Depressed BC

News releases from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of British Columbia can frequently be misunderstood as Campbell Liberal propaganda. They seem to sing from the same song sheet, but their June 9th, 2006 effort provides documentation of the failure of the Campbell government in three out of eight development regions.

According to the Institute, the Cariboo had stagnant per capita incomes and little job growth. The Institute's report documents a 3.2% decline in real per capita income in the Kootenay region between 2000 and 2003, and a 1.6% drop in jobs between 2000 and 2005. The worst news is reserved for the North Coast, which according to the Institute, is "the only development region in the province to experience a decline in population between 2000 and 2005." Real per capital incomes on the North Coast declined by 8.8% between 2000 and 2003, while employment declined by 1.6% between 2000 and 2005.

If the Institute of Chartered Accountants is correct, BC's "heartland" is hurting big time under the Campbell government. You won't find any of this bad news on the section of the government's website that is devoted to "positive economic indicators". Perhaps it is time for the Campbell government, and its friends, to look at the entire BC economy and think about what will happen as the rise in interest rates dampens construction while the exhaustion of beetle wood creates a crisis in an already depressed Interior. Many, perhaps most, British Columbians have not experienced benefits from the "economic boom" which has seen profits reach a record high as a proportion of gross provincial product. Now we see a friend of the government documenting the economic gloom that hangs over large parts of the Interior. It is time for some serious planning to mitigate the damage that will follow the inevitable slowdown. That requires restoration of the social safety net: better social services, better labour standards, better workplace safety and programs for economic adjustment to compensate for radical changes in the forest industry.