Dear editor,
It seems that our premier, Christy Clark, as of late, is going around the province bragging how great our provincial economy is.
Is that a great thing to do when she in effect has prorogued the fall sitting of the B.C. legislature?
Recently in Nanaimo, she addressed a Vancouver Island economic summit. According to the Edmonton Journal: “…Premier Christy Clark took aim at Alberta Tuesday in an election-style speech where she boasted her province doesn't need oil to be the country's top economic generator … She drew mild applause from the business crowd when she said B.C.'s job creation numbers are currently tops in Canada, ahead of Alberta, and B.C. has done it without oil revenues."
I thought I would check the facts.
According to the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, B.C. produces about one per cent of the oil produced in Canada. However, B.C. produces almost 25 per cent of Canadian natural gas, according to the NEB.
Then there are plans for eight new mines and upgrades to nine. Hey, we may even get the Raven coal mine here in our own back yard.
Apparently there could be more coal extracted from there to exceed ALL the coal ever previously mined on all of Vancouver Island. Yes, we may not need oil so our premier is able to tell Premier Alison Redford to shove it.
But this wonderfully rosy picture rests strongly on natural resources. Also, don’t forget forestry and fisheries.
So what if we are still hewers of wood and drawers of water, you might ask.
I suppose it is important for the economic pundits to tell us to strike while the iron is hot. After all there are more seniors and up and coming seniors to support.
Educate the younger workers to work in the resource and construction sectors. That will allow more seniors down the road to work in the service sector.
Who doesn't want to flip burgers at McDonalds in their retirement years? Now wouldn’t that be grand?
Ed Zirkwitz,
Royston