Thoughts on BC Politics and More

Gavin Dew, MLA for Kelowna-Mission and Critic for Jobs, Economic Development, Innovation and Artificial Intelligence, is sounding the alarm on BC’s youth job crisis following the latest Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey, which shows rising youth unemployment, increasing unemployment overall, and continued losses in private sector employment across British Columbia. Youth unemployment increased from 14.4 per cent to 15.3 per cent in May, while more than 7,300 young people left British Columbia over the past year. BC's unemployment rate remained at 6.8 per cent, but total unemployment increased from 210,700 to 212,200 people while the province's population declined. "We are facing a youth jobs crisis. You see it in the stats and you hear it from youth and their worried parents," said Dew. "I'm getting more calls than ever from people desperately looking for summer jobs for their kids. More than 7,000 young people have left B.C. in the last year in search of...

Yes, I’m ready to lead on Day One. Not only because I hold a seat in the legislature, which is important, but because the days following winning the election are critically important to the survival of our province.  You may have seen a poll lately that shows that I am the only leadership candidate who will form a majority government and defeat the NDP. I’m humbled to hear that. Rather than get complacent, I'm reminded of the responsibility I bear to you, and to every British Columbian. Seeing that poll reminds me that simply winning this leadership race, and even becoming Premier, isn’t good enough. Because British Columbians like you deserve more than just a Conservative government. You deserve a Conservative government with a plan for the future, and that’s exactly what my message today is all about. The first 100 days will be critical when conservatives like you and I win back our government. We will have to move FAST, with determination, confidence and disciplined execu...

Time for a rant. Canadian voters are so fickle.  A year ago the number one issue was the economy (as it should have been), then it switched to Donald Trump (look a squirrel!!), now it’s back on the economy again.  I’ve noticed many Canadians like to self-congratulate themselves on being so smart, but if that is true, then we might’ve spared ourselves 10 wasted years with the Trudeau experiment. We had the strongest middle class in the G7 in 2015. The economy was booming, taxes were low, we had a balanced budget, we were poised to become the richest country in the world per capita, we had an immigration system that was the envy of the western world, we were respected (not irrelevant) on the world stage, and we could be proud. All of that was squandered ... Needlessly ... Sadly. Now voter's attention is back on the economy, with the media claiming that the government needs to create jobs.  Hey! Shocker! The government does not create jobs! The best they can do is create con...

When governments talk about the employment recovery following COVID-19, it is important to understand where job growth has actually occurred. A new study published by the Fraser Institute today finds that since the onset of COVID, government-sector job growth outpaced private-sector growth – in all 10 provinces! Nationally, the number of government-sector jobs increased 11.8%, while the number of private sector jobs increased only 3.3%. Of the four largest provinces, BC had the fastest rate of government sector job growth at 22.6% and the slowest rate of private sector job growth at 0.3%. Alberta had the lowest rate of government sector job growth at 8.9%, and the fastest rate of private sector job growth at 6.2%. See where the other provinces placed – and find out which four provinces experienced negative private sector job growth --- CLICK HERE

The wage premium and more generous benefits that government workers in Canada enjoy over their private-sector counterparts is one area governments could look to reduce costs following the recession, finds a new study by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank. “ At a time when governments across Canada are facing serious fiscal pressures as a result of the recession, bringing government sector compensation in line with the private sector would help reduce costs without necessarily affecting services ,” said Ben Eisen, a senior fellow with the Fraser Institute. The study, Comparing Government and Private Sector Compensation in Canada , finds that government employees across Canada—including federal, provincial and municipal workers—were paid 33.5 per cent higher wages, on average, than workers in the private sector in 2018, the most recent year of available comparable data from Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey. Even after adjusting f...

Wages for g overnment employees in B ritish Columbia were 5.8 per cent higher ( on average) than wages for comparable workers in the province’s private sector last year , finds a new study by the Fraser Institute , an independent, non- partisan Canadian public policy think- tank.   “ Of course, all levels of government in BC should offer competitive compensation to attract qualified employees, but wages and benefits in the government sector are clearly out of step with the private sector ,” said Jake Fuss, policy analyst at the Fraser Institut e.   In addition to the wage gap (which accounts for worker characteristics such as age, gender, education and type of work ) the study , Comparing Government and Private Sector Compensation in British Columbia , finds that government employees in BC — including federal, provincial and municipal workers — also enjoyed more generous benefit s in 2018, the latest year of comparable data.   For example ...