has allocated over $316 million in infrastructure royalty credits to oil and gas companies, resulting in 72 new road-based projects and 53 new pipeline projects.

Click for more information.

Government Moves to Regulate Payday Lenders

The Province announced new regulations to help protect consumers who apply and receive short-term loans from payday lenders.

  • As of Nov. 1, 2009 payday loan companies in B.C. will need to be licensed by the Business Practices and Consumer Protection Authority (BPCPA).
  • Borrowers will have a mechanism to resolve complaints outside of the courts. Furthermore, the BPCPA will have the tools to ensure industry compliance once the rules come into effect. The regulations will be reviewed in two years.

Click for more information.

Lead Identified for Homelessness Intervention Project

The Province is officially launching the Homelessness Intervention Project, making a single government ministry responsible for co-ordinating provincial and community social housing and support services, including health and income assistance for the chronically homeless in five communities.

  • Integrated, cross-agency teams will find housing and support services for chronically homeless people through coordinating resources, data, policy and client information.
  • Initially, the outreach teams will be tasked with two basic goals: to immediately reduce homelessness in these communities and to create a more integrated, synchronized approach to the delivery of services to the homeless.

Click for more information.

Saturday March 7

Healthy Living and Sport Minister Mary Polak will be a guest on Constituency Report on Shaw Cable 4 Lower Mainland at 12:30pm and 5:30pm.

Sunday March 8

Richmond-Steveston MLA John Yap will be a guest on Constituency Report on Shaw Cable 4 Lower Mainland at 12:00pm and 5:00pm.

Attorney General Wally Oppal will be a guest on CKNW with Roy Green at 12:45pm to discuss rehabilitation vs. punishment.

Monday March 9

Attorney General Wally Oppal will be a guest on City TV’s Breakfast Show from 7:15am-7:25am to discuss gangs and guns.

Thursday March 12

Finance Minister Colin Hansen will be a guest on Shaw TV’s Voice of BC from 8:00pm-9:00pm to discuss Budget 09 and Olympics.

Quotes This Week

"The government has taken a balanced approach to the payday loan industry, ensuring consumers are protected from the minority of those companies with bad business practices charging exorbitant rates."
Stan Keyes, President of the Canadian Payday Loan Association. Vancouver Sun, March 3, 2009.

"There will be more awareness of Vancouver, of Whistler, and of B.C. as a whole. Places like Prince George will be discovered by people as a stable market, a place to do business. Take the infrastructure, name me a better city that's ever hosted the Olympics? Think in terms of all Vancouver has to offer. Think of what the province has to offer. This will blow the socks off the world, and introduce B.C. to the world."
John McKeachie, Veteran Vancouver Sports Caster. Prince George Citizen, March 4, 2009.

"Clean energy development is a rising star on our province's economic horizon. The potential for a dynamic clean energy industry in B.C. is almost limitless given our provincewide resource endowment."
Jim Gemmill, Chairman of the Board of the Independent Power Producers Association of BC. Vancouver Sun, March 6, 2009.


Did You Know?

  • B.C. is launching a second crime-fighting helicopter to build on the success of Air 1, which has contributed to nearly 1,300 arrests for everything from weapons offences to robbery to street racing since it took flight in July 2006.
    •
  • Patients visiting the emergency departments of the busiest hospitals in the Lower Mainland will benefit from shorter waits through $20 million in program funding aimed at providing financial incentives for delivering more timely care.
    •
  • Farm-based jobs, including wages paid to family members, average over $28,000 per year and agri-business jobs average $49,000 per year. The farm workforce has changed from what is often perceived as low paid seasonal work to more full time work at competitive wage rates.
    •
    © 2007 Government Caucus of British Columbia. All Rights Reserved.