Worsening job quality, stagnant wages and increased inequality have been the hallmarks of the Liberal government in British Columbia since 2001.
A modest increase in full-time employment has the Liberals claiming victory, but the real story is that British Columbians have less stable employment and less likelihood of family-supporting jobs under the Campbell and Clark governments.
Job Creation: worse under the Liberals than under the New Democrats: Under the NDP, B.C. gained 383,100 jobs (1,577,800 to 1,960,900) in 115 months (November 1991 to May 2001) and total jobs grew by 24.3 per cent in that period. Under the Liberals, B.C. gained 325,300 jobs (1,959,600 to 2,298,100) in 127 months (June 2001 to December 2011), for total job growth of only 16.6 per cent.
CIBC job quality index – CIBC economist Benjamin Tal issued his latest job quality report Jan. 25, showing that B.C. job quality dropped again in 2011. On their measures of full-time vs. part-time, compensation, and self-employment, the B.C. job quality index has been declining for 11 years and is the lowest in the country.
Stagnant wages– Between 2001 and 2011, B.C. average weekly wages grew more slowly than in any other province; 29 per cent vs. 36 per cent for the Canadian average. Between 1991 and 2001, BC wages grew faster than in any province except Alberta.
Resource-based job losses– Between 2001 and 2011, B.C. lost 28,000 family-supporting jobs in the natural resource and manufacturing sectors. In that period we lost 11 per cent of the total jobs in the sector when the labour force grew by 18 per cent.
Highest Income Inequality– In January, B.C. Stats reviewed the data and found that B.C. has the largest income gap in Canada, with the bottom 20 per cent of British Columbians earning just 7.7 per cent of what the top 20 percent make, and well down from the 22 per cent seen in the 1990s.
Highest child poverty rate– B.C. has had the highest rate of child poverty for eight years in a row and the numbers are rising.
Lowering working standards– The B.C. Liberals have deliberately made it harder for workers to enforce their rights, leading to more low-paying and insecure employment.
B.C. most indebted and vulnerableB.C. households are the most vulnerable in Canada to interest rate hikes or an economic downturn, says a February 2010 report by TD Economics. B.C.'s debt-to-income ratio is 160 per cent – the same level reached in the United States just before the financial crisis and housing meltdown hit.
Negative savings rate– B.C. has had a negative personal saving rate in all the years of the Liberal government. In 2010 we had the second lowest saving rate in the country, at -3.3 per cent. (StatsCan)
QUOTE:Bruce Ralston, New Democrat Finance Critic
“The Liberal record on job creation is at best mediocre. Put in context of the worst-in-Canada rankings of poverty and absolute inequality, it’s clear the Liberals have utterly failed British Columbia families.”