Government

B.C. cabinet minister James Moore leaves federal politics

By Felicity Stone /

THE#BCBIZDAILY
Plus, food prices are going up and Jumbo Resort is going down

Bowing out
James Moore, federal minister of industry
 and B.C. member of Parliament, is the latest Conservative MP to announce he will not run for re-election. Moore recently discovered his son has health issues. “I will finish this term as Member of Parliament for Port Moody-Westwood-Port Coquitlam, then I will be going home to British Columbia to pursue new opportunities and be closer to my young family,” he said in a statement on his official website. “I wish I could be part of the next Conservative Government, after 5 terms and 15 years in public life, and with health challenges in my family, I have concluded it is impossible for me to seek another term in office.”
 Previously Moore was secretary of state for the 2010 Olympics, the Asia-Pacific Gateway and official languages, then minister of Canadian heritage. He was the youngest elected B.C. MP in the history of Parliament when he was elected at the age 24 in 2000. Moore is now one of numerous Conservative MPs and cabinet ministers who will not run in the federal election on October 19.

Costly cabbage
Consumer prices in British Columbia increased 0.8 per cent in the 12 months to May, after rising 0.5 per cent in April—and it’s partly due to the price of vegetables, said Statistics Canada in a report released Friday. The price of fresh vegetables in B.C. rose 11.9 per cent in May compared to a year ago, following a 4.8 per cent increase in April. Consumer prices rose in nine provinces in the past year, with the rise in the CPI being led by higher prices for food.

Last resort
Jumbo Glacier Resort may have received the final nail in its coffin. In a press release, B.C. Environment Minister Mary Polak says the project has not been substantially started within the time limit required by the environmental assessment certificate. Glacier Resorts Ltd. can’t proceed unless it gets a new certificate. The project is a year-round ski resort development in the Jumbo Creek valley, 55 kilometres west of Invermere. The environmental assessment certificate was issued on October 12, 2004, and extended in 2009.