OTTAWA (CP) - Prime Minister Paul Martin, in a political nod to Western Canada, is set to move the Canadian Tourism Commission out of its current headquarters in Ottawa and into new digs in Vancouver, The Canadian Press has learned.



Sources said the official announcement will be made Thursday, when Martin begins a two-day visit to British Columbia with a stop at the Whistler ski resort, site of the 2010 Winter Olympics. Martin will be accompanied by Industry Minister David Emerson, who doubles as the Liberal political minister for B.C., and Stephen Owen, the minister for amateur sport and western regional development.


Party insiders in Vancouver are billing the move as a welcome recognition of their city's importance in the Pacific Rim tourist trade.
They also see it as a tribute to their own lobbying clout and as proof that Martin is serious about meeting the economic needs of the province.

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"There's no other federal agency that's ever been headquartered in B.C. This will be the first."

Liberal MPs from the province have long pressed their government to relocate the head office of the tourism commission, a Crown corporation with about 80 employees and an annual budget of around $80 million

高兴!

确实是个好消息!