Tying minimum-wage increases to inflation and expanding revenue sources for British Columbia’s prosperity fund are among the 60 recommendations in a report released September 25 by the Business Council of BC (BCBC) and the BC Chamber of Commerce.
The report is based on discussions over the past year with various groups all over B.C. and is meant to serve as a launching point for a broader discussion on how to grow the province’s economy and stem the tide of growing income inequality.
An Ipsos Reid poll conducted for the report found that two-thirds of B.C. residents agree that the province’s economic prosperity will rely on developing the resources in the province’s north. More than half (53%) support developing the liquefied natural gas industry.
But the polarized debate over resource extraction in B.C. has continued to hamper future development, and that needs to change, according to BCBC president Greg D’Avignon.
“There isn’t a day that goes by where people aren’t opposed to something happening, but in the same breath they want smaller classrooms, more transit, and more things that add value to their lifestyle,” said D’Avignon. “But that equation doesn’t work. You can’t have more with less.
“The key message from the report is we need to do a better job at creating prosperity and sharing it, and let’s build better institutions for British Columbia. The vast majority of the province wants to get on with it and they want to find ways to participate in that prosperity more effectively.”
Ensuring regular, predictable and modest increases in B.C.’s statutory minimum wage tied to inflation is one area the report said is needed to alleviate some of the income inequality in B.C. Another is reforming to the pension system to help lower-income families save money for retirement.
But the government should also be expanding the revenue sources for its proposed prosperity fund to include royalties from industries including the mining, energy and forestry sectors.
“We think there is a broader opportunity in a prosperity fund that has more component parts of natural resources that are non-renewable,” said D’Avignon.
