Capital Report~October 23, 2009
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This week was the official torch lighting ceremony in Greece. The Vancouver 2010 Torch Relay will start its 45,000-kilometre journey across Canada in Victoria on October 30th.

 

Province Confirms New BC Place Roof for 2011

A fixed-priced contract for the construction of a new, retractable roof on BC Place has been signed between the BC Pavilion Corporation (PavCo) and PCL Constructors Canada Inc.

  • As first announced in May 2008, a new retractable roof will be built after the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. The project will be completed by the summer of 2011, in time for the 2011 Grey Cup.
  • Once complete, the roof will be the largest cable-supported, fully-retractable, fabric roof in the world at more than four hectares (10 acres).
  • The design allows for the fabric roof to retract into the centre of the roof opening and be hidden inside a suspended, four-sided electronic video board, without compromising sightlines.

Click for more information.

Additional $31.61m Savings for B.C. Health System

Four new contracts to provide health authorities with cardiac, renal dialysis, and operating room supplies will save the province’s health system $31.6 million, announced Health Services Minister Kevin Falcon.

  • The four contracts will save $31.6 million over the next five years, and are in addition to the $57.5 million in savings announced earlier this year. The total, $89.1 million, represents almost 60 per cent of the projected $150 million in savings that was first identified in December 2008.
  • The savings are being achieving through the procurement processes of the Province’s B.C. Health Authority Shared Services Organization (SSO).

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October B.C. Oil and Gas Rights Sale Highest for 2009

B.C.’s economy has received a much-needed boost with the October 2009 land rights sale, which resulted in $370 million in bonus bids, the sixth-largest sale on record.

  • The Oct. 21 sale offered 62 parcels covering 66,837 hectares, and sold 58 parcels covering 65,787 hectares. The average price per hectare was $5,625, which is the second-highest in B.C. history.

Click for more information.

Sunday October 25

Maple Ridge-Mission MLA Marc Dalton will be a guest on Constituency Report on Shaw Cable 4 Lower Mainland at 8:00am and 5:00pm.

Quotes This Week

“It is now an unfortunate reality that all too often our officers are investigating serious motor vehicle incidents including fatal collisions which are caused by distracted drivers using handheld phones or other mobile devices. It is time to reverse this trend.”
Clayton Pecknold, vice president of BC Police Chiefs Association. CKNW, October 21, 2009.

“The legislation introduced today that would ban texting while driving as well as using a cell phone without a hands free set while driving looks to us like pretty good legislation. And it’s actually consistent with TELUS’ own internal policies and we make a lot of hands free sets available to our customers and actively encourage our customers to use them while driving.”
Shawn Hall, media relations manager at TELUS. CFAX, October 21, 2009.


Did You Know?

  • Gang members and organized criminals will no longer be able to hide behind body armour, as B.C. introduced Canada’s first act that sets up a licensing and criminal record check regime for the sale and purchase of body armour. The Body Armour Control Act is part of Premier Gordon Campbell’s seven-point plan to combat gang and gun violence announced in February of this year.
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  • B.C. roads will be safer following legislative changes to prevent the use of hand- held cellphones, portable electronic devices and text messaging while driving. Changes to the Motor Vehicle Act (MVA) upon legislative approval are to take effect on Jan. 1, 2010. At that point, only hands-free cellphones and devices that require one touch to activate will be permitted. Drivers in the Graduated Licensing Program (GLP) will not be permitted to use hands-free phones in addition to other prohibited activity.
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