The Honourable Loyola Hearn, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, and the Honourable Rona Ambrose, Minister of the Environment and Minister responsible for Parks Canada, announced today the transfer of three lightstation properties in British Columbia's southern Gulf Islands to the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve of Canada. The transfer includes Portlock Point Lightstation on Prevost Island, Active Pass Lightstation at Georgina Point on Mayne Island and East Point Lightstation on Saturna Island.

An investment of $648,750 was announced today from Western Economic Diversification Canada (WD) and Service fransaskois de formation aux adultes (SEFFA) that will benefit Francophone post-secondary students, their instructors and post-secondary institutions in Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Yukon and Northwest Territories, with improved access to an expanded French-language resource library, Le Lien, at Collège Mathieu.

Canada's new government is providing British Columbia with $2.64 million for the Food Safety Initiative (FSI) to enhance and promote food safety systems in its food processing industry.

The Competition Bureau announced today that the sale of Agricore United's AUV grain handling terminal in the Port of Vancouver will go to a Trustee. This follows Agricore United's decision to abandon its challenge to the 2002 Consent Agreement with the Bureau, which required it to sell either the UGG (now AUV) terminal or the Pacific Elevators Limited terminal.

The Honourable Carol Skelton, Minister of National Revenue and Minister of Western Economic Diversification today released Revisiting Portraits of Small Business Growth and Employment in Western Canada.