While so many of us undoubtedly have much to be thankful for this coming Thanksgiving Day, this is definitely not one of those things.
The Business Council of British Columbia’s Sept. 28 response to the provincial government’s first quarterly update indicates what most of us are already well aware of – the province is facing declining income and prosperity.
A press release from the council indicates it is “deeply concerned about the expected economic slowdown and rapid deterioration in the province’s fiscal position” and its “sobering implications.”
Unless the economy becomes the NDP government’s top priority, BCBC maintains, and it focuses on investment and stronger economic growth, many households in this province “will continue to confront falling living standards in the next few years.”
The government revealed through its update that instead of the economy growing by 1.5 per cent, as was expected, it’s now forecast to grow by a “sluggish” 0.8 per cent in 2024, bumping B.C. from being a Canadian leader in growth down to near the bottom of provincial rankings with real per capita income forecast to drop by two per cent in 2023 and by another two per cent in 2024/25.
Ken Peacock, chief economist for the business council, warns that the “amount of income per person generated in the B.C. economy is on track to fall back to where it was five years ago in 2017-2018” and that this is “moving us in the wrong direction and making many people at the grocery store and gas pumps feel they are falling behind, because the unfortunate reality is they are.”
That’s definitely some bitter food for thought as we approach Thanksgiving 2023.
– Now-Leader