Energy and Mines News:

BC Mineral Exploration and Mining Sector Provides
Recommendations for Federal Budget
Representatives of BC's mineral exploration and mining sector met with the Honourable Lisa Raitt, federal Minister of Natural Resources prior to the release of the Federal Budget, to discuss the impact of the global economic and financial crisis on the industry and measures that both industry and governments can take to address the impacts. To view the recommendations see the News Release.

2008 Another Strong Year For B.C. Mineral Exploration
Mineral exploration activity in the province reached $367 million in 2008, with 98 projects spending in excess of $1 million, it was recently announced. See the News Release.

Family, Wills and Estates News:

Crime Prevention Pilot Promotes Youth Development
A community-based crime prevention pilot program focused on promoting positive youth development through inclusive and caring communities is being implemented in Williams Lake and Anahim Lake, it was recently announced. See the News Release.

Forest and Environment News:

B.C. To Increase Use of Local Wood in Public Buildings
The B.C. government will do more to expand markets and opportunities for local wood products globally and within the province in an effort to boost the forest industry it was recently announced. See the CBC News Story.

Province Stuck With Failed Mackenzie Pulp Mill: NDP
Environment Minister Penner says government is determined to track down the owners and make them pay. The B.C. government has inherited the Mackenzie pulp mill and all the liabilities that go along with it whether they want it or not, NDP forests critic Bob Simpson said recently. See the Vancouver Sun News Story.

Forestry Association Welcomes Budget; Union Angered
The Forest Products Association of Canada is pleased with the new federal budget, but the union representing 55,000 workers in the industry calls it a cruel joke. See the CBC News Story.

Canada's Forest Professionals Call For
Investments In Green Infrastructure
Canada is one of the few countries in the world with large publicly owned forests. Many of these forests are managed by private companies for timber and other forest products under standards set by provincial and territorial governments. Over the past two decades federal, provincial and territorial governments have agreed to ensure that the use of our public forests is sustainable over the long term. See the Canadian Institute of Forestry's News Release.

The Carbon Marketing Wars Have Begun
Their logos and packaging are near clones—Lay's potato chips in the United States and Walkers crisps in the United Kingdom. The story behind the similarity is that both brands are owned by PepsiCo. But a subtle difference sets them apart. Each bag of Walkers crisps carries a label stating that 75.0 grams of carbon were emitted to produce a 34.5 gram bag of chips. See the Full Story. Source: Environmental News Network.

Premier Announces Forestry Initiatives
At the 66th Annual Truck Loggers Association Convention, BC Premier Gordon Campbell announced initiatives for the forest industry. Among the initiatives listed were:

• stumpage price changes
• encouragement of the federal government to extend Employment Insurance and Work-Sharing Program
• encouragement of the federal government to provide tax exemptions for trust funds
• a Wood-First Policy
• expand six-storey wood-frame construction
• expand B.C. Wood-First Policy to a national strategy
• a Commercial Forest Reserve
• Woodworkers' Lien Act review
• increase access to fibre supply
• bioenergy tenure and pricing

Radar Guns To Monitor All
Forest Service Roads
Radar guns will now be used to monitor and enforce safety on all provincial Forest Service Roads, it was recently announced. The ministry has purchased six new radar guns, for a total to 10, giving all three forest regions an additional two radar guns each. The ministry will then work in co-operation with the RCMP to train two to three Compliance and Enforcement Officers per district, for each of the 29 forest districts, in their proper use. In conjunction with radar guns, the ministry will also place three speed boards, one per region, in different locations around the province to increase driver’s awareness of their speed. Other recent resource road safety initiatives undertaken by the Ministry of Forests and Range include: road infrastructure improvements, a pilot project to standardize radio call procedures and road signage. As well, TruckSafe has expanded its Vehicle Identification Plates Program to make it simpler and easier to report unsafe driving incidents. See the News Release.

Health News:

Private Clinics in B.C. Launch Challenge
to Provincial Medicare Legislation
A collection of private medical clinics in British Columbia launched a Constitutional legal challenge recently, attempting to have patient access restrictions at their clinics struck down. See the Canadian Press News Story.

Labour and Company News:

Premiers, PM Reach Labour Mobility Deal
Canada's first ministers finalized a labour mobility deal recently that means Canadians will be able to work in other provinces without having to recertify their skills. See the CBC News Story.

Consumer Taxation Branch
A new form, Carbon Tax Return - Miscellaneous (FIN 162) is now available. Use this form if you have sold fuel in British Columbia that you acquired without paying security or tax. Do not use this form if you have been appointed a collector or an exempt fuel retailer or to report sales of marketable natural gas and propane. See What's New.
The following bulletins have been revised:

• Bulletin SST 016, Provincial Social Service Tax (PST) and Federal Goods and Services Tax (GST), has been rewritten using plain language principles and a new format so that the information is easier to read.
• Bulletin SST 109, Prototypes, has been rewritten using plain language principles and a new format so that the information is easier to read. It has also been updated to include information on mock-ups.
• Bulletin SST 051 Aircraft has been updated to include information on how PST applies to flying schools.
• Bulletin SST 122, Automotive Services and Parts, has been updated to clarify that inspection services are not taxable when no repairs are performed. The bulletin also confirms the application of PST and the Passenger Vehicle Rental Tax (PVRT) to courtesy vehicles provided under an alternative transportation program.

Local Government News:

Vancouver gets OK to borrow to
finish Olympic Village
The City of Vancouver has been given the go-ahead to borrow the money it needs to complete the Village for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. See the CBC News Story.

Big City Mayors Request More Infrastructure Funding to
Fight Recession by Federation of Canadian Municipalities
The mayors of Canada's 22 largest cities are calling on the federal and provincial governments to join them in fighting the recession by quickly getting new funding to infrastructure projects. That was the message FCM's Big City Mayors Caucus (BCMC) delivered at their meeting in Ottawa ahead of the recent First Ministers' meeting. The mayors say that, while important, the Building Canada Fund (BCF) is too slow to deliver the stimulus needed to fight the recession and create jobs. Instead, the federal government must incorporate the highly-efficient gas tax funding model into a national stimulus package that increases and accelerates the flow of funding to local governments. This will deliver a significant and immediate economic boost to cities and communities across the country. See the Federation of Canadian Municipalities' News Release.

Motor Vehicle News:

Green Light Transportation System —
Coming Spring 2009
GLTS is an intelligent network of commercial vehicle inspection stations across the province (Highways 1 and 5) allowing commercial vehicles that have been initially checked to be given an automatic bypass at all subsequent Inspection Stations for the next 12 hours. For more details, see the Ministry website.

Consumer Taxation Branch
The following updates have been posted:

• PST reduction on fuel efficient vehicles – The eligible 2009 fuel efficient vehicles qualifying for a PST reduction has been updated to include the Ford Escape XLT (manual) FWD and the Jetta TDI Wagon (automatic and manual). See the list on the Motor Vehicle Dealer's industry webpage.
• Exempt Fuel Retailers – Two new forms, Schedule 1 - Gasoline Schedule (FIN 127) and Schedule 2 - Diesel Schedule (FIN 133) are now available for use by Exempt Fuel Retailers authorized to purchase these fuels exempt of security. See What's New.

Real Estate and Builders Lien News:

Developer Sues Condo Buyers Who
Try To Back Out Of Contracts
One Metro Vancouver developer is suing pre-sale buyers in a project for trying to back out of their deals, which could be the leading edge of a trend, according to a property law expert, as buyers grapple with a real estate market where prices are falling and gains buyers were expecting have disappeared. See the Vancouver Sun News Story.