B.C.'s Mining Industry Needs One-Stop Shop
To Get Projects Going
According to a recent Vancouver Sun article, the mining industry in British Columbia is no stranger to cyclical downturns, political uncertainty and bureaucratic red tape; it faced them in abundance through the last half of 2008 and the first quarters of this year. However, the past few weeks have given it hope for better days ahead. See the full News Story.

BC Budget Realistic and Appropriate for the
Times Says Association for Mineral Exploration BC
AME BC appreciates the financial challenges governments around the world are facing. "We believe the provincial government and this budget are on the right track—these times call for tough and realistic measures. With members in the commodity sector we know, perhaps more than most, how volatile the economy has been this past year. No one could have predicted some of the price changes in commodities we have seen in the past twelve months,” said Gavin C. Dirom, President & CEO, Association for Mineral Exploration British Columbia (AME BC). See the full article posted on AME BC website.

Act Introduced to Expand Wood
Use in Public Buildings
The Wood First Act, Bill 9 was recently introduced. It aims to increase demand for wood products by requiring provincially-funded building projects to use wood as the primary construction material. See the News Release.

Pine Beetle Running Out Of Food,
Mills Out of Wood
The mountain pine beetle epidemic is over, but it's not because the beetles have been defeated. Rather, they have run out of trees, and that heralds a whole new set of problems, B.C.'s forests minister Pat Bell told the Vancouver Board of Trade recently. Forest companies that are running out of wood are eyeing healthy stands — including old-growth forest — in protected areas, while Bell is warning that eight to 12 sawmills could close permanently if other sources of timber are not found. See the News story as reported by the Vancouver Sun.

Tribunal Rules Against Canada
in U.S. Lumber Spat
An international trade tribunal has ruled in favour of the United States in a dispute with Canada over a 2007 breach of the softwood lumber deal between the two nations, the U.S. Trade Representative said recently. The tribunal said Canada failed to rectify its breach of the agreement by appealing to only pay a $36.7 million fine. See the News story as reported in the Financial Post. Following the ruling, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said the Canadian government will pay it. See the News story as reported by Global News.

Can you be comfortable in
a green building?
Building performance and its evaluation have earned increased attention in recent years, particularly relating to green buildings. Much of the emphasis has been on optimizing energy and resource efficiency. Despite the recent media buzz around the actual performance of LEED-certified buildings, surprisingly little attention is being paid to the human resource within buildings. See the full article as reported by Globe-Net and posted on EnvironmentalExpert.com.