1) Op-Ed in Sunday's Province regarding Site 'C' proposal
Yesterday, BC Energy Minister Rich Coleman promoted moving forward on Site 'C'. See that op-ed here. As this proposal moves into the formal provincial environmental assessment stage, it'll be interesting to see how "hot" the public debate becomes over Site 'C' and its' proposed environmental risks and if Victoria is prepared to take that public heat in order to see Site 'C' become a reality
2) BC Transit and City of WL Transit Buses
As some may have observed of late - the City has received two "newer" transit buses from Kamloops however those buses are displaying a "Special" sign and as such - the general public is not able to tell which route (Community, South Lakeside or Broadway) the bus is serving. After raising this matter with the Laker Go-Bus Society, who runs the day to day operation of our local transit system, I've received this response:
Hi Steve, we are waiting for the programmers at BCT (BC Transit) to do their thing and then send the codes for the signs.
Question - Why didn't BC Transit ensure that the programming for the bus signs could be done when the buses arrived in Williams Lake and not after when the buses are in service? Just asking...
3) Provincial Public Accounts for the Fiscal Year Ending March 31st, 2011
Today, Finance Minister Kevin Falcon released the provincial Public Accounts for the fiscal year ending March 31st, 2011. See Victoria's announcement here. Pertinent details include ending the 2010-2011 Fiscal Year with a $309 million deficit, increased provincial debt of $3.3 billion with total provincial debt standing at $45 billion. However, provincial economic growth was higher (4.0% in BC) than the country average of 3.3% and the province held its' credit rating with the two leading credit rating agencies. BC has a Triple-A credit rating with Moody's and AA+ with Standard and Poors'. BC2013.com has a blog post on this item as well here
4) Next Provincial Election Analysis
Over at BC2013.com - Sacha Peter has an interesting take on the next provincial election which includes a prediction that if the BC NDP run a candidate against sitting Independent Cariboo-North MLA Bob Simpson, then the BC Liberals could win the seat. See more details here
5) Update on Local Government Election Bylaw Process
On Saturday - I raised a concern around WL Council not being in a position to pass a general local election bylaw by the August 8th deadline (as per Section 39(1) of the Local Government Act). However, earlier today - Ministry of Community Services staff clarified for me that the August 8th deadline applies to only those local governments who intend on amending an existing local election bylaw or passing a new local election bylaw. If no changes are contemplated - then the local government is not required to do anything. However - I'd still like to see WL Council pass a resolution similar to this to ensure the public is aware that there is a local election bylaw in place to look after the mechanics of the 2011 General Civic Election
That Council confirm its' intention to use Bylaw #2072, 2008 in respect of the 2011 Civic General Election in the City of Williams Lake
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