The stories of people taken by the overdose crisis come from every corner of the province. A forestry worker in the North who became addicted to painkillers for a workplace injury and then turned to street drugs. Friends celebrating after a wedding in the Interior. Suburban parents who left behind young children. Middle-aged men who were clean and sober for years.

The Province has awarded $110,000 to the Rocky Mountain Trench Natural Resource Society to help restore grasslands and forests in the East Kootenay and Columbia Valley.

The British Columbia government is awarding three research universities with over $5.2 million to support a variety of innovative research projects in B.C. with the potential to save lives, solve crime, reduce green house gas emissions and improve wildlife management.

The Province, the Carrier Sekani Tribal Council and seven Carrier Sekani First Nations have completed an agreement that will increase the First Nations’ participation in the forest economy, while setting the stage to advance reconciliation.

Under the BC Rural Dividend, the provincial government is providing $100,000 to the Fort Nelson region.

Opportunities for greater input into local forest management are expanding near Fort Nelson following an invitation from Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations Steve Thomson to the Fort Nelson First Nation and Northern Rockies Regional Municipality to apply for a community forest agreement.

The Province is providing $95,000 so 10 Aboriginal students in the Campbell River-area can learn the skills needed for employment in the British Columbia road building and forestry machinery sector.

The Province is committing $749,872 to help unemployed people find forestry jobs through a paid training opportunity with Okanagan College.

Building on the economic benefits and jobs created by getting to yes on major projects and provincial investments in infrastructure, Premier Christy Clark and Minister of State For Rural Economic Development Donna Barnett released the Province’s rural economic development strategy, detailing immediate investments and a long-term action plan to support thriving rural communities.