News
BC jobs booming
News snippets from around Canada from May 2006
Western Canada
British Columbia
British Columbia created 13,000 new jobs in March, while the unemployment rate fell to 4.4 per cent, the lowest in 30 years. Compared to March 2005, BC recorded the fastest rate of employment growth of all provinces at 4 per cent, creating almost 85,000 new jobs. Finance Minister Carole Taylor said, "Since December 2001, BC's economy has created over 294,000 jobs, with the strongest job creation rate in Canada,"
Statistics Canada identify significant increases in jobs in retail and wholesale trade, culture and recreation, and construction.
Alberta
Smaller communities in Alberta will benefit from increased funding to develop regional municipal water and waste water systems. Many of Alberta's smaller communities have limited resources.
Under the new CDN$54-million initiative, the provincial government will cover 90 per cent of the capital costs of building regional municipal water and wastewater pipelines. Previously, the government picked up between 10 to 85 per cent of these costs, depending on the size of the municipality.
In addition to the new regional initiative, the government will also invest CDN$126 million in regular Alberta Municipal Water/Wastewater Partnership grants over the next three years.
Central Canada
Ontario
A provincial fund designed to elevate the physical fitness of Ontario's residents is getting a financial boost. Health Promotion Minister Jim Watson announced today that CDN$5-million is being invested in the Communities In Action Fund. Athletic programmes funded by the grants include everything from sailing to basketball.
Quebec: Quebec picked up medals in all three divisions of the Canadian ringette championships, for the first time in the 28-year history of the tournament. The host province claimed gold in the junior division and picked up bronze in the belle and open divisions. Over 600 athletes, representing 30 teams competed in the championships.
Territories
Yukon
The Government of Yukon has introduced Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods legislation in the Yukon Legislative Assembly. This legislation will provide the Government of Yukon with new methods to deal with certain illegal activities that create an unsafe environment in the territories communities.
This legislation is put in place when a confidential complaint is received from a member of the community concerning a property that is being used for illegal activities.
Following an investigation, the government will have a number of options to consider, ranging from the landlord working co-operatively with the investigator to stop the illegal activity to applying to the Supreme Court for a community safety order.
Nunavut
Paleontologists have found fossils of a newly-discovered species on Nunavut's Ellesmere Island that provides an insight into the evolution of fish into land animals. The creature, which lived 375 million years ago, has been dubbed 'Tiktaalik roseae'. The three well-preserved specimens each have a head that looks like a crocodile and a body like a fish, and they range in length from one metre to 2.5 metres.
A life-sized model of the fossil has been sent to the Nunavut government and the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa. The fossils will be held in Ottawa until a place is ready for them in Nunavut.
Northwest Territories
Workers at the Ekati mine that produces nearly four per cent of the world's diamonds (by weight) went on strike over a range of disputes and grievances. Union spokesman Jean-Francois Des Lauriers said about 150 workers were flown out of the remote mine to Yellowknife. The main issues in the current strike include seniority and contracting out. The union has also alleged that aboriginal employees suffer discrimination from southern managers that prevents them from advancing to better-paying jobs.
Prairies
Manitoba: The swollen Red River crested earlier than expected in Winnipeg, bringing the water to the second highest level in almost 40 years. Levels reached 6.2 metres, and so far, the flooding has collapsed two small bridges and forced the closure of several roads. Provincial officials have warned the river could rise up to four metres higher than normal summer levels this year.
The Manitoba Emergency Measures Organisation said this spring's flood won't have as much impact as a similar flood in 1996 because of CDN$150 million worth of investment that has gone into the Red River Valley.
Saskatchewan
About 1,000 people on a reserve in northern Saskatchewan went without tap water for several days in April when raw sewage from an overflowing storage tank contaminated their water treatment plant. The council were forced to move elders, pregnant women, young children and people with chronic health problems out of the village to stay with family and friends in other settlements or in hotels.
The sewage-tank problem has been fixed and workers are starting to clean the water system. Meanwhile, the water can't be used, nor can it be made safe by simply boiling it. The ban has brought in tanker trucks of water from Prince Albert.
Maritimes
Nova Scotia: Halifax has launched a new anti-littering campaign, aimed at informing the public about the costs of cleaning up the trash – about CDN$2 million a year, according to city officials. The campaign involves plans to place 962 trash cans around the city's central business district.
Prince Edward Island
The PEI Home and School Federation has voted unanimously to support a ban on mobile phones and other electronic devices in the classroom. Parents on PEI have said they're not comfortable with how quickly young people are using the latest technologies to change the way they communicate with one another.
It will be up to the province's school boards to decide how they implement the decision.
New Brunswick
The province commissioned an independent study to find out what happened when a man had to wait 18 hours for surgery after a serious car accident while hospital officials in Moncton and Bathurst argued about who should treat him.
The final report points out many flaws in the system and lists 29 recommendations for improvement. Health Minister Brad Green says he's already taking steps to improve trauma care following a report criticising the province's emergency medical system. "I have directed the patient safety and collaborative care committee in the province to take up this issue," he said. "What I've asked them to do is to bring in an outside expert in trauma care, to develop a proposed model for a province-wide trauma care system for New Brunswick and that this autumn they pass that
recommendation on to myself and the department."
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12 December 2006