Guess Who's Going to China

Monday, March 17, 2008 09:26 PM

Prince George, B.C. - The City Hall delegates for the June Beijing- Canada Pavilion trip have been selected.

Mayor Colin Kinsley will be taking the City Manager, Derek Bates, along with Councilor Don Bassermann.

According to a report from the Mayor, the delegation ( which is being organized by Initiatives Prince George) will see the team involved in business meetings June 14 - 21^st.

Councilor Brian Skakun wants the Mayor, or Councilor Basserman to provide some measures that will show the mission was a success. Basserman says one contract, one new foreign student , being able to report the number of significant contacts in Beijing, will all be signs of success. He says the most difficult thing to report to the community is the necessary relationship building that is crucial to doing business with China.

The BC-Canada Pavilion in downtown Beijing is close to Tiananmen Square, and features 10 thousand square feet on each of three floors.

The pavilion will house industry and community showcases, meeting and presentation rooms, visitor information services, exhibitions, and Olympic-related programming.

The Mayor says there are several objectives for the Prince George delegation:

Promote Prince George’s trade, investment, business and education opportunities that also include those along the Northern Corridor through to the Port of Prince Rupert;
Develop strategic regional corridor partnerships with communities and businesses that share in a vision of global reach for the region;
Leverage the Province of BC’s and Government of Canada’s investments in the BC/Canada Pavilion to market our region at the 2008 Summer Olympics/Paralympics in Beijing, China and take lessons learned beyond to the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and 2012 London Olympics;
Advance our region’s competencies and capacities to form and benefit from long term cultural, business, trade and investment connections with the Asia Pacific.

Councilor Don Zurowski says this trade mission is different than some in the past as there is a large number of private individuals interested in taking part in the mission. "We've got a lot to sell" says Zurowski.

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Posted on Monday, March 17, 2008 09:26 PM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: Moses on March 17 2008 9:43 PM

I hope it's as productive as their trip to Turin a while back.

Posted by: camoose on March 17 2008 9:51 PM

The objectives of the trip sound familiar. Are they the same as the last several trips? How much do they have their hands in our pockets for, or is that a secret? You go get em Basserman. How much is one new foreign student going to cost the PG taxpayers?

Posted by: Junco on March 17 2008 9:54 PM

Wow. I'm really happy that my tax dollars are going to fund the latest Magical Mysery Tour to China.

Posted by: Jack on March 18 2008 12:30 AM

We are getting a biomass burner from multiple Kinsley and crew trips to Scandinavia a while back.

Posted by: RUEZ on March 18 2008 1:34 AM

In all the cities I've lived, I've never heard of a mayor taking so many international trips. I hope he enjoys his last days in office.

Posted by: michael on March 18 2008 4:09 AM

This is a blatant case of rubbing our noses in it ! If the mayor spent a week working here maybe he could resolve some issues.

Posted by: Gampy on March 18 2008 5:39 AM

Does anyone recall the 'old days' when the people of a community would rally together against these types of scoundrels and have a tar 'n feather party??

Posted by: acrider54 on March 18 2008 5:51 AM

All politcians are in it for themselves. Take the tax payers money and line their pockets.

Posted by: Wileycoyote on March 18 2008 6:58 AM

Oh god we arent paying for Colin to go on another holiday are we???????

Posted by: Foo738 on March 18 2008 7:27 AM

To quote:
"Develop strategic regional corridor partnerships with communities and businesses that share in a vision of global reach for the region"
"Global reach" seems gradiose when the community isn't looking after its' own backyard; i.e. pollution, hazardous goods route.

Posted by: diplomat on March 18 2008 7:39 AM

"Basserman says one contract, one new foreign student , being able to report the number of significant contacts in Beijing, will all be signs of success."

One new foreign student? Just one? Are we really THAT desperate???

Cancel the junket (the trip) and sponsor one new Chinese student by paying the student's fare and tuition!

That would be a very positive contribution to Chinese-Canada relations and make the world a better place!

Posted by: leoleo on March 18 2008 7:42 AM

I don't know how his majesty can sleep at night.

Very sad.

Posted by: Andyfreeze on March 18 2008 8:51 AM

How bizarre is this?
It ranks right up there with sending our atletes to China for the Summer Olympics while the chinese government is busy kicking the crap out of Tibet,and whoever else doesn't toe the line!
This is just plain weird!

Posted by: Jimmi on March 18 2008 9:15 AM

I'm surprised Colins not drumming up business in Peurto Vaillerta instead....

Posted by: Bridge on March 18 2008 10:28 AM

Just get on with runing our City and never mind the pie in the sky stuff.

And yes a tar and feather party would be great.

Cheers

Posted by: Common Sense on March 18 2008 11:14 AM

What exactly are we trying to sell in China(HOT WATER FROM OUR PULP MILLS)? We have enough of a taxed society in our own country, we should be looking at creating new possible solutions to high crimes and drug problems. Maybe the City of PG should take a citizen of our town and really see what our elected officials are doing there.

Posted by: Harbinger on March 18 2008 11:27 AM

Have you priced tar and feathers? Look at the price of a barrel of oil and the price of an unplucked chicken. To be on the politically correct side, how about some non hydrogenated bio diesel and cottonwood tree droppings? Ought to work just as well AND be ecologically safe and recyclable too. Just thinking of our environment you know.

Posted by: mtnloverxtreme on March 18 2008 11:31 AM

same old, same old. i really dont know how he keeps getting elected. must be a lot of colins boozing buddies getting to the polls. oh well, at least the beer is cheap in china and his tab wont be as high as normal.

Posted by: lostfaith on March 18 2008 11:52 AM

Apparantley he stopped drinking.

Posted by: singlemom on March 18 2008 2:09 PM

Are we provided with a detailed agenda for this trip? It would be nice to see what they plan to be doing while they are there - how much free time they will have - how many meetings they will actually be attending, what sort of hotel are they staying at and at what expense? Where are they eating their meals and I would love to see those receipts.

After all, it is OUR money they are spending and we should know exactly where it is going.

Posted by: singlemom on March 18 2008 2:10 PM

June 14 - June 21... sorry but 7 DAYS OF BUSINESS MEETINGS?

Posted by: singlemom on March 18 2008 2:11 PM

June 14 - 21... 7 days of business meetings? What exactly are they selling...seriously... that they need 7 days?
Sounds like a joke to me.
I hope they enjoy their last hoorah.

Posted by: metalman on March 18 2008 3:27 PM

Let's see; two days for the great wall, one day for the emperor's terracotta warriors, two day junket to Hong Kong, a day of gambling in Macau, maybe pop over to Singapore, a day of rest, you know, there just is not enough time. You need two weeks to do China properly. I think that open and transparent accounting of actual expenses would be reasonable, as would spending extra time there to make a proper vacation. The catch is that if they want to do that, and perhaps bring along a significant other, they should be able to demonstrate that they covered the additional expenses themselves.
Nothing wrong with that. Surely they are actually planning to conduct some city business while there, and I understand that the chinese do prefer to establish business relationships face to face...
metalman.

Posted by: Junco on March 18 2008 3:37 PM

Well...with Prince George being a major international player and all...maybe some overseas travel is in order, order, order, order,order,order,order,order,oreder,order

Posted by: The_grandinquisitor on March 18 2008 4:22 PM

China will take any business ideas that we share with them - improve on them - and use them to undermine our economy. It's what they do. Copy and improve.

Posted by: diplomat on March 18 2008 5:06 PM

From David Emerson's website:
"The BCCP [BC Canada Pavilion] will also host strategic business and trade events on Canadian education, investment opportunities, the Asia-Pacific Gateway and Corridor Initiative, tourism, Aboriginal arts and culture, high technology and agriculture. These events will promote Canadian products, expertise and investment opportunities to China�s business, political and social decision makers, and facilitate networking between Canadians and their Chinese counterparts."

All the events are already scheduled and apparently experienced staff will be there to handle all that.

Zurowski: "... there is a large number of private individuals interested in taking part in the mission. "We've got a lot to sell" says Zurowski."

Are some of these private individuals not business women/men? Aren't they the experts in *selling*?

It looks to me that the trio that is going is somewhat of a duplication of those efforts which are already well taken care of by real experts.

Posted by: Chester on March 18 2008 7:53 PM

We are sending our Mayor, our City Manager and one of our mature, seasoned councillors to represent our fair city. Do you expect them to stay in bed and breakfasts? The trip has been endorsed & supported by the people we have elected to run our city. Why do so many of you continually criticize the decisions that they make? We have elected them to make these decisions for us. So, support them.

I wonder how many of you have been in a position of authority? Or a position where you were making decisions that affected others? Or, were actually elected to a position of influence and decision? When you have walked a mile in their shoes, you may change the way you look at things. Chester

Posted by: Palopu on March 18 2008 10:44 PM

Chester. You need a good nights sleep.

These guys are nothing more than glorified tourists, travelling on tax payers dollars.

Since when does an **Icabod Crane** Mayor, a Don Quiotte Alderman, and a **At Best** Green Horn City Manager, become experts on selling export business to foreign countries.

British Columbia and Canada have been selling products to China for the past 25 years or more. Out exports to China are in the billions of dollars. 98% of what we export is bulk products, ie; Pulp and Paper, Concentrates, Potash, Sulphur, Lumber,Coal, Wheat, Scrap Steel, etc; 2% of our exports are finished manufactured products. To date all these commodities from Western Canada have been exported either through Vancouver or Prince Rupert.

All this business has been handled by private business, that would never consider asking a Mayor or Councillor for their opinion, because it is not their **forte**.

The local pulp mills and lumber companies have been exporting to China for years and would never consider talking to Municipal officials except for PR reasons.

I doubt if the Mayor of Prince George has even been to one of the local mills, and if he has it would be a local tour like they give to tourists.

BOTTOM LINE; THESE GUYS ARE OUT OF CONTROL;

Posted by: metalman on March 19 2008 8:13 AM

I agree, Pal. These guys can't do much that has not already been done. China will look after China's best interests, that does not include buying finished products from us. IF they are interested in us at all, it will be for our abundance of raw materials. They can build anything we can build, and do it for less. When our resources start to run out, or we see the light and raise the price, then they need only look to Mongolia, Siberia. What indeed does the mayor think he can do to improve the economic situation in Prince George? I just heard on the radio that they are desperately trying to find a few more bums to fill the seats on this so called trade mission, so far "there are not very many confirmed participants from the private sector" DUH why not? Could it be that private industry can see that there is not much gold to be mined from a trip to China? I guess so. So, if there is not very many from the private sector, who does that leave as confirmed seat warmers?DUH. Those who do not have to pay their own way of course. Would I go if I was a civil servant and the establishment was offering to pay for the trip? DUH. Bloody right I would, to heck with the rest of the great unwashed, I'm gonna get me a slice of that particular cake.
metalman.