Dear Editor:
Last week wasn't exactly a stellar one for the B.C. Liberal government.
A report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives crunched the employment numbers and found Christy Clark's "Jobs Plan" a bust. Not only has the private sector failed to create jobs, but there has actually been an overall loss of 12,000 job in the last two years.
This disheartening news was confirmed a few days later by Stats Canada. In addition, however, it reported British Columbia saw 10,000 full-time jobs replaced by 23,000 part-time jobs. It's a disturbing trend.
Minister Shirley Bond tried to put a brave face on it by reckoning there were 26,000 new jobs created since the government's Job Plan was announced in September 2011. But, of course, that number doesn't stand up once the job loss - particularly full-time job loss - is factored in. The bottom line is that the Liberals job creation initiative is a dismal failure.
And let's not get too hopeful that the liquefied natural gas industry will be picking up the slack. That's iffy at best. So far, there is only one LNG plant proposal on the table and whether or not it goes ahead won't be known until the end of this year. However, even if it does get built, it won't create that many full-time jobs.
We're often told by Clark and her ministers that the best way to generate jobs is through private sector investment, and that government's role is to create an investment climate. However, it's obvious that isn't working.
Maybe it's time to stop trying to "grow" the economy and, instead, start managing it.
Bill Brassington, Burnaby
