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CUPE 7000 president Gerry Cunningham doesn’t know whether to believe the provincial government when it comes to the proposed Evergreen SkyTrain line. B.C.

Finance Minister Colin Hansen said Thursday that B.C. ended the fiscal year with a smaller deficit than the record deficit forecast last September thanks to drastic spending cuts.

B.C. will spearhead the creation of a new sustainable tourism certification program that will serve a model for the rest of Canada. B.C. tourism minister Kevin Krueger and climate action minister John Yap announced the initiative in Delta July 9.

In addition to increasing its marketing spend by 25% this year to attract more tourists and meeting planners, Tourism Richmond is investing $250,000 in IT upgrades to collect more data about potential visitors.

Sponsorship of local high school reunions is one of the latest ways local businesses are connecting with the community. Even graduates of high schools long since closed are finding business eager to connect with alumni.

Convention and meeting delegates attending events in Vancouver in 2010 are expected to spend $94 million during their stay in the city.

B.C. health minister Kevin Falcon has put to rest rumours that St. Paul’s Hospital might move to False Creek Flats. Falcon announced July 8 that work was complete on a new $14.7-million emergency room at the hospital’s Burrard Street location.

B.C.’s business confidence level dropped slightly in the past month but remains the highest in Canada, according to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business’ latest business barometer index.

New BC Stats data shows that unemployment in B.C.’s high-tech sector almost doubled between 2008 and 2009, but that the sector fared better than most during the downturn. Between 2007 and 2009, the unemployment rate in the sector rose from 3.3% to 6.

Canada’s largest drug store chain has started charging customers a nickel per bag at its B.C. locations as shoppers come to grips with the new harmonized sales tax. Normal 0 0 1 166 949 7 1 1165 11.