Reopening plan needs to provide long-term view

Brave, bold ideas are required,

The enormous amount of work ahead of us needs to start now.

All British Columbians are firmly committed to containing the COVID-19 virus and we’re all supportive of continuing efforts to keep everyone safe. But the resulting serious economic impacts are weighing heavily on thousands of families in the province who are looking to government for a plan to get us through this.

Although our efforts to date appear to be flattening the curve successfully, it’s too soon to declare victory. Accordingly, government needs to recognize that this “new normal” could require physical distancing measures for up to 18 months — and maybe even more.

The tireless efforts of provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry, Minister of Health Adrian Dix and their respective teams deserve our thanks and gratitude. Yet, as the government prepares to introduce its reopening plan this week, it’s critical that this plan not just define our path out of the current restrictions, but it must also provide an outline of how our communities bounce back from this pandemic and become even stronger over the long-term.

The challenge in front of us, in many respects, may be more difficult and complex than fighting the virus itself. We are now likely in a deep recession — hundreds of thousands of people are out of work, businesses are in peril, students are likely not back in school until the fall — and government revenues are dropping fast.

Government needs to get in front of the resulting social and economic impacts, and establish clear guidelines and initiatives that lay the foundation for a path forward.

The urgency of this work is unquestionable. The federal parliamentary budget officer, Yves Giroux, has suggested the federal deficit could top $252 billion, and the U.S. federal reserve chairman, Jerome Powell, has recently conceded, “we are going to see economic data for the second quarter that is worse than any data we have seen for the economy.” Given the interdependence between B.C., Canada and the U.S., and our province’s heavy reliance on the

U.S. as our No. 1 trading partner, this alarming commentary from leading experts leaves little doubt that we’re facing a monumental challenge.

Over the coming weeks and months, governments all over the world will be turning their minds to economic competitiveness. Make no mistake, as a subnational jurisdiction, we in B.C. have a huge task ahead of us. We weren’t competitive enough before this pandemic, and we now need to work with our business leaders and others to develop a plan that ensures B.C. can compete and win on the global stage.

This won’t be easy, but we have the people, the ideas and the “know-how” to do it. But if the B.C. government takes unilateral action, we’re almost certain to fail. It’s going to take genuine co-operation and engagement between government, business and unions to put differences aside and bring forward bold ideas and concepts with a simple goal of opening and expanding our economy.

There is an enormous amount of work ahead of us that needs to start now. We need to figure out how to compete with other jurisdictions to bring more technology sector jobs to our province. We need to finally establish a longterm plan that ensures we can capitalize on our vast natural resources and make sure the world is choosing our B.C. products first. We need to re-establish our trade relationships with Asia and quickly reopen the trade offices quietly shut down by government last year. We need to come up with a forestry plan that is competitive today and for the long-term. We need to develop a robust infrastructure plan for all of B.C., not just certain regions. We need to figure out how the tourism sector can bounce back, and we need to figure out how to get our small businesses back in business and thriving once again.

These are just some of the challenges in front of us. There are many more.

Traditionally, the NDP haven’t been willing to put ideology aside when making decisions on the economy. Now is no time for ideological arguments — now is the time for competent, compassionate and responsible leadership.

The economy is about people, and people are the economy. The prosperity of B.C. and our future generations is at risk. Now is the time for us to be bold and brave.