Excellent news for the 250 area. I, like many others who have lost family to cancer should rejoice. I feel my father's battle with cancer may have been more successful, had he access to better doctors and had he not had to wait so long for access to treatment due to lack of beds. Hope the fishing is good up there Dad.

I completely agree with "pisspulper".
I have seen it firsthand.
I also lost my old Dad to cancer recently, and I also have a 13 year old grandaughter who has been fighting cancer for 3 years.
Her life has been hell, and mainly because of the lack of facilities here in the north.
Dragging her back and forth to Vancouver is a very sad thing indeed and should NOT be happening!
Unfortunately,there is not a lot of help for kids or anyone else,anywhere out of the lower mainland other than Kelowna, but that is no advantages to us in this part of the world.
This has NOT helped my dislike for the Liberal government at all!
We need this clinic as fast as possible!
I just worry that after 2010,we may find out that all was not as advertised.
I am wary of anything promised 5 years down the road by Campbell, if we are in fact getting scammed on the actual costs of the Olympics!
Why not next year??
Would it be because all the available dollars are getting funneled to the Olympics over the next couple of years?
There will also be an election in 2009 that the Liberals want to win above all costs in order to recieve the Olympic glory, so look to see some BIG handouts!
We also need to keep the pressure on so they don't forget about it!
Let's get this done!!!

"This has NOT helped my dislike for the Liberal government at all!"

You must dislike the NDP even more, because during the election campaign (when they were first elected) we were promised by the NDP a cancer clinic for Prince George.

Solemn promise.

It went instead to Kelowna, then nothing was done for the whole next decade that followed.

"I am wary of anything promised 5 years down the road by Campbell..."

The completion date is 2012, NOT the starting date.

Good thing you are keeping an eye on the politicians, though! Perhaps that should include all of them???

"Why not next year??"

Under the best of conditions, it takes a year to plan a building, in this case likely longer since there are so many "players" involved ...

it takes a year to build it ....

it takes some time to train people to use it.

These days, it takes longer than the above since many of the planners, builders, facility users, etc. are stretched due to lack of resources.

In addition, we do not have oncologists ready to jump and come up here. There is a lot that has to be done to make this thing work. This is a committment to do it, but now people have to be assembled to do it.

You are correct Diplomat!
I DO have an issue with the upper leadership of BOTH parties but I guess that is an issue I have with the party system in general.
(and while we are on the subject,I USED to be a card carrying Liberal until I finally had enough of Campbell's leadership)
And yes, it DID go to Kelowna as we all know.
This clinic should already be a done deal for Prince George, and the only way to make it happen is to keep the heat on.
Maybe there was not enough noise made?
There are plenty of solid people out pounding the streets who get very little recognition for their efforts in both parties.
That all goes to showboats at the top!
At the same time,we also know that just because a politican tells us something will happen,doesn't make it so.
Been there,seen that too many times.
So have you.
You are also correct Owl,but I would like to see the hole dug by next spring and there is no reason that can't happen.
The 2010 issue makes me very nervous.
What happens after the Olympic tally is in will decide what get's done and what doesn't,in terms of cost overruns etc.etc.etc.
If it doesn't go well,we all know who gets to pay the piper!
It's all about trust and to be honest,I don't have much of that!
Guess time will tell.
And now, I will go and have a good shot of double malt and decide who to harass in Victoria next!
Cheers!

The NDP bailed out the Skeena pulp mill to the tune of about $300 million loonies. Priorities then, I guess. When we run outa trees just watch ol' Gordo get on Ottawa's case to let us fart around looking fer off shore oil. No trees? Can't live on just digging in the ground. Just look at Newfoundland. A have not province with dough rolling in. Go figure.

When the Olympics arrive here in a few years, maybe the Libs. can put up signs at all the venues. Oncologists wanted. Now hiring. Betcha more than one oncologist will attend the Olympics then. According to early ticket prices in the news recently, I think you will have to be an oncologist to afford to go.

Andy: "And yes, it DID go to Kelowna as we all know."

Yes. Today an expansion was announced for Kelowna General Hospital with the same completion date of 2012. UNBC will have a connection to it, as well.

"The 2010 issue makes me very nervous."

Same here!

I have been not in favour from the very first news that Vancouver was applying for the Winter Olympics, but after it was awarded to Vancouver one can cry and complain all one wants to: the die is cast, we can't pull out, we must make a go of it!

The Feds are paying a huge chunk of it and the tickets will be completely sold out.

Calgary not only broke even with its Winter Olympics but it even made money - perhaps B.C. can do the same and come out smelling like a rose!

We had far too many other urgent needs at the time a bid was made for the games, which are basically a two week extravaganza and the amount of post game benefits is often wishful thinking rather than a totally predictable number.

Very few people in B.C. wish that it won't be a success, I am sure.

It will put Vancouver, B.C. and Whistler on the tourist map to an even greater extent! Tourism is a clean industry!

I keep my fingers crossed.

Cheers!

Wasn't suprised at the Kelowna announcement.
Seems logical.
We got something so I guess they had to buy some votes down there too!
Guess that's called politics!
Calgary came out of it ok, but they still have a bunch of large buildings/facilities etc.that are basically useless, but still need to be maintained.
According to a relative there,they are slowly starting to disappear.
And hey,maintenance money should NOT be an issue in Calgary!
Just hope we won't be another Montreal!
:-)

"I would like to see the hole dug by next spring and there is no reason that can't happen."

Actually there are many reasons that can't happen. Beginning of October to end of May..... 8 Months.

• October – work with ministry, northern health and cancer association to prepare an RFP to hire a hospital planner to create a design program for the new facilities and review it against the long range PGRH plan

• November – conduct consultant search and hire a consultant

• November/December/January – consultant does work to derive a building program.

• February – approval process of proposal through the parties responsible.

• March/April – RFP for Architects, Engineers, etc culminating in their hiring.

• April to June – preliminary design with project estimate

• June/July/August - Ministry approval then Treasury Board – (assuming that a budget has previously been approved for parts of the project to date and other funding has gone smoothly) get approval to go ahead with working drawings.

• August to December – building design, which may even include a parkade; final estimate prior to tender

• January – approval to go to tender

• February – tender period

• March – price comes in, assuming no nasty increases over the estimate, final approval from ministry to award - award of tender if it comes within budget, otherwise a possible protracted period of negotiation

• April 2009 – Sod turning and construction start …..

• Summer 2010 – building completion.

I think that would be an ambitious schedule. I do not think anyone has that in mind and virtually impossible to pull off except in a dictatorship.

BTW … has anyone noticed how slowly the construction of the buildings in Riverview Plaza is going as well as the construction of the Sandman? The same with the building going up at the foot of Peden hill. Also the new buildings in the Wallmart complex of box stores.

Confusing comments from some. Seems that the politicians are bad (and evil and stupid etc. etc.) because they DON'T give us anything up here. Then they're bad (etc. etc.) when they DO because they're only doing it for the photo op & votes.
.....so you're constructive suggestions are....???

Yup, like a cancer clinic is a new thing. Got to start all over. New plan, new design, new study to see what we need. Like it hasn't been done before or elsewhere in the province. Stall tactics. They already know what we need and how to build it. We don't have to re-invent the wheel again in PG, do we? Just bait to buy more time. How about another sutdy? Chester

A cancer clinic is a new thing. We have not had one in this town. We have a differerent configured hospital on a different piece of property with different people managing it.

Want systems buildings? Easy, bring in ATCO trailers like they do for schools. No problem with me. In fact, we can go back a few decades and put the thing on wheels and move it around the countryside. If we oput it no rails, we can even put them into two storey containers, throw them on a ship in Rupert and go up and down the coast to cover the Charlottes and Bella Cooola area and possibly even north Vancouver Island.

Guess what. It will still need planning, confincing, designing, building, and implementing.

I know, Chester is the magic fairy. Wave a wand and it is done. And all at no cost on top of that.

You should just wave that wand and by magic all cancer will disappear and our health workers and construction workers and janitors will all be out of a job.

;-)