ANCHORAGE, AK - Parliamentary Secretary to the Premier for Intergovernmental Affairs Norm Letnick will join more than 600 business leaders, legislators and government officials in Anchorage, Alaska this week as he represents the Province at the 23rd annual Pacific NorthWest Economic Region (PNWER) summit.

The July 14-19 summit, titled "Global Challenges, Regional Solutions", will bring representatives from across PNWER's 10 jurisdictions together to discuss a number of regional issues such as cross-border trade, energy, health care, agriculture, transportation, disaster resilience, invasive species and water policies.

The summit will be an opportunity for Letnick to promote key B.C. priorities to delegates. These priorities include the Province's Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Strategy, the BC Jobs Plan and enhancing the movement of people, goods and investment through the Beyond the Border Action Plan.

Availability of skilled workers is the biggest challenge facing B.C. when it comes to developing the LNG industry. A plan is being created to identify the skills that are needed and to make sure the education system meets the needs of workers in this industry. B.C. will work closely with neighbouring jurisdictions, such as Alberta and Alaska, which also have been tackling a similar challenge in the development of their energy industries.

Through regular interactions with senior decision-makers in Ottawa and Washington, D.C., PNWER helps advance the region's priorities with the two federal governments and promotes increased security and trade between Canada and the U.S.

Quote:

Norm Letnick, Parliamentary Secretary to the Premier for Intergovernmental Affairs -

"It's in the interest of all PNWER jurisdictions to collectively find solutions to the issues affecting our region, and the annual summit is a perfect opportunity for us to put our heads together and do just that. I'm excited to work with all our Canadian and American partners to further promote key B.C. priorities, including our long-term plan to develop the liquefied natural gas industry."

Quick Facts:

• Established in 1991, PNWER is the only statutory, non-partisan, non-profit, bi-national, public/private partnership in North America.

• PNWER is comprised of 10 jurisdictions: the U.S. states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Alaska, the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan, and the Yukon and Northwest Territories.

• PNWER tackles regional issues through its 18 working groups, each headed by one public-sector and one private-sector chair. The working groups range from agriculture and Arctic caucus to telecommunications and workforce development.

• The next PNWER event will be the 2013 Economic Leadership Forum & Legislative Leadership Academy Nov. 13-16 in Banff, Alberta.

Learn More:

To learn more about the Province's Natural Gas Strategy, visit: http://www.empr.gov.bc.ca/OG/NGS/Pages/default.aspx

For more information on the 2013 Annual Summit, visit: http://pnwer.org/2013summit/Home.aspx

For more information on PNWER visit http://www.pnwer.org/

Contact:

Government Communications and Public Engagement
Intergovernmental Relations Secretariat
250 356-5963