Premier Christy ClarkB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址渏obs planB次元官网网址� propaganda is gearing up for another election, complete with heavy-rotation TV ads assuring B.C. hockey and football fans that B次元官网网址渙ur opportunity is here.B次元官网网址�
The stated purpose of these feel-good ads is to highlight overdue investments in trades and technical education, and extol the virtues of the governmentB次元官网网址檚 housing policies.
The jobs plan has been ClarkB次元官网网址檚 marketing vehicle since she assumed the leadership of the BC Liberal Party in 2011. It was inspired by former prime minister Stephen HarperB次元官网网址檚 post-recession B次元官网网址渆conomic action plan,B次元官网网址� faded billboards for which can still be seen around B.C.
This marketing must work regardless of government ideology, because Alberta NDP Premier Rachel Notley now has an B次元官网网址淎lberta jobs planB次元官网网址� that also involves her standing in front of smiling people wearing hardhats.
Unfortunately, in most areas of B.C. as well as Alberta, whatB次元官网网址檚 lacking are actual jobs. Clark constantly repeats the figure of 191,000 net new jobs in B.C. in the past five years, and glosses over the fact that has occurred in southwest urban areas around Vancouver and Victoria.
The rest of the province has seen a net loss of jobs. Mills and mines have shut down or reduced production, and the gas fields of the northeast hit a low ebb with a series of delays to liquefied natural gas export proposals.
There is recovery in energy and commodity markets. IB次元官网网址檓 assured by Dawson Creek Mayor Dale Bumstead among others that drill rigs are returning to the Montney shale, a rich source of petroleum liquids that can be mixed with the Alberta heavy oil that will eventually start moving south and west in greater quantities.
The forest industry is in uncertain times, with declining timber supply and U.S. trade threats, and itB次元官网网址檚 looking for a break from the B.C. government in the pre-election budget that will be revealed in February. A legacy of B.C.B次元官网网址檚 resurrected provincial sales tax is that weB次元官网网址檙e the only place left in Canada where PST is charged on electricity bills.
And for all of ClarkB次元官网网址檚 rhetoric about the lowest personal income taxes, the business tax environment is not attractive.
According to the governmentB次元官网网址檚 own Commission on Tax Competitiveness, sales tax still lands on most machinery and equipment, for which B.C. has the third lowest investment rate in the country.
Combining corporate income tax, sales tax and non-residential property tax, B.C. comes in well above the national average, with a B次元官网网址渕arginal effective tax rateB次元官网网址� of 27.9 per cent compared to 18.9 per cent for the rest of Canada.
In the urban southwest, there is a building boom, an increase in service and technology jobs and steeply increasing cost of living driven by real estate prices. So we have areas with jobs but no place to live, and areas with cheap housing and no jobs.
The latest official version of ClarkB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址渏obs planB次元官网网址� was . The deadline for three LNG plants moves to construction underway by 2020, and mine opening and expansion goals are also kicked down the road.
The new headliner is B次元官网网址渋nnovation,B次元官网网址� with UBC president Santa Ono heading an effort to stimulate growth of new technology businesses through university research.
There will also be a B次元官网网址渃limate actionB次元官网网址� jobs plan, which seems even more vague. My guess is, look for lots of tree planting as well as paving this spring.
I wish I could tell you the NDP opposition has a clearer strategy for 2017, but so far thatB次元官网网址檚 not the case. More on that in a subsequent column.
Tom Fletcher is B.C. legislature reporter and columnist for Black Press. Email: tfletcher@blackpress.ca Twitter: @tomfletcherbc
