Thoughts on BC Politics and More

... The excitement they imagine stems from the estimate there will be one million job openings in the next decade. That number has been in play for more than decade and whichever party is in power always hails it as a sign of a strong economy. But the excitement turns to something different when you look closer at the labour outlook. When the plan for filling one million jobs in 10 years is compared to the all-consuming housing crisis, there’s not much in the way of jubilation ... CLICK HERE for the full story

Canada’s biggest bank is warning investors of an economic slowdown brewing. Gross domestic product (GDP) data for Q2 won’t be released until next week, but RBC  expects it to show the economy was hit with a sharp slowdown. Coupled with a mild acceleration to inflation, everyone has one question—is a slowing economy enough to prevent further rate hikes?  Canada’s plan to use rapid population growth to stimulate demand isn’t producing the desired effect. Statistics Canada (Stat Can) released its preliminary estimate showing annual GDP growth falling to just 1% in Q2. It’s a sharp deceleration from the previous quarter (+3.1%), leaving annual growth lower than population growth   CLICK HERE for the full story 

Canada’s Millennials are doing worse than previous generations by virtually every metric. RBC Economics shared a report focusing on debt, labor, and economic risks.   They found that Millennial incomes are failing to keep up in the current environment, leading to less disposable income. Boomers are doing much better, so it may sound like it all washes out at a high level. However, the shift in consumption can amplify the shock of any economic downturn ...   CLICK HERE for the full story

  Canadian millennials , particularly those who own a home, are set to face steep interest costs and economic damage in the months ahead, according to a new report from RBC.   Rising interest rates are set to ratchet up the pain on millennials and younger Generation X adults, RBC argues, leaving them especially vulnerable to job losses should the economy slow sharply in the months ahead.   Debt loads are particularly straining on core-age working adults compared with two decades earlier, RBC economist Carrie Freestone argued in the report released Wednesday ... CLICK HERE for the full story

We shouldn’t allow the economic consequences of the government’s policy failure on the cost-of-living crisis to be forgotten.   Since inflation reared its head in 2021, workers and consumers have been attacked on multiple fronts. On average, workers have seen their real purchasing power eroded by prices outpacing wage growth. Meanwhile, the response to inflation from the Bank of Canada has in many ways exacerbated the cost-of-living crisis. Although interest rate hikes haven’t engineered the levels of unemployment many anticipated , they have nevertheless added cost pressures in the form of higher payments on debt, including mortgages.    Governments have largely failed to meaningfully act to cushion the blow of rising prices, let alone address the sources of the problem. This inaction has been all the more maddening in the face of what many have characterized as either “profit-push” or “cost-push” inflation. To put it simply, critics on the left have demonstrate...

For three weeks this Fall the focus in the Saanich schools was on the quality of public education in British Columbia. I received a lot of feedback from my constituents during the labour disruption. One of those messages was from Judy Reimche, a grandmother and a former journalist on the Saanich Peninsula.  I decided to share her perspective here, because I felt it was a fair representation of much of the sentiment that people shared with me. Education is our society’s top priority. We hear that said all the time, but government doesn’t walk the talk. For more than a decade, the school district budgets across the province have been cut, deeply, by government, beginning with Gordon Campbell Liberals in 2001. At the same time, demands on the education system have grown exponentially. That’s putting budgets first, and not necessarily the education budget. Other countries have made a conscious decision to put education – kids — fir...

The following message from Jeanne of Victoria (a former Alberta resident), was sent to Suits and Boots.   They have approved the reprinting of it here: I used to live in Alberta. I now live in Victoria BC, land of retired civil servants, but my family and friends still live in Alberta. Bill C-69 matters to me because I know it is wrong to eliminate the livelihood of some people in Canada, to benefit the narrow ideology of a few ... especially at a time when a majority government can push through what it wants. If there is a purpose to the Canadian Senate, it is now to give a sober, second look at a flawed bill and send it back. This is what I ask, and here is why.   We are a federation, but right now that aspect of our country, and of our economy, seems to be forgotten.   When I was living in Alberta, our family earned a livelihood in a part of the province where gas and oil development was one source for a healthy economy -- side b...

Senate under pressure to overhaul controversial Bill C-69.   Industry lobbying senators for changes to proposed environmental assessment laws John Paul Tasker ~~ CBC News ~~ Mar 17, 2019 The federal Liberal government's controversial overhaul of environmental assessment legislation has united virtually every major natural resource industry association in opposition —they're asking the Senate committee studying Bill C-69 to make some fixes to avoid threatening the viability of key sectors of the economy ... the government itself has recognized it may have to agree to some tweaks to get the legislation ... through the Red Chamber. Since the Senate began its study of Bill C-69 last month, however, industry representatives from the oil and gas, hydro, nuclear and uranium sectors have appeared before the energy committee with a long list of suggested amendments. Rather than a few tweaks, these industries are proposing major rewrites. While the gove...