BC’s economic management brilliant says Premier

I’m sitting here today where most economists are saying we have the best economy in the country and we have opportunities not just for job growth but investment growth that are unmatched anywhere in the continent. (Gordon Campbell speaking to reporters this week)

The Liberal government has always claimed its biggest virtue is economic competence. Hence the recent quote above where Gordon Campbell says everything is wonderful now.

Unfortunately, as with the HST issue, it appears that a lot of information is not going over the Premier’s desk.

Take for example the recent RBC report on provincial economies that found with an anticipated growth rate of 3.3% for 2010, BC is running behind, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Ontario. We managed only to tie the national average. RBC has actually cut its predicted growth for BC from 3.5%. In terms of Real GDP per capita RBC finds BC behind Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Newfoundland. In terms of International Exports as a % of Real GDP (to my surprise) RBC reports that the only province lower than BC is Nova Scotia.

How about unemployment? According to the Labour Force report released today employment in British Columbia went up by 0.2% in the last month and 2.7% in the past year. That rate of growth puts us behind Newfoundland, PEI and Quebec. Our actual current unemployment rate is higher than Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

Like many other comments from the provincial government recently, it appears their remarks on their economic brilliance must be taken with much more than a grain of salt.

Topics: Economy