the other press News Allan Rock Visits Vancouver The BC Regional Canadian a Canada’s Minister of Industry, Allan Rock, made a visit to the University of British Columbia on September 19, 2002 for the British Columbia Regional Summit on Canada’s Innovation Strategy. The Innovation Strategy—launched on February 12, 2002—is a long-term plan which outlines the steps Canada needs to take to remain competitive among the G-7 countries. The summit drew over 40 attendees, which included small business owners, municipal politicians, Young Liberals, and interested students. The attendees were divided into three focus groups, namely, youth, business, and government. Each of the divisions discussed the roles and chal- lenges facing each respective group. During the discussions, the Minister of Industry briefly visited each group and listened to the spirited conversations. The 40 attendees then reconvened and shared their discus- sions. The challenges identified by the youth focus group were the accessibility of resources needed by youth to foster innova- tion. The resources listed included class availability, work-study options, research funding, and skills training. Minister Rock readily agreed that youth, and specifically, post-secondary education, played an important role in the Innovation Strategy. “In a city like Vancouver, much of the new investment and the new business and economic growth in the successful cities, the successful communities,” said Rock, “are those which form the most effec- tive bridges between the universities and col- leges where the ideas are produced and the marketplace where they are sold.” The next group to voice their concerns was the business group. This group expressed concerns about the difficulty in starting up a new business due to high expenses and tax rules, such as the capital gains tax. The business group requested resources for people starting out, as well as tax breaks. In response, the Minister presented an Allan Rock, Michael Fominoff, and Sumit Nagi Summit and the Innovation Srategy Pierre Florendo OP Contributor interesting idea. “How about this,” he said. “After you graduate, when you're just getting started, no income tax until youve made [the cumulative sum of] $750,0002” The idea was very well received, but some wondered about the details. The Minister replied that the work involved in overhaul- ing the system to accommodate such an idea would be great; however, the Minister seemed to indicate that the current system needed change. “We seem to have things backwards at the moment. When youre starting out, we load on the taxes...your costs are high in the early years. Then, when youre approaching retirement age, when youre more capable, you get tax breaks. We should reverse it.” The last group to speak was the govern- ment focus group. The theme of the discus- sion in this group focussed mostly around branding—namely, that Canada wasn’t real- ly known for anything besides being “those friendly neighbors up north.” Minister Rock pointed out that Canada is a leader in certain fields; for example, aero- space, and that Canada has a variety of prod- ucts to offer. Still, Rock agreed that Canada needs to speak out and sell itself more. “They [the world] need to know that our economy is no longer driven [just] by natu- ral resources. Ours is knowledge-driven. We're a safe stable place with a high quality of life.” Overall, Rock stated that the forum was successful, and that he came away from the forum with many good ideas, one being a “standard of living clock”. Similar to the more-familiar “national debt” clock in the US, which shows the current US debt total, the “standard of living clock” would be a “screen in town square that would demon- strate the gap in disposable income between your family and the American family mak- ing the exact same income every year.” More Regional Summits are happening this fall, and the National Summit is sched- uled after all the Regional Summits are com- pleted. More information is available at HE'S NOT LOOKING FOR TROUBLE... ies i tae september 18, Welcome Back Douglas College Students. Over the summer, BOOKTOWN moved from 668 to 626 Columbia Street and over the past week, dozens of ala have found us again. For those who have not, we want you to know that: We still have 50,000 used, collectable and rare books in stock, including an expanded science fiction section. And we continue to provide in-store credit for used books, expert evaluation of rare and unusual volumes, search for out-of-print or rare titles and Browsers Club savings for return customers. We do not carry textbooks (although we occasionally have a few). And we will continue to carry The Other Press as we have for the past two years. Check us out and save 10 per cent with the coupon below. With any purchase of $10.00 or more, get a free movie pass (for as long as they last) to The Tuxedo. ee Booktown USED, COLLECTABLE AND HARD-TO-FIND BOOKS 10% discount to readers of the Other Press with this coupon ee ee page 5 ©