Cariboo Politics
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Hi all,
Another beautiful weather week in Prince George and Mackenzie with a temperature of +10’ as I type this. What happened to winter is anyone’s guess and I sure hope we don’t pay for this in the summer.
This past week was the budget and while many called it boring and predictable there were some interesting pieces in it. While there was not extensive new funding the funding provided to the Ministry of Education and then on the School Districts should be helpful to SD57. There are a number of assumptions made by the School Board as a “worst case scenario” that did not play out. The Annual Facilities grant was $600,000 better than they had predicted and should be back to the historical level of about $3.2 million, Teacher wage and benefit increases are fully funded as is all day Kindergarten. All in all it will allow the School Board to make their decisions based on the needs of the students that they serve.
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Cathy McLeod, Member of Parliament for Kamloops – Thompson – Cariboo addressed the House of Commons today regarding the second year of Canada’s Economic Action Plan and in support of the Budget tabled on March 4th, 2010.
The following are excerpts of Mrs. McLeod’s speech:
“We are at a key moment in history as we emerge from the global recession where we must maintain our commitment to the nation’s economic recovery. We cannot stray from our course and risk the gains we have made. The focus of this year’s budget on jobs and growth will clearly help to address the needs of my riding,” stated McLeod.
Federal Budget needs to put seniors and working families first
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With the House of Commons finally returning on March 3, New Democrat candidate Michael Crawford is calling on MP Cathy McLeod to support NDP proposals to lift seniors out of poverty and help families through tough times.
“Rather than giving massive tax giveaways to already profitable corporations Harper should set different priorities” said Crawford. “The NDP has concrete proposals to improve pensions for seniors and speed up the economic recovery so Canadians can get back to work.”
A message from Pat Bell - February 27, 2010
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Hi all,
What an exciting week this past week with the entire country if not the world focusing on British Columbia and everything we have to offer. This past week I hosted the top 8 Asian customers for BC’s forest products at the Monday Women’s hockey game and the event paid off. One of the companies is looking seriously at a major investment in a BC based forest company and it looks like the deal is very close to completion.
A message from Pat Bell - February 23, 2010
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Hi all,
Last week was spent touring forestry operations, mills and Forest Service Office in the Kootenays. It was a very buy week starting out with delayed flights out of Prince George due to fog and a decision that if I was going to get to Kamloops I had better drive. From there it was on to Revelstoke, Golden, Invermere, Canal Flats, Cranbrook, Creston, Salmo, Thrums, Castlegar, Fruitvale, Rossland, Grand Forks and then back to Kamloops. This is a very interesting part of the forest industry that represents high value manufacturing with only 3 of the mills I visited (out of 10) being dimensional lumber. Great trip and learned lots.
