Victoria, April 17, 2012 – The BC Chamber of Commerce welcomed the comprehensive Responsible Resource Development Plan released today as one that would streamline the approval process for major resource projects with a view to creating a ‘one project, one process’ framework.
“BC’s economic future will depend on the strength of our resource industries”, said John Winter, President & CEO of the BC Chamber of Commerce. “Far too many projects have had to navigate a maze of processes and departments that did nothing to improve environmental protection but did everything to chase away investment.” The changes announced today will see a reduction in federal agencies responsible for project reviews from 40 to 3, define timeframes for the review process, and most importantly will allow equivalency with provincial processes to ensure that a project goes through one process rather than two. These changes will provide potential investors with far more certainty around the approvals process than currently exists. “In BC alone there are literally billions of dollars in BC projects that are stuck in limbo, having been approved by the province but still waiting for federal approval,” continued Winter. “These projects represent both jobs and economic prosperity for communities across the province. These changes will not only see these projects move forward, but will also attract new investment to BC and Canada.”
At the Chamber’s June 13th Networking Luncheon at the Barclay, Compliance Coal’s CEO, John Tapics, will up-date us on the Raven Coal project. After his presentation he will take written questions from the membership, as we did in his last visit.
The Chamber’s 2012 Annual General Meeting takes place Wednesday, May 9th at Chances Rimrock Gaming Centre. This will include the president’s report, auditors report and the election of officers. To register, call our office at 724 6535.
The ultimate “customer service guru” in the province, Jeff Mowatt, will be bringing his exceptional customer service seminar to Port Alberni for one presentation only, Wednesday morning, May 2nd at the Barclay. To get you and your staff registered for this informative session, just click on Jeff’s webpage;
http://www.jeffmowatt.com/seminar/public.html.
Thought for the Week:
“Worry a little bit every day and in a lifetime you will lose a couple of years. If something is wrong, fix it if you can. But train yourself not to worry. Worry never fixes anything.” Mary Hemingway
FROM THE MANAGER’S DESK
SUBMITTED BY MIKE CARTER
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
ALBERNI VALLEY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE