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“I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind.” ~~ John G. Diefenbaker

FORSETH – Going to deliver bad news? Governments do it late Friday afternoon, or in this case, in the middle of the night



It’s pretty well known that if a government – any government – is going to have bad news, or is hopeful something will be missed, it will be delivered late on a Friday afternoon ...

To that we can now add -- the middle of the night.

At the stroke of 12am last night (see above screen shot), I received an email from BCStats Infoline. In that email, they stated that:

Building Permits - The value of building permits issued by B.C. municipalities climbed (+7.1%, seasonally adjusted) in December, adding to a slight (+0.8%) increase recorded in November. Residential permits jumped (+22.4%), more than reversing the previous month’s (-6.5%) loss.

Here's the thing though ... clicking on the Read More link was where the real information of note was located.  It was where to find one more sign of how WRONG Carol James is when she talks about the alleged strength of our economy in BC.

Yes indeed figures released from BC Stats did indeed show the value of building permits issued in the province increased by 7.1% in December ... however ... the value of non-residential building permits, issued by BC municipalities, DECREASED by 24.6% .

Planned spending on commercial projects was reduced by fifteen percent (15%) ... and for industrial projects, planned spending was reduced by over twenty-five percent (25.4%).

Meantime, institutional and governmental went in the negative zone by a whopping 56.3%

Yesterday, in her budget speech, Finance Minister Carole James stated that;

“Working together will help us build a stronger B.C. for everyone, and that's what Budget 2020 is all about. It's about the fundamental changes our government has been making for the people of British Columbia.

She went on to say, “It's about delivering the results that keep us moving forward together.”

As you read about how ‘planned’ building project by BC business community are obviously being reconsidered, in light of the above noted reductions in building permits being taken out, I’ll ask this question ... 

... is this NDP government really ... building a stronger British Columbia for everyone – and delivering results that keep us moving forward?
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  1. John TwiggFebruary 19, 2020 at 7:48 PM

    Good find Alan! Issuing a statement at 12:01 a.m. is not terribly unusual but the data were cherry-picked and massaged - the NDP government clearly manipulated and obscured the message that stats show building permits have been tanking in many areas and sectors.

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