Vancouver – A host of economic indicators illustrate how the Clark Liberals’ 28-month-old economic plan for B.C. is failing, says New Democrat Leader Adrian Dix.

“Twelve months ago, the Clark Liberals were advertising their economic plan for the province as being a success. Along with jobs figures, a host of other economic indicators confirm the opposite,” said Dix.

“Despite our province’s many intrinsic advantages, the premier’s strategy is not working to increase incomes and prosperity, as reflected by measures ranging from household income, productivity, GDP and private-sector employment growth, to child poverty rates.

“These figures demand a serious response; this now-28-month-old strategy – originally crafted for a fall election campaign – needs to be replaced by a substantive economic plan that sees government take the right steps to help increase incomes, jobs, and investment, including increasing skills training, improving permit application turn-around times, reforming BC Hydro, recommitting to First Nations treaty negotiations.”

In January 2013, the Liberals launched a series of lavish, taxpayer-funded ads, promoting their so-called jobs plan. However, along with Statistics Canada’s jobs figures, other research – including from the likes of the BC Business Council and First Call – shows B.C. lagging on many important indicators:

– Ninth in private sector job growth relative to other provinces, September 2011- December 2013 (source, Statistics Canada)
– Highest unemployment rate, lowest employment rate and lowest growth GDP, among western provinces (source, RBC Economics)
– Ninth in the growth of household income relative to other provinces (source, BC Business Council)
– Highest child poverty rate in the nation (source, First Call)
– Middling productivity rate that also is below the national average (source, B.C. Business Council; Statistics Canada)
– Negative interprovincial migration over nine consecutive quarters, resulting in a loss of 12,781 people to other provinces (source, Statistics Canada)
– Highest rate of income inequality among provinces, with largest gap between the top 20 and bottom 20 percent of income earners source, BC Stats)

Dix also pointed out that “the B.C. Business Council is also now forewarning that our province is losing ground on one of its main historic competitive advantages, energy costs, due to the Clark Liberals increasing hydro rates – a decision that they withheld from industry and residential ratepayers before the election campaign.”

Insufficient government resources on permitting, and the Liberals’ lagging commitment to treaty negotiations, also threaten B.C. resource industries, such as mining.

“Mining representative are citing again the need for this government to allocate adequate resources towards permit approvals, and to First Nations treaty negotiations. They echo the B.C.’s Treaty Commissioner’s clear recommendation that this Liberal government recommit to the treaty process,” said Deputy Finance Critic Mable Elmore.

Elmore also remarked on how the jobs plan not succeeding during a time B.C. companies and infrastructure projects need skilled workers speaks to how poorly the Liberals executed this strategy.

“The Liberals, at every step, have not made choices that would advance employment and income levels. For example, at the start of this year, they chose to spend millions of scarce dollars on self-serving promotional ads, rather than skills training programs that would allow British Columbians to get qualified for high paying jobs,” said Elmore.

Backgrounder

The failure of the Liberals’ 28 month old Jobs Plans as an economic strategy is reflected by faltering job figures plus a host of other related economic indicators:

– Ninth in private sector job growth relative to other provinces, September 2011- December 2013 (source, Statistics Canada);
– Highest unemployment rate, lowest employment rate and lowest growth GDP, among western provinces (source, RBC Economics) ;
– Ninth in the growth of household income relative to other provinces (source, BC Business Council)
– Highest child poverty rate in the nation (source, First Call)
– Middling productivity rate that also is below the national average (source, B.C. Business Council; Statistics Canada)
– Negative interprovincial migration over nine consecutive quarters, resulting in a loss of 12,781 people to other provinces (source, Statistics Canada)
– Highest rate of income inequality among provinces, with largest gap between the top 20 and bottom 20 percent of income earners source, BC Stats)