Clark promises more mines in ambitious jobs plan
The Canadian Press
Posted: Sep 22, 2011 4:26 PM PT
Last Updated: Sep 22, 2011 7:35 PM PT
B.C. Premier Christy Clark speaks at a press conference Tuesday in Kamloops, B.C. (Keith Anderson/Canadian Press/Kamloops Daily News)
Related
Related Links
External Links
(Note:CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external links.)
Premier Christy Clark has laid out an ambitious plan that pledges to put the province in first or second place in the country for job creation and economic development by 2015.
Clark has been releasing pieces of her plan all week, but Thursday, she laid out the full agenda in a major policy speech in front of the Vancouver Board of Trade and on a splashy new B.C. Jobs Plan website.
Amongst the new promises was a commitment to eight new mines and the expansion of another nine mines currently operating in British Columbia by 2015.
Clark also said her plan includes opening a Major Investments Office whose central focus is helping investors open doors to emerging markets in Asia.
Clark said the office will work with investors to ensure business and government work together to promote and develop opportunities.
During the past week, Clark's jobs tour took her to Prince Rupert to support port expansion, to Kitimat where she touted liquefied natural gas exports and to Kamloops, where she said her government will increase by 50 per cent the numbers of international students studying in British Columbia in the next four years.
In Surrey, Clark added $3 million to a small business venture capital program and extended by three years a $31-million apprenticeship program. She also appointed Finance Minister Kevin Falcon to head a panel reviewing the B.C. tax system.
Clark is also planning a B.C. trade mission to China and India in November.
"We are facing a generational opportunity," she told the Vancouver Board of Trade. "We have a chance to lead Canada into the next century."
B.C. Federation of Labour President Jim Sinclair was unimpressed, saying the plan does nothing to create jobs now.
Earlier on Thursday Vancouver-based Teck Resources Ltd. confirmed it is aiming to expand its coal production in British Columbia by almost 20 per cent.
Teck runs five mines in the province and has expansion plans for most of them. It may also re-open its Quintette coal mine in northern B.C. Company spokesperson Marcia Smith said it will begin recruiting 250 new workers immediately.
Share Tools
Latest British Columbia News Headlines
- Ryder Hesjedal wins prestigious Giro d'Italia
- Victoria native Ryder Hesjedal has become the first Canadian to win one of the cycling world's three Grand Tour events, wrapping up the 2012 Giro d'Italia with an excellent performance in the final stage in Milan. more »
- Surrey RCMP seek hit-run driver
- Police are looking for a light-coloured Chrysler with damage to the driver's front side after a pedestrian was hit in Surrey, B.C., early Sunday morning. more »
- B.C. man who scaled Everest returns home
- A Vancouver man who climbed the world's highest mountain is back home and talking about the adventure. more »
- Fort Langley restaurant damaged in fire
- A sushi restaurant in Fort Langley, B.C., was damaged in a fire early Sunday morning. more »
Top News Headlines
- Canadian Pacific strikers face back-to-work legislation
- Labour Minister Lisa Raitt is prepared to end the Canadian Pacific Railway strike if necessary, after both CP and the union rejected a proposal for voluntary arbitration by the government-appointed negotiator on Sunday. Raitt says she is "extremely disappointed." more »
- Syrian regime denies role in Houla massacre
- The UN Security Council condemned the Syrian regime at an emergency meeting Sunday, holding president Bashar al-Assad's military responsible for the massacre of more than 100 people, dozens of whom were children younger than 10 years old. more »
- Ryder Hesjedal wins prestigious Giro d'Italia
- Victoria native Ryder Hesjedal has become the first Canadian to win one of the cycling world's three Grand Tour events, wrapping up the 2012 Giro d'Italia with an excellent performance in the final stage in Milan. more »
- Neighbour may have helped find missing kids in Mexico
- Two Winnipeg children who had been missing for nearly four years were found in Mexico after a man raised concerns about his neighbour, according to a private investigator. more »
- B.C. NDP calls for unity in fighting coast guard closure
- Surrey RCMP seek hit-run driver
- B.C. man who scaled Everest returns home
- Fort Langley restaurant damaged in fire
- Passengers' families sue for fatal B.C. plane crash
- B.C. Coast Guard Auxiliary gets new name
- Tsunami motorcycle heading to Harley museum
- Psych ward escapes worry neighbours
- Gang forum honours Surrey 6 victim

