Jock Finlayson
Non-residential construction set to buttress B.C.’s economy
With mounting concerns about a slowing global economy and a worrying downshift in per capita growth across the advanced economies, the recent release of Statistics Canada’s Provincial and Territorial...
A close look at metrics reveals weakness in Canadian economy
With the federal election on the doorstep, now is a good time to look at where Canada stands in overall prosperity and assess how the pronouncements being made by the party leaders stand up against...
How Canada can up the country’s lacklustre innovation game
Across the world, governments are striving to stimulate innovation to help accelerate economic growth, increase productivity and reduce the environmental impact of industrial and other types of human...
Rising cost of public services outpaces inflation in private sector
Reviewing trends in inflation can provide useful insights into the evolution of the larger economy. Consumer price inflation in B.C., as computed by Statistics Canada, averaged 1.6% annually over...
Technological disruption unlikely to trigger labour doomsday
Today, economists and policy analysts interested in the future of work are confronted with a mix of conflicting evidence and forecasts. On the one hand are projections pointing to large-scale...
Trouble in B.C.’s woods means trouble for the province’s economy
Battered and bleeding, the B.C. lumber industry has seen better days. Today, it is grappling with tough market conditions, a diminished domestic timber supply (along with rising fibre costs), U.S....
The messy mathematics of British Columbia’s CleanBC plan
Climate change is a pre-eminent topic these days, especially as evidence accumulates that the effects of global warming are already being felt. Thus the B.C. government’s timing, in releasing its...
Bold moves needed now to resolve Lower Mainland livability crisis
It is time to get serious about transportation, housing, regional planning and growth in the Lower Mainland. When thinking about the region’s future and concerns about housing affordability and...
Changes to employment law would upset labour market balance
The BC NDP government’s activist policy agenda continues to keep the B.C. business community on its toes. The latest example is the government’s plan to overhaul the Employment Standards Act (ESA)....
Balance tops business wish list for B.C. Budget 2019
As the BC NDP government prepares to table its 2019 budget, there is no reason to believe that Finance Minister Carole James is contemplating any major course corrections. The province’s finances...