B.C.'s Economy in good shape

[Hong Kongese]

DAILY NEWS RSS

Monday, October 20, 2008 11:59:16 AM

B.C.'s economy in good shape to deal with economic downturn, new survey says

With record low unemployment and low government debt, B.C. is better positioned than most other provinces in Canada to deal with the pending economic storm, according to a recent report by the Chartered Accountants of B.C. (CABC).

Despite a softening of the Canadian economy, B.C. still has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country at 4.6% in September. The low unemployment rate can be attributed to record job growth in Western Canada last year. In 2007, more than 70,800 jobs were created in B.C., a 3.2% increase over the number of jobs created in 2006.

The report noted that 42% of Canada's new jobs last year were created in Alberta and B.C. This job growth will likely help the province's economy grow faster than the Canadian average over the next year.

The province's low debt-to-GDP ratio was also lauded by the CABC report. The province's net liabilities-to-GDP ratio fell a further 2.3% to 9.1% in 2007, ranking B.C. with one of the country's lowest ratios It is second to Alberta, which has no debt. The CABC's report said this puts B.C. in a good financial position to deal with economic challenges.

[hollywoodnorth]

Go Gordo Go!
Go Arthur Go!
Go Falcon Go!

[ravman]

Campbell Government dismissal of economic downturn must end, Says NDP

VICTORIA – Gordon Campbell and Finance Minister Colin Hansen must pull their heads out of the sand and stop dismissing the impact of the growing economic meltdown on working families, the New Democrats said today.

Numbers released today by Statistics Canada show that B.C. lost 8,000 full time jobs last month, more than any other province, with the unemployment numbers increasing by 7.2 per cent between August and September.

“The Campbell government keeps telling British Columbians everything’s fine. That’s just not credible now. The dramatic meltdown of financial markets has changed everything as the effects of market turmoil work their way into the real economy. We’ve had a severe drop in home sales and in retail sales, and now we’re seeing rising unemployment. We need better leadership at this time, not a government on vacation,” said New Democrat finance critic Bruce Ralston.

“Wages for average workers in B.C. are stagnant, but the costs of living keep climbing. Working families are already feeling jammed, so with this current global economic turmoil, it’s no wonder that ordinary British Columbians are concerned.”

Ralston pointed to ongoing questions about the impact of the global credit crisis on large projects like the Golden Ears Bridge as an issue that needs to be addressed.

“The Finance Minister has an obligation to be more candid with British Columbians, and to let the public know that he is taking concrete action to support the economy,” Ralston said.

Ralston noted that even though it is too early to know how the meltdown will affect various sectors of the economy, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t concrete measures that the government could be taking right now.

“We all saw the effects of Gordon Campbell’s decision to bury his head in the sand when the forest industry started showing signs of crisis, and look how that turned out,” said Ralston.

Carole James and the New Democrats have been calling on the Campbell government to return to the legislature to discuss the changing economic climate and other pressing issues facing British Columbians.

James says roll back gas tax to protect B.C. families and business during economic crisis

VICTORIA – As provincial premiers gather in Montreal to discuss the economic slowdown, B.C. NDP Leader Carole James is calling on Gordon Campbell to roll back his gas tax to help protect B.C. families and businesses in deteriorating economic times.

“Gordon Campbell’s gas tax is hitting families and businesses at the wrong time, adding to their economic problems when they can afford it least,” said James. “British Columbians know the gas tax is unfair and ineffective. Now they are concerned that the government’s experiment is jeopardizing the economy. It must be rolled back to help protect B.C.’s economic position.”

Speaking in Montreal earlier today, Premier Campbell promised concrete action to respond to the economic slowdown, but provided no specifics. James said rolling back the gas tax is the obvious and first step the Premier can take.

“A graduated gas tax that the Premier’s advisors say should rise to 20 cents a litre makes even less economic sense at a time when jobs are being lost, wages are stagnant, and retail sales are plummeting,” said James. “The tax doesn’t help the environment; it only will make the economic slowdown more severe for everyday British Columbians.”

James said that in addition to rolling back the gas tax, the Campbell government needs to take action to protect forest communities that have been in recession for over a year, expand education and training opportunities, and thoroughly review and cut wasteful spending, such as the millions spent on partisan government advertising.

“The Campbell government has watched from the sidelines as the economic storm clouds have gathered,” said James. “They’ve turned their back on forest communities, increased spending on pet projects like the Convention Centre, and closed the doors to opportunity by increasing the cost of education.

“As B.C. enters an economic slowdown, Mr. Campbell needs to focus on the fundamentals and start paying attention to needs of average British Columbians. In uncertain economic times, British Columbians deserve leadership from the Premier. They deserve a government that is in touch with what’s going on.”


Go Jenn GO
GO Spencer Go
GO Carole Go

[Stingray2004]

Faster spending, no deficit is B.C. plan

Jonathan Fowlie, Vancouver Sun

Published: Tuesday, October 21, 2008

VICTORIA -- Premier Gordon Campbell says he's considering fast-tracking infrastructure spending to combat a slowing economy, but his government won't rack up any deficits.

"What we're calling for is that we should look at accelerating some of the potential capital projects as we move into what will likely be a slower construction market to make sure we keep people [in] work across the province," he said Monday.

Excellent. Fast-tracking highway/bridge/rapid transit infrastructure is always a prudent choice during slower economic growth. And balancing your books of course.

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/story.html?id=70bd8578-40ce-46d6-b2f7-4482b8cd7c1a

[WarrenC12]

Excellent. Fast-tracking highway/bridge/rapid transit infrastructure is always a prudent choice during slower economic growth. And balancing your books of course.

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/story.html?id=70bd8578-40ce-46d6-b2f7-4482b8cd7c1a

Yep great idea. Go Keynesian economics! Get our transit network built while material and labour are cheaper. :tup: Also good to see them looking ahead to get the ball rolling now, before the big layoffs have really started.

I don't know how this will not cause a deficit though. It looks like there's $750m in extra money lying around for this type of thing, but I'm sure future revenues will be lower than expected and a deficit will happen.. but that's ok in downtimes as far as I'm concerned.

Edit: Does this mean that the BC Place roof will happen for 2010? HAHA!! sorry.

[quobobo]

“A graduated gas tax that the Premier’s advisors say should rise to 20 cents a litre makes even less economic sense at a time when jobs are being lost, wages are stagnant, and retail sales are plummeting,” said James. “The tax doesn’t help the environment; it only will make the economic slowdown more severe for everyday British Columbians.”

Go Carole! Don't let those pesky economists (http://econ-environment.ca/) get in the way of your facts!

[ravman]

October 21, 2008
James to Campbell: Global financial crisis requires real action to help people, not slogans and buzzwords

VICTORIA -- Carole James today made the following statement about the global financial crisis that threatens the economic stability of families in British Columbia.

--

As everyone knows, global economic uncertainty is affecting British Columbia.

Unemployment is growing. Wages are stagnating. Retail sales are dropping. The construction boom is over. Major infrastructure projects are now threatened.

And the forest industry has been in a growing crisis for almost two years.

For months the Campbell government has had its head in the sand. The Premier and his Finance Minister have acted as though BC is immune from the crisis.

As stock markets have tumbled and credit markets have frozen, the Premier’s attitude has had a “what-me-worry” attitude.

No action for a year on BC’s forest industry.

Except for a job killing fuel tax that makes the crisis even worse.

In fact his punitive, ineffective, and job-killing gas tax is set to double right after the election.

And Premier Campbell’s top advisor says it should go to 20 cents a litre.

He has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on cost overruns and spent millions of taxpayer dollars on partisan advertising telling everyone what a great job he is doing.

He gave his top aides big salary increases.

And then he sent his MLAs home for the fall.

These are not the actions of a Premier who gets it.

Who cares about taxpayers money more than his re-election.

Who cares about other people’s jobs more than his own.

Now, suddenly, the Premier is asking for 15 minutes of free air time tomorrow night to provide British Columbians with his response.

It’s good that Gordon Campbell has finally realized that there is a problem. Better late than never.

The irony is the Premier should be here today, delivering this update at 2 o’clock where real leaders traditionally provide updates….

In the Legislature for all to hear and debate.

But he isn’t showing that kind of leadership…

And with so much at stake the question is… is he serious?

Will he deliver real action that will help people get through these times or just more buzzwords and sloganeering.

The first test is the gas tax.

If the premier is ready to take immediate action to help British Columbians facing a serious economic downturn, tomorrow he will announce that he is killing the gas tax.

Since the tax was announced last February and implemented in the summer, British Columbians have sent the Premier an unequivocal message.

The gas tax isn’t fair to consumers. And it does nothing to protect the environment.

All the gas tax does is make life less affordable, kill jobs, and hurt the economy.

And now with BC’s economy slumping, the effect of the tax will be even more severe.

So today, on the eve of what Gordon Campbell promises to be his new economic blueprint for BC, I again call on him to listen to British Columbians and to abolish a tax that is unfair, ineffective and bad for BC’s economy.

Secondly, the Premier must show restraint himself.

Roll back the pay increases for his top executives, cancel unnecessary bonuses for highly paid government appointees and stop wasting money on thinly veiled political advertising now.

That’s just a first step. Taxpayers money should be spent on the services the public needs -- like healthcare and education -- not the Premier’s pet projects or re-election strategy.

There should be a line by line review of the budget to remove waste and ensure taxpayers money goes to the services people need.

Finally I want to say again, the Premier should end the government’s vacation and call back the Legislature.

An economic plan worth its salt should be presented and debated in the Legislature for all British Columbians to ensure it meets the test of the times.

[jlousa]

Good to know Carole James is alive and doing well, I was starting to get worried as I hadn't heard from her in ages. With no fall sitting she would've had time to take a couple of course in Economics.

[quobobo]

The gas tax isn’t fair to consumers. And it does nothing to protect the environment.

All the gas tax does is make life less affordable, kill jobs, and hurt the economy.


Let's contrast this with the statement from my earlier link, signed by over 230 professional Canadian economists (somehow I think they're a little more reputable than Carole James on economic matters):

The signatories agree on these 10 principles:
1. Canada needs to act on climate change now.
2. Any substantive action will involve economic costs.
3. These economic impacts cannot be an excuse for inaction.
4. Pricing carbon is the best approach from an economic perspective.
Pricing allows each business and family to choose the response that is best and most efficient for them.
Pricing induces innovation.
Carbon is almost certainly under-priced right now.
5. Regulation is the most expensive way to meet a given climate change goal.
6. A carbon tax has the advantage of providing certainty in the price of carbon.
7. A cap and trade system provides certainty on the quantity of carbon emitted, but not on the price of carbon and can be a highly complex policy to implement.
8. Although carbon taxes have the most obvious effects on consumers, all carbon reduction policies increase the prices individuals face.
9. Price mechanisms can be regressive and our policy should address this.
10. A pricing mechanism can allow other taxes to be reduced and provide an opportunity to improve the tax system.

I wonder how that magical NDP cap and trade system which has almost no impact on consumers is coming along?

[hollywoodnorth]

LOL Carole James..... LOL just the thought of her is funny and sad..... LOL yet again and maybe one more LOL :P there we go.

[Stingray2004]

As for anticipated acceleration of BC infrastructure, here's what has already been taking place... a bit of an eye-opener IMHO:

In all, the Campbell government is building $17 billion worth of projects, those being the total dollars set aside for capital spending this year, next year and the year after.

It follows on the $25 billion the Liberals spent on capital projects in their first seven years in office.

That's a whopping $42 billion in infrastructure!

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=6c2b4f82-2169-4e1b-b3ac-a00615078e14

[mr.x]

Carole who??

[hollywoodnorth]

Carole what?

[zivan56]

Did Gordo write this article himself?

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=6c2b4f82-2169-4e1b-b3ac-a00615078e14

The breakdown includes more than $3 billion worth of projects for the education sector, including construction of new schools and retrofitting of existing ones.

Considering how many schools were shut down recently, 3 billion is probably less than was saved from all the shutdowns. Retrofitting a school to be more earthquake resistant (which is at least a couple million per school) is not an investment in "education."


There's a new arts and sciences building for UBC Okanagan, a science building at the University of Victoria, student housing at the University of B.C. and expansion of the King Edward campus of Vancouver Community College.

Gee, I wonder why SFU now has a hiring freeze and is forced to cut back on many programs? Oh I know, because they just distributed the money to other new "community universities."
From: http://www.sfu.ca/sfunews/Stories/sfunews050108016.shtml
SFU has implemented an immediate hiring freeze so it will have enough flexibility to address projected budgetary constraints in 2009–10 following the B.C. government’s surprise 2.63-per-cent cut in 2008–09 operating grants for all universities and colleges announced March 12.
Spending galore! :rolleyes:


The Liberals are pouring another $3 billion into financing hospitals and other health care facilities.

Congrats, they are putting back half of what they cut in 2001 and calling it "new funding." Was it not Surrey memorial (or similar) who still have less doctors than they did in 2001?


The big-ticket items on the list are new, expanded or replacement hospital buildings in Vancouver, Victoria, Surrey, Kelowna, Vernon, Fort St. John and Prince George.

Then comes $2.5 billion in transportation projects.


Did they even have a choice? I don't think any of those were built after the 60's (maybe 1 or 2).


There's the new Pitt River Bridge. The continuing upgrade of the Trans-Canada Highway in eastern B.C. The Cariboo Connector, including a new bridge at Prince George. The Sea to Sky project. Finishing up the Bennett Bridge at Kelowna.

Again, old infrastructure being upgraded. Nothing new except patches here and there


Plus there's another $2 billion for transit, housing, provincial prisons, government buildings, and finishing up the wildly over-budget convention centre expansion in Vancouver.


Half of that is probably going to the convention centre...again old infrastructure that needs to be replaced.


Indeed, even with the surpluses, the province is being forced to borrow to pay for everything on the construction schedule.

Over the next three years, the provincial debt is scheduled to grow by at least $4 billion.


Need I say more? Sounds like standard spending propaganda where almost nothing was spent on anything new (and cuts took place as well).

[ravman]

"Finally I want to say again, the Premier should end the government’s vacation and call back the Legislature.

An economic plan worth its salt should be presented and debated in the Legislature for all British Columbians to ensure it meets the test of the times."

OMG HE ACTUALLY DID IT.... HE IS GOING TO CALL BACK THE LEGISLATURE.... OH MY GOD.... HE ACUTALLY LISTENED TO BRITISH COLUMBIANS!!!


I think he see the By-elections are NEXT week and prov elections in a few months....


what is funny is that the Arthur Griffith flyers are green and they dont mention the Gordo himself anywhere... its just AG and the BC liberals... nice stratagy.... play up the candidate and play down the leader...

[Hong Kongese]

what is funny is that the Arthur Griffith flyers are green

I don't know why, I just hate this guy!