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Northerners must speak with one voice

By 250 News

By Peter Ewart

For many decades, the Central and Northern Interior of BC have contributed huge amounts of revenues to the provincial government coffers in the form of stumpage fees, royalties and taxes. Over the years this contribution has amounted to tens of billions of dollars which the governments of various stripes have utilized in various ways, many of which have benefited the North little or not at all.

The latest example is the much hyped 2010 Vancouver – Whistler Olympics. This two-week extravaganza of gold medals to athletes and concrete monuments to politicians is estimated to suck billions of dollars out of the provincial and federal government budgets. What will be the return? Construction companies in the Lower Mainland will make a lot of money, and so will the tourist industry. But even the most starry eyed and enthusiastic politician has a hard time explaining how the Olympics will benefit in any substantial way the resource extraction and manufacturing heart of British Columbia.

The latest revelation from John Furlong, the CEO of the Vancouver Olympics Organizing Committee, is that construction costs for the Games venues and facilities could jump 40 to 50% over original estimates. The reason given is that “the original estimate was made in 2002 dollars.” Apparently, Organizing Committee representatives have only just learned the elementary accounting lesson that in a multi-year construction venture you must factor into your estimate what material, labour, and other costs will be in 5 or 6 years, as well as other factors such as inflation. That is why it is called an estimate. Perhaps part of the problem is that the firm involved in developing the estimates for the Olympics was none other than the Arthur Anderson firm whose parent company was implicated in the Enron accounting scandal in the U.S. Critics of the 2010 Olympics raised this fact several years ago but were ignored amidst all the hoopla.

Another concern raised by Derek Holt, RBC Financial Group’s chief economist, is that “there’s a strong chance the provincial economy will go into a serious slump” immediately after the Vancouver Whistler Olympics (Richmond Review, Nov. 26, 2005). Unfortunately, that is about the same time that the full brunt of the downturn in our region as a result of the pine beetle infestation is expected to hit us.

So Northerners could be facing a “perfect storm” of their own in terms of these three threats: spiraling Olympics costs, economic downturn after the Olympics, and economic downturn as a result of the pine beetle infestation. Add in a possible U.S. recession and there could well be a serious problem ahead for our region. Yet for the next five years we know that the provincial government is going to be caught up in the hoopla of the Olympics and dazzled by all the “glory” it will bring.

In the midst of this “perfect storm”, Northerners will have to make their concerns loud and clear about the pine beetle epidemic, and the billions of dollars of aid from government for economic development, reforestation, displaced worker training and so on that are vital to see our region through this turbulent period.

One of the problems in the past is that Northerners have not spoken with a unified voice to the provincial government. Too often, our political representatives, as well as various organizations they have influence over, have taken positions that are contrary to the interests of Northerners. The sale of BC Rail to CN is one of the sorriest examples.

Why is this the case? Party factionalism is a big factor. Instead of Northerners and their representatives lining up together to make demands of the provincial government, too often they line up according to party faction, that is, either the Liberals or NDP. This factionalism is very destructive for the North and prevents us from bringing maximum weight to our demands.

We, as northerners, have contributed hugely to the province over the last 50 or 60 years. Today we are facing some serious economic problems down the road, and it is our turn to get something substantial back. But to do so, we must speak with one voice, whether we are municipal or provincial politicians, Chamber of Commerce, unions, community groups or ordinary people. In terms of the longterm economic interest of our region and the province, our forests and the forest industry are far more important than the two-week extravaganza in 2010. But don’t bet that the politicians based in the Lower Mainland nor the provincial government thinks so.

Five years ago, concerned citizens filled the Multiplex with over 7,000 people who demanded that something be done about health care in the North. That got results. Regarding the pine beetle epidemic, maybe what is needed is a march on Vancouver and Victoria supported by everyone in the Interior and North. As the full extent of the pine beetle devastation unfolds, such an action may not be so far fetched

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