David Black, community newspaper industrialist, has proposed building a $14-billion refinery near Kitimat. This refinery would use the crude oil from Enbridge's Northern Gateway pipeline. The benefits of this proposed refinery would include:

• Decreased environmental risks, as the shipping of heavy oil would be replaced by fuels like gasoline, diesel, and kerosene, which evaporate; and,
• Growth in employment, as a refinery promises a 10 fold increase in jobs when compared to an export pipeline-the refinery is estimated to create 3,000 jobs (half directly in the refinery, half in contract jobs) compared with the estimated 350 permanent and contract jobs of the Northern Gateway pipeline.

Black's new company, Kitimat Clean Ltd., will submit an environmental application to spearhead the project. Black has stated that he hopes this proposal will reduce opposition from British Columbians and First Nations, as the refinery would provide increased economic benefits for BC.

The refinery is conditional on the Northern Gateway pipeline garnering approval. At this point, the province has been briefed on the proposal, however, has yet to indicate a position on it.

Jobs, Tourism and Innovation Minister Hon. Pat Bell named the BC Pavilion Corporation (PavCo) board members last week. He appointed five new members and reappointed six existing members.

The PavCo board is responsible for strategic marketing and business development initiatives for both the Vancouver Convention Centre and BC Place.

The new PavCo members include: Suzanne Anton, Michael Ballingall, Alan Lowe, Stuart McLaughlin and Don Zurowski. Reappointed board members include: Theresa Breining, Bob Bryant, John Horning, Miriam Kresivo, Terrence Lyons and David Podmore, who will act as Board Chair.

Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Hon. Blair Lekstrom has released the report of the BC Transit Independent Review.

The panel compiled information from 25 meetings and 30 written submissions from local governments. The report lists 18 recommendations, all of which are available in the final report.

Finance Minister Hon. Kevin Falcon has also released the governments review of ICBC. Overall, the review found that ICBC has performed well at managing its investments and keeping premium increases low throughout the last 10 years. The review makes 24 recommendations, including ways to help the corporation better align with the government's priorities for cost containment.

Management overhead and compensation are changing to become consistent with specific directions given by government. ICBC will be reducing the number of management positions by more than 12 per cent. Over the next two years, ICBC will also eliminate between 165-195 positions.

ICBC CEO John Schubert simultaneously announced that he will step down this November.

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.