Duncan council catches green wave by fueling with bio-diesel
The city is going green with its machines and its neighbour to the north may not be far behind. Duncan council approved treasurer Peter de Verteuil’s recommendation last week to begin burning low-emission biodiesel in all its diesel engines immediately. Duncan’s rigs include trucks comprising about half the city’s vehicle fleet, plus generators, using 30,000 litres of diesel fuel annually. “Bio-diesel is slightly more expensive than diesel so it might cost the city maybe $1,600 more per year but it’s minimal,” de Verteuil says, noting the city’s reduction in greenhouse gases such as CO2. Biodiesel is based on recycled cooking oil, animal fats and other wastes. It can be added to diesel fuel now sitting in the city’s diesel engines. The city’s move, which follows in the footsteps of a similar program in Victoria, has also caught North Cowichan’s attention.

New markets, products wanted to keep fish plant workers on job
The way Greg MacLeod sees it, a 58,000-square-foot redundant fish plant is really just a giant guinea pig. With processing plants closing all over the Atlantic provinces, often in areas plagued with high unemployment, "it is very important to come up with other uses for these plants and maintain the workforce," said the expert in community economic development. The former Cape Breton University professor has written books and launched more than a few community-based ventures, including BCA Holdings, a Cape Breton venture-finance company with assets of almost $2 million.

Economic development program offered
Greater Victoria residents who want to develop their skills in community economic development will now have their chance. Simon Fraser University is offering a community economic development program in Victoria through a partnership with the Canadian CED Network. “We call it CED and it deals with helping communities take care of the people who are at the most disadvantaged,” said Erin Brocklebank. Poverty reduction, building community enterprises, planning and sustainable development are areas covered in the program. The program also focuses on the “triple bottom line”, which considers economic, social and environmental factors, Brocklebank said.