Inside
Kitimat Realty
www.kitimatrealty.com
◆ NEWS Response plan inadequate, P. 2 ◆ NEWS Rod and Gun Club get grant, P. 5
◆ SPORTS All Native history, P. 23 ◆ CLASSIFIEDS, P. 14-20
Melody O’Brien
Free
3-528 Mountainview Sq. 250-632-7000 office 250-632-1594 cell mobrien@ kitimatrealty.com
I’m bacK!
FRIDAY, February 15, 2013
After a brief absence from RE/MAX Kitimat Realty, I am very proud to have rejoined the team here in Kitimat. I look forward to serving both past and future clients as I return to a role I have a great passion for!
Volume 7 Issue 32
TMC 20,700
Family day in Terrace …
We need yOur liStingS!!!
Call MelOdy!
250-632-1594
GLORIOUS INTERNET PLANS
STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER / THE NORTHERN CONNECTOR
10
TERRACE - Sherry Zuchotzki demonstrated her pottery skills Feb. 11 at a Family Day arts event sponsored by the Terrace and District Arts Council and held at the banquet room of the sportsplex.
15
Liberals focus on gas revenue potential
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By Tom Fletcher
only from
THE NORTHERN CONNECTOR
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VICTORIA – Premier Christy Clark kicked off the pre-election legislature session Feb. 12 with a pledge to establish a new fund from natural gas exports to support social programs and pay down debt. The main purpose of the “British Columbia Prosperity Fund” will be to pay down debt, starting in 2017 when the first liquefied natural gas facilities begins to ship LNG for export from the northern coast to Asian markets. It will be funded by a new tax on LNG exports, as well as corporate taxes and natural gas revenues.
The new fund is patterned after Alberta’s Heritage Fund, set up decades ago as a legacy for Alberta’s oil and gas revenues. The B.C. fund would receive an estimated $100 billion from LNG revenues over 30 years, based on an assumption of five LNG production facilities exporting gas from the Kitimat-Prince Rupert region. The plan was presented in the throne speech delivered Tuesday by Lieutenant Governor Judith Guichon, to open a four-week legislature session leading up to the May 14 provincial election. The key task for the B.C. Liberal government in that session is to pass legislation returning the provincial sales tax to B.C. effective
Take an Elan Travel Winter Survival Package and fly free, YES FREE. FROM TERRACE OR PR. RUPERT TO VANCOUVER when you book a 7 day Air Canada Vacations holiday to Puerto Vallarta or Cabo It’s Going to be a loooong winter!
NorthernConnector_Feb8 and 15.indd 1
April 1, and the speech hinted at relieving that tax as one use for the new fund. “Whether it is eliminating the provincial sales tax, or making long-term investments in areas like education or vital infrastructure that strengthen communities – these are the kinds of opportunities the B.C. Prosperity Fund can provide,” the speech says. The government estimates that if B.C.’s LNG mega-project develops as expected, and all of the fund’s revenues are directed to debt reduction, B.C.’s $56 billion debt could be paid off within a decade. The province currently pays about $2.5 billion a year in interest on the debt. There has been a rush of in-
ternational investment interest in northeastern B.C.’s shale gas deposits. Companies include Mitsubishi Corp., Shell Canada, China National Petroleum Corporation and Petronas, a transnational gas player owned by the government of Malaysia. The speech from the throne also promised the following: * A new, integrated organization that will partner with Canada, the business community and educational institutions to make Vancouver the hub for Asian and South Asian corporate offices and investment activity. * Improvements for patients in rural and urban areas as well as improvements to primary health care.
2/4/2013 3:44:51 PM
travel Prince Rupert 250-627-1266 Kitimat 250-632-2135 Terrace 250-635-2281