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SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2011
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Nothing new in jobs plan, says Kwan
Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff mnielsen@pgcitizen.ca
NDP critic Jenny Kwan is dismissing premier Christy Clark’s recently announced job creation plan as little more than a recycling of past announcements and old plans.
“It is an attempt from Christy Clark to rebrand Gordon Campbell’s old announcements,” said Kwan, when reached Friday for an interview. “There is virtually nothing new that charts a new course for British Columbia.”
Clark’s Sept. 15 announcement in Prince George on the long-awaited wood innovation and design centre, now slated for downtown, lacked a cost estimate, Kwan noted, although the Liberals now say construction of the centre “should begin” by 2012.
As for Clark’s commitment of $15 million to a $90-million project to improve infrastructure onto Ridley Island at the Port of Prince Rupert and to speed up realization of a liquified natural gas plant in Kiti-mat, Kwan said both ideas are part of the 2006 Pacific Gateway Strategy action plan.
And on the promise to open eight new mines across the province and expand nine others by 2015, Kwan maintained many of them have been previously announced. Kwan also took the Liberals to task for declining to include in the plan a goal for the number of jobs to be created.
“This is done purposefully, because if you set no benchmarks for evaluation and measurement, there is no benchmark for accountability measures,” Kwan said.
Jobs minister Pat Bell said he prefers to be measured against competing jurisdictions.
“If we have a specific percentage of the global investment in exploration projects, as it relates to other jurisdictions, I’d like to see that percentage increase,” Bell said. “That is a meaningful measurement to know how we’re doing.”
Cariboo North independent MLA Bob Simpson called the Liberal’s plan for mines “awfully presumptive” because it’s based on co-operation from First Nations and the federal government.
“Two major aspects are not under their control,” Simpson said.
— see ‘IT’S A THREE, page 4
CITIZEN PHOTO BY BRENT BRAATEN
Citizen reporter Arthur Williams pays a visit to 4608 Crocus Road. Police raided the home on May 31, 2011 and discovered a grow-op on the premises.
Police identify pot properties
Arthur WILLIAMS Citizen staff awilliams@pgcitizen.ca
Seven homes in the Prince George area are on a national list of marijuana grow operations released by the RCMP on Wednesday.
B.C. Northern Real Estate Board vicepresident Joni Brown said releasing addresses for former marijuana grow operations is a step in the right direction.
“It’s an exciting step by the RCMP to do this - we’re thrilled,” Brown said. “It’s there to protect the innocent. There can be serious electrical issues, there can be mould... chemicals.”
Sellers are supposed to disclose if a property has been used for a marijuana grow operation, she said. However there are some times where a property seller may legitimately not know the history of the home - or may intentionally hide it.
— see GROW, page 3
Renters responsible: tenant
On Friday the Citizen knocked on the door of 4608 Crocus Road - one of seven grow-ops recently listed in the Prince George area by the RCMP.
According to the RCMP, police raided the home on May 31, 2011 and seized 113 marijuana plants from the home.
The owner registered on title, Craig Martin Streng, could not be reached for comment.
However a woman who identified herself as a tenant at the property said she had heard the property was a grow-op.
“It was the renters, it wasn’t the owners,” she said. “They were here before us. We’re just staying a couple months while my husband works at
the [mill] shutdown.”
Streng has owned the property since March 18, 2005.
A neighbour, who asked not to be identified, said she had no idea the home was a grow-op - but some of the signs were there.
“We heard a generator running over there. [And] they added on to the garage,” she said. “But they’re really quiet - you’d never know.”
She said she hopes that having that information in the public won’t effect the value of other homes on the street.
Another neighbour said she didn’t have a clue there was anything going on at the home until the police arrived in May.
— see ‘IT WOULD, page 3
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