Improvement in Social Condition in 2008 Benchmark Report

VANCOUVER — The British Columbia Progress Board released its eighth annual benchmark report today. The Board tracks changes in the economic performance and social wellbeing of British Columbia through review of the most comprehensive data on the province's economy, innovation, education, environment, health and societal performance. Key among the results in this year's report is a notable improvement in the social condition of the province.

"This year we are reporting a considerable improvement in the social condition indicator," Gerry Martin, Progress Board chair, said. "The movement from ninth in the country last year to sixth this year is remarkable, particularly given the context of historic performance for this measure."

The social condition measure is based on an average of the province's ranking across five performance indicators: the percent of families and unattached individuals with income below the after-tax low income cut-off (LICO), the low birth-weight rate, the personal and property crime rate, the percent of the population on income assistance, and the percent of total unemployment designated as long-term.

"In the past two years, the Progress Board has taken an in-depth look at a number of the issues affecting social condition, and we've learned that their improvement requires dedicated effort, cooperation across government and, most of all, time," Martin said. "We have been impressed by the measures government has taken to address our recommendations."

The benchmark indicators continue to demonstrate excellent performance in health and the environment, and the province also placed second in both debt and tax rate.

"In the current economic climate, debt and tax rate are important measures for understanding the capacity of government," Martin said. "Like all British Columbians, we are very concerned about the global economy and how it will impact our province. These measures demonstrate that the province is well-positioned to handle the downturn."

It is important to note that, although BC ranked eighth in economic growth in 2007, its rate was above the national average between 2002 and 2006, which closed about half the Canada-BC gap in the level of real GDP per capita. Growth in real GDP (without the per capita adjustment incorporated in the Progress Board measure) may be familiar to many as it is the rate most often used by analysts. British Columbia ranked fourth in 2007 using real GDP growth.

The Board also released an advisory report on productivity today, titled "Investment in British Columbia: Current Realities and the Way Forward." The report, commissioned last year and prepared by the Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS), documents deficiencies in the level of business investment in the province.

"The Board has worked with the CSLS over the past several months to try to understand better why British Columbia continues to perform poorly on the productivity measures," Martin said. "We have closely analyzed the report they prepared for us, and as a Board we have prepared, as a response, a set of recommendations to government."

The recommendations include an endorsement of the government's plans for accelerated infrastructure investment, support for inter-provincial free trade, and a recommendation to replace the Provincial Sales Tax with a value-added tax, preferably harmonized with the Goods and Services Tax.

"The CSLS maintain, and we agree, that the most dramatic area for improvement in business investment is through a harmonized sales tax," Martin said. "But we also acknowledge that this is a move that would likely be met with public opposition and concern, and may also have negative, although short-term, effects on other areas of the economy."

The Progress Board is now issuing web-based reports.

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Media Contact:
Gerry Martin,
Chair, BC Progress Board
(604) 775-1664