Nearly 40,000 new jobs have been added to the economy in the past year, Premier Christy Clark announced Tuesday as she delivered a six-month update on her government’s jobs plan.
“That’s a result for 39,900 families who are finding it a little bit easier, perhaps, to put food on the table for their kids or maybe not worry about whether or not they have to move at the end of the month because they have to figure out how to pay their rent or mortgage,” Clark said at the Vancouver Shipyards in North Vancouver.
The premier says since the Canada Starts Here: The BC Jobs Plan rolled out, four mines have either gotten approval permits, begun construction or had their operations extended.
The B.C. government has also committed to eight new mines and the expansion of another nine mines currently operating in the province by 2015.
The Natural Energy Board has also approved a 20-year export licence for a liquefied-natural-gas plant in Kitimat, Clark adds, and $ 65 million has been promised for improvements at the Deltaport container facility.
But NDP finance critic Bruce Ralston questioned the plan, saying the province only gained 2,000 jobs by using seasonally adjusted figures.
The government says it will spend the next six months concentrating its strategy in forestry, mining, agrifoods, transportation, international education and technology.
Local news from metronews.ca/vancouver
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