Job creation tops agendas of B.C. Liberals and NDP

Protecting and creating jobs in British Columbia appeared to be the main theme of Wednesday's campaign activity by both the Liberals and New Democrats.

Liberal Leader Gordon Campbell continued to push his message of keeping a strong hand on stimulating the province's economy.

Campbell toured the Prince Rupert container port, which opened two years ago, and talked about ongoing plans to expand the port's capacity of 500,000 container units to four million units by 2015. The port is now operating at just 40 per cent of its capacity.

"What a difference this makes not only to Prince Rupert but right across the north," Campbell told a crowd of Liberal supporters.

NDP Leader Carole James targeted tight ridings in the Lower Mainland to galvanize support, using tactics that attempt to balance both inspiration and accusation.

"I'm going to ask you to work harder than you've ever worked before not for me, not for the party, but for the people of the province," she said.

James blamed Campbell for not taking care of people who have become jobless, referring to the looming loss of about 700 jobs in September when eBay Inc. closes its customer-service facility in Metro Vancouver.

"He continues to say everything is fine in British Columbia. Well, I'd like him to take the time to talk to those workers at eBay today or talk to the forest workers I've spent time with the last few days. Things aren't fine," James said.

"We need to support those workers. We need to get the stimulus package going. We need to get our economy back on track," she said.

Dave Hobden, an economist with Central 1 Credit Union, said Wednesday that although the B.C. economy is still in decline, it is not plunging as rapidly as it was months ago.

Hobden, who tracks the Coincident Economic Index, a barometer of Metro Vancouver's economic health, said there are signs the economy is moving out of its worst.

"We're on track to see some signs of recovery later this year," Hobden said. "Certain sectors of the economy have done well this spring, including housing sales."