Former premier Bill Bennett and Kelowna Mayor Sharon Shepherd have already asked for a second crossing.
And Westside council will now ask too.
Bennett encouraged Premier Gordon Campbell to start planning for a second crossing during a speech the former premier gave on May 25 at the opening of the new bridge, named in his honour.
Now seven weeks later, Shepherd is writing Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon asking for "timelines and a process for identifying the preferred location of a second crossing over Lake Okanagan and associated road rights of way on both sides of the lake."
Wal-Mart `absolutely expects` to build a store in city
Wal-Mart Canada is finalizing a deal to bring a store to the city, its director of corporate affairs said Thursday.
"We`re working on a deal, and expect to be in a position to announce details shortly," said Kevin Groh from Wal-Mart Canada`s offices in Mississauga, Ont. "We don`t expect any obstacles. We absolutely plan to build a store in Williams Lake."
Groh would not disclose details concerning a deal, or the type or size of a potential store, or the number of jobs it would create.
"We`ll save the details until we can give them all at once," he said.
Recent data indicates 98 per cent of all businesses in British Columbia are small businesses, providing employment for more than 1 million people.
That`s 47 per cent of all employment in British Columbia generated by businesses with fewer than 50 employees or self-employed workers. From 2001-2006, the number of small businesses in British Columbia grew by 11 per cent – triple the national average of 3.6 per cent.
Approximately 57 per cent of British Columbia`s private sector jobs are with small business, the second highest rate in the country. British Columbia`s small business Gross Domestic Product (GDP) accounted for 27 per cent of the total provincial GDP, the highest of all provinces and 36 per cent of the self-employed in British Columbia were women, one of the highest rates in the country and above the national average.
Employers in the Lower Mainland expect a steady hiring pace for the third quarter of 2008, according to the latest Manpower Employment Outlook Survey.
Survey data shows that 22 per cent of employers plan to hire for the upcoming quarter, while three per cent expect to reduce their workforce, stated Susan Wright-Boucher of Manpower`s Vancouver office. Another 69 per cent of employers intend to maintain their current staffing levels, while six per cent are unsure of their staffing intentions for the upcoming quarter.
Langley water experts share knowledge with Okanagan
As wells began to go dry, it became clear that better water management was needed, explained Antigone Dixon-Warren, in describing for members of the Okanagan Water Stewardship Council how Langley embarked on a Water Management Plan under provincial legislation.
Thursday`s presentation by the Langley groundwater specialist was arranged because such a plan for managing water has been considered by the OWSC for the Okanagan Valley, where little is known about the extent and vulnerability of aquifers.
Because those aquifers supply groundwater tapped by well users and because they interact with above-ground water sources such as lakes and creeks, council members are in the process of collecting information about what`s available under the ground in this basin.
A new document that outlines the direction Saanich hopes to take in the next decade was approved this week.
Saanich council voted unanimously to adopt the 2008 Official Community Plan after a July 8 public hearing.
"We can be very proud of this," Mayor Frank Leonard said. "It`s a progressive document with social and environmental concepts I`ve never seen before. It really captures the mood of the community."
Although all of Saanich`s eight councillors voted to approve the document, some elements suggested by the public are missing from the OCP, said Coun. Judy Brownoff.
Vancouver would get 62 new SkyTrain cars or 357 new hybrid buses within four years under the federal NDP`s transit plan, leader Jack Layton said at Vancouver`s Waterfront Station yesterday.
"Working families these days, when they think about how they`re going to get around in the city with the price of gas being what it is, they`re looking for more affordable alternatives," Layton said.
The price tag for either the SkyTrain cars or the fleet of buses would be about $206 million, Layton said.
PARIS -- Canada could play a crucial role in helping alleviate the international energy crisis if it continues to expand Alberta oilsands production and considers allowing exploration off B.C.`s pristine coastline, says a senior official with the International Energy Agency.
But IEA chief economist Fatih Birol acknowledged there are major environmental considerations that weigh heavily on both options.
He also said increased Canadian production won`t alter the emergence of a "new world oil order" by itself, with consistently higher prices that could lead to economic decline, particularly in the world`s poorest countries.
Thousands of Rossland residents are up in arms over the proposed construction of a 451-hectare luxury golf course that local doctors warn could taint the water supply of the close-knit, mountain town.
City council will vote tonight on whether to approve the development application from Red Mountain Ventures (RMV) that residents have fiercely resisted since the company introduced the idea last November.
Golfer Annika Sorenstam has signed up to design the course.
A Prince George call centre is in the process of closing its doors. Synovate will cease operating in the city effective Dec. 12, company marketing manager Henrietta Sung confirmed Monday, saying 20-weeks notice has been given to 90 full-time and four part-time employees. The closure will end a nearly four-year run in the city, where Synovate has been operating out of a section of the old Crazy Willy`s building at Third and Brunswick. OSI Recovery Solutions, which shared the building with Synovate, closed in April 2007, putting 40 people out of work. http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/2008071...-operation.html
Canfor Corp. could decide as early as the end of this month whether it will rebuild the North Central Plywoods plant destroyed in a fire seven weeks ago. The company`s management team will be making a recommendation to Canfor`s board of directors during its second-quarter financial results meeting in Vancouver.
Non-residential building sector shows signs of slowing
B.C.`s non-residential construction sector slowed in the spring from early this year, but the industry is still busy with major projects underway and on the horizon.
"While we are coming off historic highs, this is the second consecutive quarter of decline and that is a concern," Philip Hochstein, president of the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association, said yesterday. "Although the market is still strong, this could be an indication that the economic sands may be shifting in B.C., particularly given the continuing decline in residential construction.
COURTENAY -- While world attention will be drawn to British Columbia in 2010 for the Winter Olympics, the eyes of Canada are already on the province due to a carbon tax that came into effect on July 1.
Whether other provinces go ahead with a similar tax and how the public perceives the federal Liberals` green shift plan -- or green shaft as critics have dubbed it -- will be affected by how things play out in Lotus Land.
Langford ponders proposal for fee-simple townhouses
In New York, they`re known as brownstones.
A small, fee-simple townhouse project proposed for Langford is being touted as another option in the search for housing affordability.
The project at 980 Firehall Creek Rd. in south Langford would feature three buildings, each containing three units, Will Pereboom, of Victoria Design, told Langford`s planning committee.
Urban residents complain about `social incivility`
Most Canadians think their neighbourhoods are safe and pleasant places to live, but one in five is concerned about "social incivility," ranging from noisy neighbours to drunkenness, drug use and homelessness, a new report from Statistics Canada finds.
A smaller proportion of the residents of Canada`s 12 largest cities (16 per cent) say "physical incivility," such as excessive litter, abandoned buildings, graffiti, vandalism and vacant lots, is a problem close to home. These "signs of crime" can make a neighbourhood look neglected and vulnerable or remind residents that crime could intrude into their lives, the study says.
Vancouver`s power failure has Vanoc rethinking backup plans
VANCOUVER -- Vancouver`s Olympic organizers and B.C. Hydro say they are reviewing plans for backup power services for the 2010 Winter Games in light of the power failure that left a large swath of the downtown -- including a critical Olympic venue -- in the dark for at least a day and a half.
Saying they can ill afford to have another blackout of the Vancouver Exhibition & Convention Centre, which will host the international broadcast centre and the main press centre, the Vancouver Organizing Committee said yesterday it will take lessons learned from a post-incident report Hydro will do on Monday`s power failure.
VANCOUVER -- Businesses in downtown Vancouver that lost power -- and customers -- will likely be powerless to recoup their losses.
B.C. Hydro, which suffered a cable fire Monday morning that cut power to about 20 per cent of Vancouver`s downtown core -- does not guarantee uninterrupted service, said senior vice-president of operations Gary Rodford.
"If people want to put claims in, we`ll look at them," Rodford told a news conference yesterday. "But our tariff says we don`t guarantee, especially for lost revenue."
Residential use of electricity or gas exempt from PST
Dear Condo Smarts: Our strata corporation recently signed up with a gas broker to secure a stable rate for our utilities. In their review of our files, they discovered that the corporation has been charged PST by Terasen and have disputed the charge on our behalf. We have filed an appeal with Terasen and received a refund for four years, which worked out to more than $9,000 in our case.
I also own a strata lot in a commercial-residential mixed building with the same problem, but Terasen has deemed us a commercial building and will not refund the PST. We are technically not a commercial building, but commercial-residential mixed.
The commercial strata lots pay GST on their strata fees, but the residential owners do not. So why do we have to pay PST on residential gas supplies?
Telus working around clock to keep phones ringing: Corp.
Telus crews are working around the clock to keep the phones ringing in powerless downtown Vancouver.
Spokesman Shawn Hall said 50 to 60 buildings in the downtown core have lost phone service since Monday or remained at risk yesterday of losing phone service.
Hall said Telus has emergency power backup systems -- on-site diesel generators or banks of batteries -- but in some cases the backup power is only able to provide service for 24 hours. "Now that we`ve passed 24 hours, some of our smaller commercial buildings have lost phone service," Hall said yesterday afternoon. "Our crews are in the field, bringing in portable generators and replacement batteries. In some cases, we`re recharging batteries off-site and bringing them in."
