Bruce Ralston, MLA • Surrey-Whalley

VANCOUVER – Friday’s employment figures from Statistics Canada are the latest in a series of statistics showing B.C. is faring worse than other provinces when it comes to recovering from the downturn, say the New Democrats.

“The B.C. Liberals have been driving without a steering wheel since the last election,” said New Democrat finance critic Bruce Ralston . “The province’s economic recovery plan has been an utter letdown.

“What’s particularly disconcerting is that the new leadership hopefuls in the B.C. Liberal Party are just more of the same.”

Employment figures released today show that employment in British Columbia edged down again in January, and the unemployment rate increased from 7.6 per cent to 8.2 per cent, above the national average.

In March 2010, Finance Minister Colin Hansen said “B.C. will still do better than other jurisdictions” when it comes to economic recovery, but Ralston said that promise just hasn’t happened.

“The B.C. Liberals like to pretend they are wizards when it comes to money, but the facts show their economic record is poor,” said Ralston. “B.C. Stats numbers show average growth under the B.C. Liberals has been 2.4 per cent, compared to an average growth of 3.0 per cent between 1992 and 2000.

“And B.C. has been a ‘have-not’ province, receiving equalization payments six times between 2001 and 2009, compared to only one in the previous decade.”

Ralston noted Christy Clark, Kevin Falcon, George Abbott and Mike De Jong were cabinet members during this dismal period.

“The only new idea to help the economy that the B.C. Liberals have had since the last election is the HST,” said Ralston. “But it hasn’t turned out to be the great saviour the B.C. Liberals hoped for. In fact, in some industries, such as the restaurant and new homes sectors, it’s been more of an anchor.”

Ralston said families in B.C. have especially been hurt by the B.C. Liberal economic record.

“Between 2000 and 2010, B.C. lost approximately 50,000 family-supporting jobs in natural resource and manufacturing industries and rural communities have been hit hard by the dozens of forestry operations that have shut down,” said Ralston. “According to the latest numbers from Statistics Canada, B.C. had the worst job loss in the country in the past two months, losing 12,800 jobs in December and a further 9,100 in January.”

The New Democrat vision for a strong, dynamic economy includes a fair and competitive tax environment, support for small business, fiscal responsibility, a fair minimum wage with predictable increases, and investment in green jobs to diversify our economic base.