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CRANBROOK – A joint cabinet meeting between the governments of British Columbia and Alberta has resulted in measures and funding to mitigate the impact of the mountain pine beetle and expand export gateways to Asia.
“B.C. and Alberta are two of the strongest economies in Canada and the decade ahead holds incredible potential for us to work together and build on that strength,” said B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell. “As the nation’s Pacific gateway, B.C. will play a defining role in shaping Canada’s access to the opportunities emerging in Asian markets. Those opportunities are not bound by provincial borders, and our efforts to capitalize on them should not be either. I applaud Premier Klein and his government for their ongoing willingness to work with B.C. in areas that benefit not just our two provinces but the entire nation.”
“Common sense co-operation between Alberta and British Columbia means more government efficiency, and savings for taxpayers and businesses in both provinces,” said Alberta Premier Ralph Klein. “I’m very pleased with the results of our third joint cabinet meeting. We have committed to working together to fight a pest threatening our forests, and making inroads into booming markets in Asia. We’ll co-operate to protect our northern water resources, help our athletes excel at the Olympics, and remove roadblocks to increase employment opportunities for our citizens.”
Alberta and B.C. have agreed to work together to establish new economic gateways that will allow access to vast and rapidly growing markets in China and other Asian countries. The provinces have also agreed to:
The agreements reached at the meeting in Cranbrook, B.C. include:
· A Mountain Pine Beetle Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) to address widespread damage by the mountain pine beetle in the Peace Region of B.C. A five-year renewable MOA has been signed to share a one-year cost of $1.65 million for beetle control and mitigation. British Columbia will contribute $900,000 and Alberta will contribute $742,000. It is hoped that shared action between the two provinces will lead to more effective negotiations on the mountain pine beetle at the federal level.
· A Bilateral Water Management Negotiations Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that will initiate and guide negotiation of a B.C.-Alberta bilateral water management agreement on how the provinces share and protect their common water resources.
· A 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games MOU that will assist the provinces in sharing Olympic and Paralympic training and competition facilities to develop high performance athletes and sport tourism initiatives.
Two
additional MOUs were signed in advance of the meeting:
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An MOU to
facilitate the sharing of information and best practices around labour market
programming. This will improve services and employment opportunities for
residents of each province who face barriers to employment.
Premiers
and ministers from both provinces also agreed to work together to proactively
bring forward to the federal government provincial priorities that are of
national importance such as transportation infrastructure.
The Premiers and ministers also received a progress report on activities since their last meeting in May of 2004, including:
The
premiers and ministers also discussed possible long-term solutions to the
softwood lumber dispute and further action on a comprehensive bilateral
agreement on trade, investment and labour force movement between the two
provinces.
Copies of the agreements are available on the B.C. government website at www.gov.bc.ca/igrs or on the Alberta government website at www.iir.gov.ab.ca.
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contact: |
Public Affairs Bureau Government of British Columbia 250 361-6313 |
Alberta Office of the Premier 780 415-2417 Cell: 780 237-5509 |
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Visit the Province's website at www.gov.bc.ca for online information and services. |
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