A recent trip to Vancouver to discuss the future of B.C.'s economy has again stirred the northern ire in this young advocate.
First: a thank you.
For the past year, Business in Vancouver has cordially hosted in this space a monthly column dedicated to northern B.C. economic issues, which I have gladly hijacked and transformed into a soapbox that would be more appropriately titled "Wake up Vancouver – our mines and mills pay for your bike lanes."
In that vein, I offer a sincere thank you to the staff at BIV for their ongoing tolerance of this monthly tirade.
Now, to matters at hand (and, yes, I plan to continue to operate under the above-outlined and, I might add, deftly crafted, ruse).
The B.C. economic discussion that I attended in June, which shall remain nameless, focused on the usual framework that accompanies such "collaborative" discussions: how do
we generate wealth while maintaining environmental and social integrity.
To which a clever attendee responded: Well, we find a way to generate wealth, protect the environment and the social cohesion of our society.
While this somewhat existential conversation about the economy continued, we northerners at the table attempted to outline a framework for how we see the economy.
First, B.C. remains a relatively small, export-focused economy.
In 2012, some 77% of provincial exports were derived from natural resources produced in rural B.C.
There it is.
Our exports are dependent on natural resources; commodities that we grow, fish or pull out of the ground.
B.C.'s economy remains resource dependent, a fact that is not likely to change any time soon, and any conversation about the economy must begin there.
The question is: how do we continue to responsibly extract resources from the land base and generate enough wealth to diversify the economy into new sectors?
The answer? Support small towns.
Vancouver is relatively insulated from a major economic collapse.
Communities such as Kitimat, Mackenzie and Tumbler Ridge have proven they're not, and yet they're responsible for much of the wealth generated in this province that supports health, education and social programs in the Lower Mainland and elsewhere.
If we're going to have a conversation about the future of B.C.'s economy, it needs to begin in the north.
It needs to focus on how
our small communities can
derive as much wealth from extractive industries as possible and reinvest that wealth in infrastructure and diversification that insulates them from future boom-and-bust cycles.
Here's a hare-brained idea: regional resource revenue sharing agreements that support rural infrastructure development.
As I've pointed out before, the lack of cell service in the north, coupled with narrow, twisty highways, isn't helping our economy.
Take highway expansion, for example, which illustrates how much a widened road can improve an economy.
After the Coquihalla Highway was developed in the 1980s, the number of new businesses in Kamloops increased 10%, while the value of construction in the city leaped to $100 million in the early 1990s from $40 million in 1985.
Kamloops' population has climbed 38% to 85,678 since the 1986 census – and the city has diversified from the forestry industry into a major centre and become Canada's tournament capital.
Kelowna, which was connected to the Coquihalla in 1990, has seen a 54% jump in its population to 117,312 since 1991 – and, despite its roots in forestry, tourism has become a major draw.
Prince George, which is serviced by two-lane highways in all four directions, has
seen only a 6% increase in its population to 71,974 since 1986.
And yet there is more than $70 billion in major projects proposed in northern B.C. in the coming years, for which Prince George will be the major service centre.
The Cariboo Connector project, a long-term strategy to widen the highway between Cache Creek and Prince George, is underfunded and slow going at best. Hence, long-term.
If we want to expand our provincial economy, we need to give a hand up to our small communities and ensure that we invest in basic infrastructure that sets the stage for an economy to expand: roads, power lines, rail lines, air access and digital communication.
If you're still not convinced, consider this: more than half of all major projects proposed across the province in the coming years are in northern B.C. – a region that accounts for only 8% of the province's population.
This region is set to punch above its weight in the years ahead, but it will be flat on
its back in the first round if
its hands are tied behind its back.
It's time that everyone in this province looked north.
The conversation about our future begins here.
