My son, Peter, turned 15 this week, and he will be graduating from high school in a year and a half.
He thinks deeply on big ideas, so I asked him recently about how he feels about the future. His response? “Until the focus shifts to the root of the issues we’re facing, it will be hard to be optimistic.”
COVID-19 won’t be the only shock that we will need to endure. Impacts from climate change, shifting demographics and growing inequality are all potentially destabilizing, and governments that respond to and plan for these challenges will be the ones that bring the best outcomes.
There is no doubt that B.C.’s economy will recover from the financial and systemic impacts of COVID-19, but governments have a role in determining the shape of that recovery. We can choose a path that leads us towards innovation and knowledge-based economy, with a thriving small and medium-sized enterprise sector, but this will require informed, strategic choices about government investments.
In B.C., the shift to a knowledge-based economy is already underway. In 1997, 8% of B.C.’s employment was attributable to resource industries; by 2016 it was 4.4%. During the same period, employment in the high-tech sector grew to 4.5% from 3.1%.
Government can either accelerate this shift or delay it.
If we are going to see real and permanent success as a knowledge-based economy, there are three top priorities that government should focus on.
First and foremost, we must invest in education – from early childhood all the way to postgraduate studies. We need to be able to provide career-changers access to skill development programs in an easy and efficient way. Business owners need their employees to have access to agile education programs that are responsive to the changing job requirements and opportunities.
Secondly, we need to support towns across B.C. as they transition from resource-based economies to technology hubs.
The provincial government should be investing in innovation hubs and infrastructure that will help transform the economies of the regions in B.C. that have historically relied on resource industries.
Finally, we need to lean into measuring our health and well-being. COVID has shown us that health and economy are inextricably linked, and that it’s time to move away from our 100-year use of the gross domestic product to measure the economy. New Zealand has adopted well-being budgets that prioritize mental health, child well-being, supporting the aspirations of Indigenous people, enhancing productivity and transforming the economy. B.C. and Canada should do the same.
We have this incredible economic opportunity that we didn’t have a year ago. The worst thing we can do is recreate what has always been. Let’s be bold, address the roots of issues that we face, and give young people reasons to be optimistic about their future. •
Sonia Furstenau is BC Green Party Leader and MLA for Cowichan Valley.
