An agreement signed between British Columbia and California that sets out joint action on climate change and Pacific Ocean conservation will result in unprecedented levels of co-operation between the two jurisdictions, Premier Gordon Campbell and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced today.

“This is an important step forward for our commitment to forge a Pacific Coast Collaborative, and I want to thank Governor Schwarzenegger for his tremendous leadership on tackling climate change,” said Premier Campbell. “This agreement affirms the partnership between B.C. and California and sets out an action plan that can benefit our economies, our climate, our ocean and our planet.”

 The Memorandum of Understanding on Pacific Coast Collaboration to Protect our Shared Climate and Ocean commits B.C. and California to work together to cap and significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and collaborate on the innovation and implementation of clean technologies. It also commits to join with other jurisdictions to build a hydrogen highway from British Columbia to Baja California.

 “Premier Gordon Campbell has reached out to build cross-border relationships, and he has emerged as an important leader in North America who promotes collaboration and co-operation on issues that affect us all,” Schwarzenegger said. “Climate change and ocean health are issues that do not respect borders, and we must foster collaboration among governments, businesses, and citizens to address these critical issues.”

 The agreement provides for action on Pacific Ocean conservation, including the sharing of information about coastal and ocean resources and health; collaborating on best practices for the development, monitoring and management of marine protection areas; synchronization of environmental protection at Pacific ports; and stronger relations between existing sea-floor observatories such as NEPTUNE, VENUS and MARS (Saanich Inlet, Juan de Fuca tectonic plate and Monterey Bay, respectively).

 “Climate change brings unique challenges to coastal jurisdictions.  Our planet, our province, and our coastal communities depend on the health of the shared Pacific Ocean,” Campbell said. “By working in partnership with California and other coastal jurisdictions we can continue to lead in sustainable environmental management and improve the quality and impact of ocean research.”

Frank Palmer, Chairman and CEO of DDB Canada launched Carmanah Technologies’ newest addition: the i-PANEL™ illuminated advertising panel.

“The i-PANELâ„¢ is an ideal application of our solar-powered LED lighting and solar energy management technologies,” said Carmanah CEO, Art Aylesworth. “We have been working with the outdoor advertising industry, developing techniques to illuminate a 4’ x 6’ advertising panel. Our new solar lighting technology meets or exceeds the performance requirements of the world’s largest outdoor advertising firms – while providing a clean energy solution with independence from the power grid.”

Thursday’s visit to Vancouver by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger highlights the priority being given to renewable energy and encouraging everyone to play their part in reducing emissions. For advertisers, the i-PANEL™ provides an excellent opportunity to demonstrate environmental leadership.

Transit shelter advertising panels, with their high visibility to both vehicle traffic and pedestrians, are one of the most popular forms of outdoor advertising and a key source of revenue for city and transit authorities. In North America alone, the ad panel market currently generates approximately $300M in annual revenues and is growing at a rate of 8% per year.

Illuminated advertising panels provide advertisers with market access 24 hours per day. Until now, one of the primary issues of an illuminated ad panel program was access to power, and the number of ad panels in a program that would be lighted was influenced by the possibility and/or cost effectiveness of a grid connection. Currently, less than 30% of the bus shelters in North America are fitted with illuminated ad panels.

The Centre for Drug Research and Development, a unique hybrid organization that helps health researchers collaborate, refine their discoveries and develop them for commercial use, received an additional $8 million in funding for its core facility. This investment matches the $8 million Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) grant CDRD received last November. It also comes on the heels of a $25 million funding grant from the Province of BC announced last month by Premier Gordon Campbell at the 2007 British Columbia Life Sciences Awards. This brings the total investment in CDRD to $50 million and provides the needed funding to build and operate this pioneering core facility. The Centre will serve to connect researchers and trainees across BC, providing a collaborative and cooperative environment that will amplify and advance important discoveries to the stage where they can attract the funding required for clinical trials.

“The Province of British Columbia clearly understands the importance of accelerating the development of promising new medical discoveries to a point where they can benefit British Columbians, Canadians and people around the world,” said Natalie Dakers, chief executive officer for CDRD. “This funding provides much needed infrastructure support which will allow us to create a template to advance early stage health- related discoveries from lab bench to the bedside.”

The CDRD aims to advance early stage health-related discoveries through the core activities of drug discovery, design and synthesis, screening, in vitro and in vivo testing, and drug formulation and evaluation. It also provides a new research and training model that will broaden the B.C. pool of biotech entrepreneurs working on drug discovery and development.

The appointment of Av Hundle as Manager, Business Development and Marketing at the Vancouver Island Technology Park was announced today by Dale Gann, Vice President of Technology Parks.

“Hundle brings to our Park management team a strong academic background coupled with recent industry experience,” Gann said. “This appointment will greatly assist VITP in bridging the gap between academia and industry, as well as assist us in enhancing our relationships with small and medium sized businesses.”

Hundle’s key roles and responsibilities will focus on those relationships as well as develop and manage short and long term marketing strategies, including the management and promotion of corporate brand identity. In addition, a significant portion of his efforts will be spent towards obtaining new tenants for the upcoming expansion at VITP.

Av Hundle attended the University of British Columbia Okanagan University where he focused on disciplines of Organic Chemistry and Biology in the Faculty of Science. In 2004, he transferred to the University of Victoria’s Faculty of Business to study Entrepreneurial Strategy, a long-time personal passion.

During his tenure at the Faculty of Business, he joined VITP through UVIC Business’s Cooperative Education Program, where he spent eight months assisting the management team with marketing initiatives and business development objectives.

The Vancouver Island Technology Park is an initiative of the University of Victoria that facilitates the growth of technology on Vancouver Island by providing physical infrastructure linking local, provincial, national and international resources with emerging or growing tech companies. VITP is a highly acclaimed centre of ICT, Wireless, New Media, Life Science, Clean-tech, and Ocean-tech excellence. The 23 companies located at VITP employ 1300 people and directly contribute $280M annually to the economy of British Columbia.

For further information contact: Dale Gann Vice President- Technology Parks The University of Victoria’s Vancouver Island Technology Park

T: 250.888.5830 E: dgann@vitp.ca

You would have been forgiven if you had mistaken last night’s Vancouver Island Advanced Technology Centre annual awards dinner for a Phoenix Suns playoff game.

With 500 bright orange, foam fingers extending from the arms of the high-tech community, it was hard to tell the difference.

 The party-favour fingers were ordered to celebrate the high-tech industry hitting the $1.6-billion total revenue plateau, taking it well past tourism as Victoria’s No. 1 non-government industry.

 And they gave a festive feeling to an evening celebrating an industry that has been quietly on the rise since the dot-com bust six years ago.

 The three high-profile awards went to online lead-generation and marketing firm Neverblue Media, which took home the award as technology company of the year; network marketing software firm Oprius Software won emerging technology company of the year; and Peter Berrang, a co-founder of the Axys Group of companies, who took home the Colin Lennox award for technology champion. Axys is well known for designing and manufacturing sophisticated ocean buoys for research and data collection. Online book retailer Abebooks.com was named VIATeC’s member of the year, which Dan Gunn said recognizes commitment to the high-tech community. “It’s a great way for us as an organization to say thanks to somebody,” he said. “Being a member of VIATeC comes with a monetary commitment but it’s a whole other type of commitment they make to participate and be an active member of the community.”

 Other award winners last night included:

GenoLogics Life Sciences Software for human resources excellence; Noah Wheelock from Atomic Crayon was named employee of the year; Triton Logging won for environmental excellence; Wayne Poncia of Etraffic Solutions was named executive of the year; Atomic Crayon won for online strategy of the year; newsmaker of the year was Contech Electronics; Archipelago Marine Research won for innovative excellence (process or product); Hydroxyl Systems won product of the year; and Paretologic won for innovative excellence (software or electronic service delivery).

Article written by: Andrew Duffy Times Columnist

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Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ANPI, TSX: ANP), a global specialty pharmaceutical and medical device company today announced that is has received European approval for CE mark of its Quill(R) Self-Retaining System (SRS). Launched early in the year in the United States, Quill(R) SRS is expected to launch commercially in Europe mid-year. “With the potential to improve patient outcomes, save time in the operating room, and enhance procedural techniques, Quill(R) SRS represents the next generation in wound closure technology,” said Dr. William Hunter, President and Chief Executive Officer of Angiotech. “In the first three months of launch in the United States we have seen strong physician interest in this product, and expect similar reception in Europe,” added Dr. Hunter. “We believe that Quill(R) has a unique advantage as its patented self-retaining system (SRS) allows for wound closure without the need for knots,” commented Dr. Santi Corsaro, Vice President, Sales and Marketing in Europe. “With the approval of Quill(R) SRS in Europe, as well as the expected approval of the Vascular Wrap(TM) product later this year, we are starting to build our sales and marketing infrastructure to support these two important franchises,” added Dr. Corsaro. About the Quill(R) Self-Retaining System (SRS) The innovative Quill(R) SRS represents the next generation of wound closure technology. A patented helical barbed design enables surgeons to suture without the use of knots. The absence of knots provides a wide range of clinical and economic benefits, including: Potential to improve patient outcomes: - Minimizes complications associated with knots – Potential to improve wound healing – May enhance cosmesis Potential to save time in the operating room: - Achieves potentially significant time savings, especially in suture intensive procedures Enhanced procedural techniques: - Allows closure of difficult wounds – Enables suturing in tight laces – Allows the surgeon to control tension

Vecima Networks Inc. (TSX:VCM) today announced that its unaudited Financial Statements and Management’s Discussion and Analysis for the three months and nine months ended March 31, 2007 have been filed on SEDAR. All dollar amounts are in Canadian dollars.

• Total revenue in the third quarter of fiscal 2007 was $24.1 million, a quarterly sales record for Vecima. Total assets have grown 15% over the nine months to March 31, 2007 surpassing $100 million. Revenue increased 16% to $67.4 million in the nine months ended March 31, 2007 from $58.1 million in the same period last year.
• Vecima’s net income for the three months ended March 31, 2007 increased 11% to $2.5 million from $2.2 million in the three months ended December 31, 2006. In the nine months ended March 31, 2007, net income increased 63% to $12.9 million from $7.9 million, an increase of 20¢ per share, as compared to the same quarter last year as a result of the extraordinary gain on acquisition.
• Shareholders’ equity increased to $88.6 million at March 31, 2007, as compared to $76.4 million at June 30, 2006. The increase was a result of operating profits, the purchase of capital assets and the acquisition of WaveRider Communications (Canada) Inc. (“WaveRider”) in the first quarter of fiscal 2007.
• We have more than doubled our research and development expense to $5.6 million in the nine months ended March 31, 2007 from $2.6 million in the same period last year. Our sales and marketing costs are up 46% to $3.1 million year-to-date compared to $2.1 million last fiscal year. The increases were predominantly for new personnel to take advantage of growth opportunities. These strategic expenditures in excess of our revenue growth resulted in a net margin just outside our target range at 9% of sales compared to 14% in the nine-month period last year. In the nine months ended March 31, 2007, we recorded an extraordinary gain from the acquisition of WaveRider that added 30¢ per share to earnings after taxes bringing the net income per share to 58¢ per share compared to 38¢ per share for the same period last year.
• Gross margin was 40% for the third quarter, slightly above the high end of our business model of 35% to 39%, and 38% for the nine months ended March 31, 2007.

Carmanah Technologies Corporation (TSX: CMH), a global provider of solar power and lighting technologies, is pleased to announce the appointment of Philippe Favreau as Chief Operating Officer, effective June 4, 2007. Mr. Favreau will assume responsibility for overseeing all aspects of the Company’s day-to-day operations.  Mr. Favreau brings more than 20 years experience in operations, including product development, manufacturing, supply chain, sales and human resource management. 

 “I am very pleased to have Mr. Favreau join our executive management team,” states Art Aylesworth, Carmanah’s CEO.  “Mr. Favreau has an exemplary track record in managing the operations of large, highly successful, high-growth organizations.  We welcome his wealth of knowledge and ‘can-do’ focus as Carmanah executes its 5 year growth plan.”

 Prior to joining Carmanah, Mr. Favreau’s career includes:

 - 2005 to 2007 – General Manager Global Operations, Workflow and Prepress Equipment for Kodak Graphics Communication Group, a leading provider of graphic communications solutions worldwide with 11,000 employees and annual revenues of approximately US$3.6 billion.  In this capacity, Mr. Favreau successfully integrated the Canadian and Israeli operations of CREO, Inc. (legal, IP, HR, facilities, manufacturing, supply chain, purchasing and IS) post acquisition.

- 2000 to 2005 – Corporate Vice President of Operations for CREO, Inc., a global leader in prepress equipment with 1,200 employees worldwide and annual revenues of approximately US$700 million.

- 1995 to 2005 – Mr. Favreau also held a number of other positions within CREO, Inc., including Vice President of Manufacturing & Supply Chain as well as Operations Manager.

 - 1987 to 1995 – Operations Manager, Electrical Enclosures for Schneider Electric, a global leader in electrical distribution, industrial control and automation products, systems and services with 61,500 employees and annual revenues of approximately US$11.6 billion.

Mr. Favreau holds a Master’s Degree in Commerce and Administration from the University of Paris, France, as well as a Master’s Degree in Nuclear Sciences from Ecole Polytechnique Montreal, Canada.  Mr. Favreau also has a degree in Physics Engineering from Ecole Polytechnique Grenoble, France.