While Canada posted modest job gains in July, warning lights are still flashing in British Columbia. Youth unemployment remains stubbornly high, leaving too many first-time jobseekers shut out of the workforce. BC also lost 3,400 public administration jobs in July, likely as temporary Census positions ended. “BC's jobs divide remains stark. Unemployment is far higher in business-driven communities like Kelowna (9.3%) and Abbotsford-Mission (8.3%) than in Victoria (5.0%). Government should be focused on creating the conditions for private-sector investment and job growth,” said Gavin Dew, MLA for Kelowna-Mission and Shadow Minister for Economic Development. “We need an economy where young people can find work, businesses can hire, and every region has the opportunity to prosper.” This comes as BC faces five straight quarters where more businesses are closing than opening, an NDP cabinet rift over job-creating projects like Tilbury LNG, and fresh signs that even the province's to...
To me, this looks like the Leader of the Opposition doing what he often does politically. The Prime Minister, by contrast, has taken off the table the idea that Ottawa is categorically opposed to pipelines and, through the MOU, effectively put the ball in Alberta’s court with defined parameters.
ReplyDeleteThat said, there’s a broader disconnect between political rhetoric and corporate reality.
Pipelines make the most sense in a high‑growth environment where production is scaling rapidly. But if companies are prioritizing cash flow over expansion, incremental egress may be sufficient for a long‑lived, stable production base.
After the 2014–16 collapse and the 2020 shock, the industry shifted. Windfalls today are largely used to pay down debt, strengthen balance sheets, and fund dividends and buybacks — not to launch new mega‑projects.
Yet many conservative politicians, including Smith and Poilievre, still talk as if we’re one pipeline away from another 2006‑style boom. The industry itself is behaving like a mature sector: disciplined capex, long‑lived assets, cash returns.