This spring, 13 carpentry students from two southern Vancouver Island high schools got a chance to put their trades training to the test in Sooke.

Tourism is one of the largest industries in B.C., comprising nearly 18,000 mostly small- to medium-sized businesses that directly employ more than 127,000 British Columbians. Impending labour shortages require action to attract and retain a highly skilled and motivated workforce, which is critical to achieving industry growth.

Saturday night's earthquake near Haida Gwaii serves as a reminder to all of us just how important it is to be prepared for emergencies. In the days since this event, a number of questions and concerns have come forward around how and when communities received tsunami information from the B.C. government.

Myth 1: These temporary foreign workers are taking the long-term jobs of Canadians and British Columbians. Fact 1: The work being conducted is exploratory and the jobs are temporary.

In Tuesday's column, Bill Tieleman cited Napoleon Bonaparte's warning that China would wake and shake the world. This kind of outcry belongs to the 1800s, not 2012.

With the release of 'Beyond the Beetle: A Mid-Term Timber Supply Action Plan', we have outlined a clear strategy to help our forests recover from the damage done by the mountain pine beetle infestation.

Myth 1 - It is no problem finding people who want to work in underground coal mines. Fact 1: Prior to be granted permits to hire temporary foreign workers, a company must secure a labour market opinion.

Several media reports in recent days have focused on temporary foreign workers hired to do work for Canada Dehua, a company that is undertaking coal exploration activities at two sites in northeastern British Columbia. The following facts have been absent from much of this reporting:

Violence in the home has a devastating impact on too many women, children and families throughout B.C.

Did you know that in B.C., more than one million people are employed by small businesses? Or that 98 per cent of all businesses in B.C. are small businesses? Small business is big business in B.C.!