At least one business group that spoke earlier this week at a press conference about the need for an economic vision for B.C. is formally endorsing John Rustad and his Conservative Party of BC in the upcoming provincial election.
The Independent Contractors and Businesses Association (ICBA) today officially endorsed the B.C. Conservatives, saying that only Rustad appears to have “fresh ideas” for fixing what ails B.C.’s economy.
Earlier this week, ICBA president Chris Gardner joined several other business associations at a press conference, where they called for an economic vision for B.C., but stopped short of formally endorsing any party.
“Yesterday, the ICBA board of directors voted to endorse Rustad and the B.C. Conservatives, citing their concerns over the NDP’s ongoing mismanagement of B.C. by every significant metric used to measure economic performance and quality of life,” the ICBA said in a press release.
“In a spring poll done for ICBA, 76 per cent of British Columbians agreed that they feel ‘so many things are broken in B.C. right now,’” said Gardner. “It’s a shocking number. We need change in so many areas, it’s hard to know where to start – but only John Rustad and the B.C. Conservatives have the fresh thinking and new ideas to make it happen.”
At a press conference Tuesday that included several other business associations, such as the Business Council of BC (BCBC) and Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, Gardner talked about the inflation plaguing major public works projects, and blamed government dithering and procurement. He pointed to the George Massey Tunnel replacement project as one example.
The previous BC Liberal government had approved replacing the tunnel with a bridge, but that project was cancelled by the NDP government, which is now moving ahead with an eight-lane tunnel project.
“One of the most important issues facing British Columbians and impacting affordability, our quality of life and our economy, is our failure to replace aging infrastructure,” Gardner said. “What's happening is the costs are coming in wildly over budget, and the projects are years delayed.
“Look no further than the Massey tunnel -- a decade behind schedule, at double the budget -- the Cowichan Hospital, three years late, double the budget. They just barely started clearing the right of way on the Surrey to Langley SkyTrain expansion, and they announced a 50 per cent increase in cost.
“It is not an overstatement to say that the government's procurement model is deeply flawed and badly broken, and as a result, we're all paying a very, very heavy cost."
Gardner also red-flagged the NDP government’s deficit spending, noting that the most recent estimate puts the provincial deficit for 2024-25 at $9 billion, and pointed to a BCBC report that estimated five government jobs were created since 2019 to every one new private sector job created.
“If eye-watering expansion of government was the answer, B.C. would be a world leader in everything,” Gardner said. “Our standard of living is now in sharp decline, and B.C. finds itself at the bottom of the pack in North America. What the NDP is doing is not working.”
