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Hi all,  

With just a few days to go prior to the 2010 Olympics BC is starting to buzz! Last week I had meetings in Vancouver for a few days and as you walk around downtown it’s interesting to hear the different languages being spoken. We are going to using the games to talk about our Forest Industry, it’s practices and our ability to meet the needs of any International Customer no matter how big or small. 

Next Tuesday is the annual Speech from the Throne that lays out the direction of the Government for the coming year. This year is a critical one in terms of bringing our Province and Country out of recession. Now is time for bold action! 

Have a great week! 

Pat
http://www.patbellmla.bc.ca

1. British Columbia wood will share the spotlight with the world’s best athletes thanks to 23 stunning podiums built from timber donated by communities, First Nations, and businesses from across the Province. The podiums are built from one of 18 different wood types. The wood for each podium was harvested from a specific area or community, which makes it easy to link the specific podiums to the people and communities that provided the wood. For example, the podium that Short Track Speed Skaters and Figure Skaters will be standing on is made of Mountain Pine Beetle lumber harvested from the Prince George Community Forest and milled here in Prince George at Lakeland mills! Both McBride (Hemlock) and Fort St James (White Spruce) also donated wood for podiums.

2.    The Chief Negotiators of Yale First Nation, British Columbia and Canada have initialed the Yale Final Agreement, marking a significant step forward in bringing certainty and economic prosperity to the community. The Final Agreement contains provisions for self-government, financial and land transfers. The land component will consist of approximately 1,966 hectares of Treaty Settlement Lands, made up of 217 hectares of former Indian reserves and 1,749 hectares of Crown lands owned in fee simple.

3.  Congratulations to Ron Tindale on being appointed to the bench of the British Columbia Provincial Court. Tindale was born and raised in Prince George, where he has served as vice-president of the Prince George Bar Association. He was called to the bar in 1989 and is currently an associate with Dick Byl Law Corporation in Prince George. Tindale has experience as both as a prosecutor and defence lawyer. He was a bencher with the Law Society between 2006 and 2008.

4.  The Governments of Canada and British Columbia announced the AgriStability program will now be delivered provincially by local experts. The transfer will better tailor service to the needs of B.C. farmers and will bring 25 jobs to the province. The British Columbia Ministry of Agriculture and Lands (BCMAL) will deliver AgriStability for B.C. farmers on behalf of the federal and provincial governments, starting with the 2009 program year. The federal administration will complete the processing of B.C. files for the 2008 and prior program years.

5.    Thirty-five B.C. athletes have been named to the Canadian Olympic Team and will have the distinct honour of representing their country at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games on home soil. More than 5,500 athletes from 80 countries will compete in 86 disciplines in 15 different sports. The Canadian Olympic Team features 206 athletes including 32 returning Olympic medalists from Torino 2006 and six world champions from 2009. The XXI Olympic Winter Games take place Feb. 12-28, 2010. Northern Athletes include Megan Tandy (Biathlon) Prince George, Cody Hay (Figure Skating) Dawson Creek and Denny Morrison (Long Track Speed Skating) Fort Saint John.

6.    An independent province wide survey of acute care inpatient services indicates that 92 per cent of patients surveyed rate the overall quality of care they received at British Columbian hospitals as good to excellent. The results are consistent with the Canadian score of 93 per cent as well as the first survey of acute care in British Columbia four years ago.

7.    In the fourth quarter of 2009 the B.C. Economic Index registered a very impressive 2.6% quarterly increase. This was one of the largest quarter-to-quarter gains on record and is a good indication that the province’s economy is on the mend.

8.    The Province intends to introduce legislation to provide greater certainty to British Columbia’s mining industry by extending the BC Mining Flow-Through Share Tax Credit for another three years to 2013. In 2001, the Province introduced the Mining Flow-Through Share Tax Credit to provide a 20 per cent tax credit for grass roots mineral exploration. Flow-through shares allow exploration companies to pass eligible Canadian exploration expenses to investors. When combined with a similar federal tax credit, the flow-through tax credit helps to reduce the cost of a $1,000 investment to approximately $380.

9.    British Columbia’s economy is stabilizing and is expected to grow 2.9 per cent in 2010, partly due to the effects of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, but the outlook for later years has moderated slightly, according to updated projections by the B.C. Economic Forecast Council. As in December, the council expects B.C.’s economy to post 2.9 per cent growth in 2010. The council slightly reduced its average forecast for B.C.’s annual economic growth in 2011 to 3.1 per cent, down from the 3.2 per cent projected in December. The forecast for the 2012-14 period was lowered to 3.0 per cent from the 3.1 per cent projected in December. The Economic Forecast Council presented forecasts for B.C.’s economic growth in December 2009 as part of the Province’s annual budget process. Council members were given a deadline of Jan. 15 to submit any revisions to the original forecasts they presented in December. Eleven of the 14 council members provided revised forecasts.

10. Real disposable income per capita in B.C. grew by 23.7 per cent from 2000 to 2008. From 1990 to 1999, disposable income per capita increased by 13.5 per cent.