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May 27, 2010
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THE WORLD IS YOURS - A concept plan of a potential future downtown Prince George,courtesy of Paul Zanette's Versa Design Group. Inset,clockwise from bottom left are conceptual illustrations by Zanette of: the Commonwealth Health Centre, student, assisted, and market housing, a downtown campus, and a Performing Arts Centre. For more on the Zanette's work and a closer look at his vision of downtown Prince George,see page 15.
Submitted graphics
Cooler heads
Mayor, ex-premier call for end to downtown bickering
Frank Peebles Citizen staff
Squabbles between economic development bodies in recent days has to stop, said two of the most powerful political voices on Prince George soil Wednesday.
Group resignations from the Downtown Business Improvement Association, discontent be-
tween the Prince George Airport Authority and Initiatives Prince George, IPG backing away from the DBIA table. It has been a circle of negative energy lately, even while all of those entities are taking big strides forward on behalf of the community.
“I don’t feel upset by the perceived coup d’etat angst in the business leadership of the city,” said former premier Mike Harcourt, visiting the
city at the behest of the DBIA to evaluate progress in downtown revitalization. “There is a change of intensity perhaps, but everybody seems to agree on the goals: reduce crime, house the homeless, foster investment.”
Mayor Dan Rogers gave a speech that sounded, at times, like a scolding of all involved, if not any individuals.
— See ‘PETTY on page 3
Candy more dandy ...
... since liquor is sicker thanks to B.C. booze board price hike
Sarah Makowsky Citizen staff
It may be time to mix a little water with the wine.
Although the HST reduces sales tax on alcoholic beverages, consumers won’t pocket much savings.
Currently, there’s 10 per cent PST and five per cent GST for a combined total of 15 per cent tax applied to liquor sales. Three per cent
of that tax disappears when the 12 per cent HST is introduced, but these savings are offset because the the Liquor Department Board (LDB), is marking up the price of booze. The LDB claims there will be virtually no changes in price when alcohol is purchased from B.C. Liquor Stores on and after July 1.
“We expect consumers will only see a difference of plus or minus a few pennies, depending on the product,” LDB communications manager, Tarina Palmer said in an e-mail.
Still, the markups are a concern for wine enthusiasts because wine is already marked up a significant amount. Once HST is implemented, the 117 per cent markup will rise to 123 per cent.
“The tax is only a tiny part of the revenue that the government makes because most of the money they make is really a hidden tax generated by liquor board markup,” said Mark Hick-en, a Vancouver lawyer.
— See MARKUPS on page 3
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