Last week Premier Christy Clark released the six-month progress report for the BC Jobs Plan. The progress report outlines milestones to grow BC's economy since the Jobs Plan's release last September, including:

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• The establishment of the Major Investments Office;

• Investing over $500 million in skills training;

• The National Energy Board's approval of a 20 year export license for the Kitimat LNG facility; and

• $50 million in investments in road, rail and terminal infrastructure.

MLA for Burnaby Lougheed Harry Bloy has resigned from his position as Minister of State for Multiculturalism.

Mr. Bloy's resignation comes as a result of sharing information found in an email sent by The Province newspaper to the Ministry of Advanced Education relating to an examination of the Eminata Group.

Mr. Bloy has also said he will not be running in the next election, scheduled for May 2013.

NDP leader Adrian Dix was in Prince George last week, calling on the provincial government to support trades training initiatives in Northern BC.

Mr. Dix said four northern colleges have proposals to increase trades training, and he is calling on the BC government to increase funding for these initiatives to support job growth in the north.

Hon. Pat Bell, Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Innovation, says the proposed Rustad project is on his ministry's radar, as well as the Industry Training Authority's and the Ministry of Advanced Education's.

Premier Christy Clark delivered the opening remarks at the GLOBE Conference last week, North America's largest and longest-running international gathering of senior representatives from the public, private and NGO sectors involved in the business of sustainability, energy and the environment.

As part of the release of BC's Green Economy: Growing Green Jobs, the Premier highlighted BC's leadership in clean initiatives as part of the BC Jobs Plan that make the province a global leader in sustainable economic development.

The Premier said that the Jobs Plan will position BC at the forefront of the clean tech sector, to revolutionize our foundational industries while also creating exports for growing global markets.

At present, BC's clean sector includes 202 companies that provide over 8400 jobs, and generates more than $2.5 billion in revenue.

This weekly report produced for the BC Chamber of Commerce by Fleishman-Hillard.  While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information included in this publication as of the date of issue, events and government policies are subject to frequent change.  Therefore, the BC Chamber of Commerce and Fleishman-Hillard cannot assume any responsibility for actions taken solely or principally on the basis on the information contained herein.