While in opposition the Campbell Liberals treated interprovincial migration to and from BC as if a net inflow was a good thing, and a net outflow a bad thing. People have always moved both ways; net interprovincial movement is one component of total population change. BC has experienced positive population change for decades, but the interprovincial component of population change has fluctuated from positive to negative and back.

The graph of quarterly inflow and outflow since 1991 is enough to make one dizzy. Part of that is because both the inflow and the outflow are substantially larger during April through September than they are during October through March. The dotted lines in the graph show the trends. From 1991 through 1996 BC experienced a net inflow from other provinces; from 1996 through mid 2003 BC experienced a net interprovincial outflow; there was an outflow in the first three months of 2004 and an inflow in the second three months.

As an example of the magnitudes, in the second quarter of 2004, 17,587 people moved to BC from other provinces, and 14,218 people moved from BC to other provinces for a net inflow of 3,369; total population increase in the second quarter of 2004 from all sources was 13,455. Ten years earlier, in the second quarter of 1994, 20,235 people moved to BC from other provinces, and 10,484 moved from BC to other provinces for a net inflow of 9,751; total population increase in the second quarter of 1994 from all sources was 27,280.

How anyone can make political points out of this defies common sense, but don't be surprised if the Campbell Liberals claim that a net inflow of 3,369 in the second quarter of 2004 is a sign of positive news for BC. Don't wait to hear them say that is the same as 1996, and lower than ten years ago.