Falcon says   there is already a satellite Premier’s office in Vancouver, and he wants to see one in Prince George, the community which is the “hub” for northern resource activity. He says he would set up an office which he would frequently visit, and where visiting Cabinet Ministers would have a place to work as well. “I’m confident that we can do more for Prince George and the North to help it create more jobs and opportunities for growing the economy.”  

 

The promise of a Premier’s office in Prince George was one of 6 "new" points delivered on his Northern Prosperity agenda,  and sounded very much like the recently announced strategic plan  for Initiatives Prince George.  Four  other points were delivered in the  North East region of the province last week.

 

 “My first initiative as Premier would be to work with northern resource and tourism businesses to create a new Pacific Gateway Northern Corridor (PGNC) Strategy.  This would build on the programs and ideas that people here have been discussing – to make Prince George an international road, rail and air intermodal hub – and tourism hub.  Part of this would see not only regional agricultural and resource traffic, but international traffic and tourists as well.”

 

But when asked about specifics, for example, improvements to highway 16,   Falcon lacked details.

 

Many of the points on his 10 point plan are extensions of existing programs, or are issues already under consideration by the Ministry of Transportation, Initiatives Prince George, the Prince Rupert Port Authority, the Prince George Airport Authority or have been reccomended for inclusion in the next Provincial budget by  the Select Standing Committee on Finance.

 

Here is the plan: 

 

 

1.      Establish a Premier's Regional Office in Prince George for  the Premier and Cabinet to use as a base for interacting with people in Northern BC

2.      Make Prince George an international road, rail, tourism and air intermodal hub to better link the North to the world

3.      Expand and optimize our port and infrastructure assets at Prince Rupert, Ridley, Kitimat and Stewart,  in order to  provide Northern export and backhaul capability for our wood products, wood pellets, mineral resources and agricultural products

 

4.      Optimize Prince George as an “inland port” taking advantage of road, rail and air logistics capabilities

5.      Extend and increase our investment in the Interior and Rural Side Roads Program beyond 2013

6.      Renew the three-year Oil and Gas Road Improvement Program beyond 2011 to support private sector investment in oil and gas exploration

7.      Move forward with the Northwest Transmission Line to unlock natural resource and clean power potential such as wind, run of river and biomass (this is already in the environmental review process)

8.      Make BC public lands available for lease for the privately funded workforce housing projects needed to support resource and infrastructure development

9.      Reduce onerous ALR processes on Peace region farmland to ensure a regionally sensitive ALR

10.   Enhance  our northern skills and capacity to include engineering and address shortages in certain medical support positions through development of our northern educational institutions, geoscience research capabilities, and initiatives such as the proposed Wood Design and Innovation Centre