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Greetings!
The Public Affairs Update is your weekly insight, perspective and analysis on politics in British Columbia and Canada. This newsletter is brought to you by the largest, and most broadly-based business organization in the province, the BC Chamber of Commerce - the Voice of Business in BC. |
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Phasing Out the Penny
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Starting today, the Federal Government will be phasing out the penny from Canada's coinage system. The move is being made due to cost of producing the penny (relative to its face value) and the significant handling costs the penny imposes on retailers, financial institutions and the economy in general.
This change will only affect cash transactions, and not apply to electronic or cheque transactions. Businesses are encouraged to begin rounding all cash transactions up or down to the nearest five cent increment. Cheques and transactions using electronic payments, such as debit, credit and payments cards, do not need to be rounded, because they can be settled electronically to the exact amount.
To learn more about this upcoming change, please visit: www.fin.gc.ca/1cent.
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Independent Consultant to Review BC Budget
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Minister of Finance Hon. Mike de Jong has announced that Dr. Tim O'Neill will review and evaluate the economic and revenue projections for the government's 2013 Budget.
Dr. O'Neill will review the work undertaken by Ministry of Finance staff as Budget 2013 is finalized, with a specific focus on the underlying methodologies, processes and material assumptions the government has used in preparing its economic and revenue forecasts. Dr. O'Neill will also have the opportunity to review and evaluate all material supporting the Province's economic and revenue forecasts for the 2012-13 through 2015-16 fiscal years.
Dr. O'Neill will provide the Minister of Finance with a written assessment of the minister's economic and revenue forecasts. He will also be available on budget day to speak about this review.
A former bank economist, Dr. O'Neill has provided economic forecast advice to the governments of Ontario, Nova Scotia and Canada.
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New Mining Regulations Announced
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Minister of Energy, Mines and Natural Gas Hon. Rich Coleman unveiled a new package of regulatory changes to be implemented over the next few months, in an effort to make mining and exploration in the province more efficient. The changes include:
- Allowing applications for a Multi-Year Area-Based permit, so industry can apply for multiple permits when working in the same exploration area;
- A new electronic application system for natural resource-related projects in the province: the first electronic application to be added to the new system will be a Notice of Work application;
- Finalizing a review of the existing mineral and coal-land reserves.
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10 Points Separating BC Liberals and BC NDP
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A new Mustel Group survey reveals that if an election were held tomorrow, 43 per cent of BC voters would support the BC NDP and 33 per cent would support the BC Liberals. BC Conservative Party and BC Green Party support rests at 11 per cent each.
The BC NDP lead by 10 points in most regions of the province except in Metro Vancouver (outside the City of Vancouver) where the gap is more narrow (42 percent BC NDP, 38 per cent BC Liberals).
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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.
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