(Note: All quotes taken from BC Fed President Jim Sinclair's appearance on Bill Good Show, Apr 4/2005)
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Jim Sinclair says… |
The Facts…
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"…over the last four years real wages in this province are dead last. We've trailed every province in Canada for real wage growth."
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Wrong. As of February 2005, the average weekly wage had grown 8.8% since 2001. That's tied for fourth in Canada in that period.
British Columbians have the 2nd highest average hourly wages in Canada. According to StatsCan, the average hourly wage in BC in February 2005 was $19.51 per hour – second only to Ontario with $19.83 per hour and higher than the national average of $18.98 per hour.
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"We've seen child poverty going up in this province."
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Misleading. Sinclair is citing StatsCan data that only goes up to 2002. There is no more recent data on this issue.
We now have the lowest income taxes in Canada for people making less than $30,000. In fact, people making less than $15,500 pay NO provincial income tax at all.
We have reduced or eliminated MSP premiums for low income people, increased child care subsidies, and moved more than 38,000 income assistance recipients into jobs where they are earning 2 to 3 times what they earned on welfare.
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"We see the number of apprentices that are actually successfully completing the program now has been cut in half."
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Wrong. There were 16,000 apprentices registered in 2001, and there are 19,000 apprentices registered today.
Over the last year alone, the number of apprentices has increased by 29%.
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"What kind of jobs can you find? There are jobs out there at $6, $7, $8 an hour."
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Wrong. BC has the highest percentage in Canada of people earning $16 or more per hour – the amount Statistics Canada says will support a family of four in an urban centre.
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"The log exports in this province have gone up 300 to 350 percent, an estimated 3,000 jobs are being exported now in raw logs from this province."
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Wrong. In 2000, log exports totalled 1.33% of the Annual Allowable Cut. In 2004, log exports totalled 1.45% of the AAC.
Log exports have been in decline since 2001.
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