FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, NOV. 19, 2025, VANCOUVER BC – CentreBC is warning the NDP government’s ‘Look West’ economic plan is long on grand ambitions, short on credible solutions, and failing to reverse private sector stagnation, address record deficits, or offer relief for families facing BC’s affordability crisis.

“This is not a serious document,” said Trevor Loke, CentreBC’s spokesperson. “Rather than Look West, it’s a ‘look-over-there’ distraction plan, placing the burden on our private sector to execute and invest with government committing very little to make it happen.”

British Columbians deserve bold leadership on economic and job growth. The ‘Look West’ plan by Premier David Eby and Jobs Minister Ravi Kahlon falls short in several critical respects:

• Big Promises, Few Details: The government touts ambitions for $200B in private sector investment and fast-tracked major projects, yet it fails to state how these high targets will be met. Businesses and communities cannot plan for the future like this.
  
• Private Sector Stagnation: BC’s economic growth continues to rely on bloated public-sector hiring and population growth, leaving key private industries lagging behind. Value-added Manufacturing and construction output have actually shrunk, revealing the plan’s lack of realism and long-term sustainability.​
  
• Mounting Deficits and Fiscal Instability: The NDP government’s record-level deficits threaten future tax hikes and undermine business confidence. CentreBC calls for a credible path to fiscal balance, warning that repeated shortfalls will drive away the very investment the plan seeks.​
  
• Affordability Crisis Ignored: Despite years of pledges, the cost of housing, food, and essentials remains stubbornly high. The ‘Look West’ plan lacks meaningful new measures to tackle affordability, leaving families, renters, and seniors to struggle without relief.​ CentreBC also notes ongoing shortages in skilled trades and project-ready workers – the entire reason for a viable workforce strategy — and clean energy capacity.

CentreBC believes our prosperity requires collaborative, pragmatic solutions — transparent investment in public and private sectors, real action on affordability, rigorous workforce training, and responsible fiscal management. The NDP’s ‘Look West’ plan needs to move past rhetoric, toward fiscal realism and our shared economic reality, and opportunity, in British Columbia.

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For more information and interviews with Trevor Loke, contact:

MEDIA CONTACT
Scott Williams
CentreBC
604-356-7606
[email protected]