Hi All

Sorry I'm really late this week with my Top 10. I had a very busy weekend in Mackenzie with the annual Chamber of Commerce Spring Exposition. This year’s Exposition was very well attended and the mood was positive with everyone looking forward to the re-opening of the Paper Excellence pulp mill and the Conifix sawmills. In addition, I was able to announce a new funding model for the payment of Physicians in Mackenzie. This new salaried model is based on a pilot that has worked very well in Fraser Lake. The stability that has been seen in Fraser Lake will really help support Mackenzie’s long term health care goals.

In addition, last week I attended the "Site C" announcement and what a great day it was. The project has the potential to add significantly to the economic outlook of both Prince George and Mackenzie. This week I will focus the Top 10 on some of the details of Site C.

Have a great week!...

With all the missinformation out there I thought I would forward this email I got from Pat Bell our MLA for Prince George North.

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Hi All

I thought that even though I may be stirring up a Hornets nest that I needed to get some of the facts out there on HST. This has been a very controversial issue over the last number of months and it’s been difficult to penetrate the controversy and have people look critically at the policy decision for what it is, sound economic development policy. With the HST in place our big job creating industries (Forestry, Mining, Energy and Construction) become far more competitive and able to withstand economic downturns. This in turn protects jobs and creates economic stability. With that in mind this week’s Top 10 will provide you with some information that you probably have not seen before.

Some more great news for Mackenzie this week with the purchase of the closed Pulp Mill by ‘Paper Excellence” (Sinar Mas)....

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Canada's great recession wasn't that bad after all: Statistics Canada
By: THE CANADIAN PRESS 

OTTAWA - It's been called the Great Recession by many around the globe. 

But Statistics Canada says the economic meltdown that devastated the economies of dozens of countries large and small in 2008 and 2009 left Canada relatively unscathed. 

According to the federal agency, Canada did suffer through a technical recession - a 3.3 per cent drop in gross domestic product over three quarters between the fall of 2008 and the summer of 2009. 

But that was shorter and milder than Canada's previous two recessions. For example, the 1981-82 slump saw GDP fall 4.9 per cent over six quarters, while the 1991-92 downturn resulted in a 3.4 per cent fall-off in output over four quarters. 

Recessions are mostly felt by those...

The 1st quarter of 2010 turned out much better than this time last year. Home prices are basically stable with good, clean, updated home fetching more attention than the rest. With the mortgage rates still low most buyers have a low appetite to fix anything up and would just rather buy a home done as the extra monthly payment to get what they want is less than spending hard earned after tax savings on renovations.

Click Here to access the latest BC Real Estate Associations 1st Quarter Report.

Cheers!

Dean Birks
Prince George Real Estate

Last week there was a radio talk show on CBC in Vancouver where the callers called in commenting on the high 'Average Price' of homes in the Vancouver area almost reaching one million dollars. Many said where can we live and asked the DJ for suggestions with no mention of any particular city in BC.

Well let me promote Prince George BC. We are the best deal in Western Canada and if you make a check list of all our amenities, opportunities, wages, resources and not to mention direct West Jet flights to Mexico and the average home price at only $240,000 range!

So if a good wage, good community, 15 minute drive max to anywhere you need to drive the kids or work, cost of living and very friendly people then Prince George is very worth looking at.

To learn about Prince George visit my website www.DeanBirks.com and click on 'Local News, Info' tab.

Have a great weekend.
Cheers
Dean Birks - Full Time REALTOR

1. Lumber prices continue to escalate as well with the “Composite Index” at $342 this past week compared to $202 a year ago. This has led to a reduction in the border tax as of May 1 from 15% to 10%. I really believe we will start seeing some mills re-open and shifts being added back. In addition I would expect a significant increase in logging activity this summer.
2. The real driver behind price increases was seen in January 2010 when B.C.’s total softwood lumber exports increased by 22% over January 2009. This includes a four-fold increase in the exports to China, a six per cent increase in exports to the U.S. and an 11 per cent increase in exports to Japan.
3. In February 2010, B.C.'s average weekly wage was $813, fourth highest in Canada. The average weekly wage has risen by $165 - or more than 25 per cent - since 2001, when it was $648.
4. Consumer confidence in British Columbia rose by a record 25.9 points in March and now sits at 121.1 points. The Conference Board of Canada...

Government Committee Working on Wood Innovation Centre

By 250 News  Tuesday, April 06, 2010 10:37 AM

By 250 News Thursday, April 08, 2010 04:07 AM