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VICTORIA – Positive job growth and increased housing starts show B.C.'s economy is on the right track, Labour Minister Graham Bruce said today.
“More working families have full-time jobs than ever before in British Columbia,” Bruce said. “With 130,000 jobs created since December 2001, B.C.’s employment growth rate has led the country.”
Bruce said strong gains in the Northeast – where the unemployment rate has fallen from seven percent a year ago to 4.6 percent in March – are a direct result of provincial policies to encourage oil and gas exploration.
“Those policies have translated directly into jobs and prosperity for communities like Fort St. John and Fort Nelson where there is more and more year-round activity in the oil patch.”
Bruce also noted that a high unemployment rate of 13 per cent in the Nechako/North Coast region underscores the importance of developing aquaculture and offshore petroleum and revitalizing rail transportation. “Carole James has consistently opposed bringing these kinds of opportunities to working families on the coast. Improving rail transportation will have immediate benefits to this region.”
“The Port of Prince Rupert is 18 hours closer to Asian markets than any other North American port. With a commitment for a direct rail link to the U.S. mid-west, we have the potential for unprecedented growth both in Prince Rupert and all along the BC Rail Corridor. It’s going to have as big an impact as building a super highway right from Prince Rupert through Prince George and down to North Vancouver.”
Urban housing starts – another key economic indicator – were up 44 per cent in the first quarter of 2004 over the same period last year. “This shows the kind of confidence people have in the economy,” Bruce said. “Working families don’t go out and buy new homes when they are worried about losing their jobs. They are seeing that B.C. is becoming a better place to live and work.
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