Parliamentary Secretary visits Grand Forks to learn about economy

By Mona Mattei

A group of Grand Forks and Christina Lake business owners spent a couple of hours giving the Province of B.C. advice on Tuesday morning.

MLA John Les, Parliamentary Secretary to the Premier and MLA for Chilliwack, visited the Boundary this week as a part of an initiative for the Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Innovations to explore how to defend and create jobs for B.C. and especially for rural areas outside of the Lower Mainland.

 

“What I hear from folks in Grand Forks is that the local economy is struggling and there are great opportunities at the same time,” said Les. “With small communities sometimes it’s more difficult to keep people in the community, especially younger people, we need to provide services to younger people like internet connectivity, and broadband access that is second to none because it’s really key to providing education and for professionals to stay connected.”

 

The Boundary Country Regional Chamber of Commerce organized the meeting that included business owners and local politicians. Les sought input on how to protect the economy, focusing on jobs and opportunities.

 

Les commented on the shifting global economy where, by 2020, the largest markets will likely be the middle classes of China and India and that the province is looking to develop plans to tap into these markets.

 

“The basic things are here,” Les concluded. “As a participant here today said, we, locally, have to figure out how we connect globally. The world economy whether we like it or not is becoming increasingly more global, and that presents challenges but at the same time it presents huge opportunities too."

 

The key sectors that Les presented for the future economy are: forestry, mining, natural gas, agri-food, technology, tourism, transportation and international education. In order to keep the economy and even to grow it more, Les said there needs to be confidence, an emphasis on opening markets for businesses, clear ways to get goods to markets and training the workforce for new jobs.

 

Feedback from the business owners ranged from transportation challenges to training, access to market development, solutions for businesses in seasonal sectors, and tuition incentive. A key theme that ran through all the discussion was the need for human resources and access for opportunities to fund growth.

 

Key to all the ideas from participants was the suggestion that the province could help best by providing skilled people who work locally to assist organizations and businesses to make the link between local markets, external markets, and help access funding for businesses and non-profits alike.

 

Prior to the business meeting, Les spent time with the City of Grand Forks. Les took note of many of the topics raised at the meeting and will be using the input in his overall report to the Premier.