In today’s Journal of Commerce, ICBA President Chris Gardner talks about B.C.’s political instability and its effect on the construction business. Spoiler alert: it’s not good. From the piece:
“Uncertainty still remains,” said Gardner. “It’s a precarious situation, where the B.C. Liberal government is likely to be defeated in a confidence motion.”
The uncertainty about the policies of the new NDP and Green government that will emerge from that non-confidence motion, Gardner said, will be challenging for the business and construction sectors.
Site C, the large-scale hydro project in northeastern B.C., is a concern, he added, since NDP leader John Horgan and B.C. Green leader Andrew Weaver have called for a review of the project.
“Site C has been reviewed by the federal and provincial governments, has been sustained in nine court cases, and billions have been committed to the project. It’s irresponsible at this point to cancel it,” Gardner said.
ICBA has been dogged in its fight to save Site C and the 2,200+ construction jobs there. And it looks like the unions have finally smartened up and joined our battle for Site C. Right after the election, Tom Sigurdson of the union-run BC Building Trades Council threw Site C workers under the NDP bus. From the Globe and Mail:
But because BC Hydro balked at a pact with organized labour on the construction of Site C, he is not going to war with Mr. Horgan over the project. “That project has been problematic since the first shovel was in the ground,” Mr. Sigurdson said.
Fast forward a month to today’s JOC:
Sigurdson also voiced his organization’s support for Site C. “We’ve said there are projects we support; we support Site C and would like to see it continue. It’s one of a number of projects we will be supportive of,” he said.
Welcome to the Site C party, Tom. Feel free to join thousands of other British Columbians and sign an email in support at Get2Yes.icba.ca.