Panel raps B.C.'s 'social condition'
Vancouver Sun
Dec 14, 2007
By: Jonathan Fowlie

VICTORIA - B.C. is lagging behind in economic growth, crime-fighting and caring for the province's most vulnerable citizens, a group of Premier Gordon Campbell's handpicked advisers warned Thursday.

In a report released Thursday, the B.C. Progress Board -- 18 business executives and academic leaders -- for the second year in a row named B.C. the second-worst province in the country on a number of social indicators….

"The most troubling social indicator is the proportion of British Columbians living below the low-income threshold," says the report, which calls the social condition category "one of the most compelling considerations" for judging a society.

The report says the proportion of people living on low incomes in B.C. has been greater than other provinces through much of the past decade.

But Minister of Employment and Income Assistance Claude Richmond said the government has introduced programs to close the gap between rich and poor.

He said much of the board's data is from 2005 or 2006, so it fails to reflect the most recent initiatives.

"We got the income assistance rates up to about the third highest in Canada and that doesn't show in their report," he said.

"We are narrowing the gap."

But Richmond said he and the rest of the government will take the report seriously and see where improvements can be made.

New Democratic Party leader Carole James said the report points out "that the government and Gordon Campbell have missed building the foundation that you need in B.C. to keep our economy growing and to support families and communities.

"Over the last six years, when we've had record surpluses in our province's history, that's when you build that foundation.

"That's when you do the work to make sure you diversify the economy, that you support these communities," she added….

The report also noted B.C. dropped from second to sixth in overall economic growth.

Indicators contributing to this are productivity, where B.C. ranked fifth among the provinces, and exports, where B.C. came ninth….