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Population Numbers Game: One Man's Opinion

By Ben Meisner

Wednesday, March 14, 2007 03:44 AM

     
We made need some serious soul searching in view of the latest population statistics released showing a further drop in population in the City of Prince George proper.
We hit a high of 75,150 people, in 1996, up from 69,653 in 1991, since then our population has hit the skids.
In 2001, we had dropped to 72,406 people, in the latest census of 2006 a further drop of 1425 to 70,981.
Now it is very easy to see where the drop took place.
Since 1996, for those who can recall, this City saw a major drop in the number of people employed in the forest industry.  The cuts in employees from Northwood and Canfor accounted for the loss of 500 families alone, that adds up to 2,000 people. Add to that the fact that the lumber industry has become much more technically advanced.  In 1996, a job in the bush that used to take  5 people, now only  needs one person.
The effect of this change was a disaster for  the young of our region.
We lost many of our young people to Alberta simply because no work existed here. To be sure ,UNBC did help because it kept many of our young at home to study. But that stop gap was not large enough.
In the past couple of years, those middle income earners who have wanted to move to a more modern, larger home have been able to do just that. Interest rates have been at an all time low, building costs (until last year) were at an all time low. That move freed up a lot of older homes that went on the market and were snapped up by young people living in apartments  or leaving the family nest in the city.
The out of town students fell into those spaces, with the result that while building boomed, the population did not.
Now as a side bar it is hard to blame the former NDP government for this population drop, remember they have been out of the picture for some time.
So where are we now?
Instead of sticking to our knitting at home, we have the notion that we can hit a home run of fshore. 
Well the proof has been in the pudding.
Instead of trying to secure some major cargo haulers to land at an expanded runway, we are trying to sell the idea of Train in PG for the Olympics, an Olympics which in the end will do nothing for the entire north.
 
Let’s see  that double lane highway built,  let’s see some of that beetle money promised flowing to the area, because if we don’t start setting our sights closer to home, the next census will show the effects of the existing mentality. 
I’m Meisner and that’s one man’s opinion  

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Posted on Wednesday, March 14, 2007 03:44 AM in Views by Ben Meisner

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Comments

Comment Posted by: owl on March 14 2007 6:57 AM
If we could only have some on Council understand this and take action rather than taking the position that a mistake has been made.

Look around ... Calgary is actually 1.5 million instead of 1 million ... and Vancouver 2.5 instead of 2.1 million ... and Quesnel lost no one either ... and no, Barry Ontario really did not grow more than 20% ... more of those Ontario people boasting ....

;-)

Comment Posted by: Chadermando on March 14 2007 7:27 AM
I believe the writing is on the perverbial wall for PG. All the save the day pipe dreams are quickly going bust, and our politicians are still on holidays. The next election could very well be the most important in this regions history.
Comment Posted by: golffan856 on March 14 2007 8:14 AM
You can't artifcially retain people to your area just by building a highway or expanding your runway. There is a general shortage of skilled labour across the country. You want to expand your economy in a time when macroeconomics tells you 'you can't'? What you should be campaigning for is a managed/controlled downturn. Campaign for an effective beetle management solution. For without that, you will see more mill closures in rapid succession.

We are on the down cycle of a golden era. Good economic growth and low interest rates. Continued growth is not sustainable.
Comment Posted by: golffan856 on March 14 2007 8:41 AM
You can't artifcially retain people to your area just by building a highway or expanding your runway. There is a general shortage of skilled labour across the country. You want to expand your economy in a time when macroeconomics tells you 'you can't'? What you should be campaigning for is a managed/controlled downturn. Campaign for an effective beetle management solution. For without that, you will see more mill closures in rapid succession.

We are on the down cycle of a golden era. Good economic growth and low interest rates. Continued growth is not sustainable.
Comment Posted by: Runner46 on March 14 2007 1:30 PM
I think what ben is getting at is what the that both the increased capacity of the highway and airport will allow for new opportunities that create jobs.
Comment Posted by: trueblue2 on March 14 2007 8:07 PM
Better highway and air access will certainly help any effort towards an inland container port. And something like THAT would provide lots of jobs - enough to make up for at least some of the mill closures which are inevitable once the beetle kill harvesting is completed.
And that day is coming within the next 10 years. Someone should ask Canfor what their 10 year plan is for PG? Where will be wood come from? Pine has always been the standard feed for the 2 by 4s which have employed thousands.

When the NDP were on their way out, there was a HAVE WE HAD ENOUGH campaign. Well, no, we haven't because no one, not one MLA not one councillor much less the mayor will address the inevitable and what is going to be done to change the course.
Comment Posted by: trueblue2 on March 14 2007 8:07 PM
Better highway and air access will certainly help any effort towards an inland container port. And something like THAT would provide lots of jobs - enough to make up for at least some of the mill closures which are inevitable once the beetle kill harvesting is completed.
And that day is coming within the next 10 years. Someone should ask Canfor what their 10 year plan is for PG? Where will be wood come from? Pine has always been the standard feed for the 2 by 4s which have employed thousands.

When the NDP were on their way out, there was a HAVE WE HAD ENOUGH campaign. Well, no, we haven't because no one, not one MLA not one councillor much less the mayor will address the inevitable and what is going to be done to change the course.
Comment Posted by: diplomat on March 16 2007 6:22 PM
We talked to people in Quesnel and they are just as disbelieving of the census numbers as we are over here!

Business people tell us that Quesnel had an increase - not a decrease.

Perhaps the effort to follow up on and locate every possible person wasn't as dedicated as one likes to believe.

It costs a lot of money to keep census takers on the payroll for an extended period of time so perhaps they just folded up and called it a day.

After all, the towns/cities are the losers and the Feds save the transfer money for the next five years for every person that was missed.