January 31, 2006
Check Against Delivery
Let me start this morning by saying how much I appreciate you all coming; to see this many people in the room at this time of the day points out not just how important transportation is to this part of the province but to the whole province of British Columbia.
You know, as our economy grows, as our economy fires on all cylinders, it’s important for us to recognize exactly where we stand in the world today and what we have to plan out for the future if we are going to take full advantage of where we are in British Columbia and what we can be in British Columbia.
Over the last five years we’ve had more job growth than any other province in the country. We know there are significant transportation investments that we have to make if we’re going to maximize the opportunities for people in every single part of this province, whether they’re involved in tourism or mining, forestry or energy, retailing or transportation. The transportation infrastructure is critical to all of us.
We live in a province that is ripe with opportunity, but I think that as we ride on a wave of economic success and private sector investment, we can’t take that for granted. We live in an open world. We are a small open-trading economy. You can see our province as we sit here at the crossroads of North America.
I am gathered here with our Minister of Transportation, Kevin Falcon, and our MLA for Surrey-Tynehead, Dave Hayer. I know the opposition Transportation critic is also here today, the chair of TransLink, the former chair of TransLink, the chair of the Port Authority, Lorne Mayencourt from Vancouver-Burrard, the CEO of the airport. All of these components of our province have got to come together if we are going to maximum our natural advantages in British Columbia.
When you think about us as a small open-trading economy, what does that really mean? It means that we are driven, or should be driven, by our customers. If we don’t think in terms of what our customers want, what our customers need, we will lose opportunities. This is not the world of 50 years ago. This is the world of the twenty-first century. This is the world of reliable delivery of products to people where they need them, when they need them, on time, any place in the world.
And what a great place in the world we all live
