NDP jobs, economic development and trade critic Jenny Kwan is dismissing premier Christy Clark's recently-announced job creation plan as little more than a recycling of past announcements and old plans.
"It is an attempt from Christy Clark to rebrand Gordon Campbell's old announcements," said Kwan, when reached Friday for an interview. "There is virtually nothing new that charts a new course for British Columbia."
Clark's Sept. 15 announcement in Prince George on the long-awaited wood innovation and design centre, now slated for downtown, lacked a cost estimate, Kwan noted, although the Liberals now say construction of the centre "should begin" by 2012.
As for Clark's commitment of $15 million to a $90-million project to improve infrastructure onto Ridley Island at the Port of Prince Rupert and to speed up realization of a liquified natural gas plant in Kitimat, Kwan said both ideas are part of the 2006 Pacific Gateway Strategy action plan.
And on the promise to open eight new mines across the province and expand nine others by 2015, Kwan maintained many of them have been previously announced.
Kwan also took the Liberals to task for declining to include in the plan a goal for the number of jobs to be created.
"This is done purposefully, because if you set no benchmarks for evaluation and measurement, there is no benchmark for accountability measures," Kwan said.
Jobs, tourism and innovation minister Pat Bell said he prefers to be measured against competing jurisdictions.
"If we have a specific percentage of the global investment in exploration projects, as it relates to other jurisdictions, I'd like to see that percentage increase," Bell said. "That is a meaningful measurement to know how we're doing."
Cariboo North independent MLA Bob Simpson called the Liberal's plan for mines "awfully presumptive" because it's based on co-operation from first nations and the federal government.
"Two major aspects are not under their control," Simpson said. "It's a three dice deal and they're rolling one dice and saying it's a seven."
Bell said the agreements with first nations will be similar to one reached with the McLeod Lake Indian Band in relation to the Mount Milligan project. The revenue-sharing agreement would provide the band with $35 million to $40 million during the 15-year life of the mine.
However, Simpson said his area is on the verge of a "21st-century gold rush" and the focus on mines is right the right way to go as long as it's not at expense of the environmental review process.
"I believe the environmental review process should force mining into best practices," Simpson said. "It's not an intention to say 'no,' it's an intention for the proponents to come forward with best practices to protect the environment, to protect water, protect wildlife, minimize their impact on the earth."
University of Northern British Columbia economist Paul Bowles questioned the need to open eight new mines all at once, saying it could only exacerbate skill shortages.
"Why eight? Why not four and then another four, four years later?," he said "Why not have a plan for rolling out these things for continuous employment."
Although mentioned among the eight sectors the plan will focus on, Simpson said it has little to say about agriculture. "B.C. is nowhere near the level of assistance that sector requires even compared to the provinces beside us, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba," he said.
And he said the forest sector was treated as "poor second cousin" to the mining sector.
Bell said many of the lessons learned in finding new markets for B.C. lumber overseas have been applied in the plan.
