THE Business Council of British Columbia has released a plan, Stronger Tomorrow Starting Today, that “is a suite of ideas designed both to kick-start and support the recovery process in 2020–21 and to position British Columbia for a prosperous economic future over the medium term.”

One of the recommendations is to “accelerate capital spending, infrastructure development, and private sector investment to kick-start economic recovery” and it advises the Province to “move forward with key TransLink capital projects, including the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain extension.”

It notes that “in the 2008-2009 financial crisis, B.C. was well positioned to secure federal infrastructure funding. The province should repeat and build upon this past success.”

Other specific infrastructure ideas it mentions:
* Leverage the positive economic effects of provincial public sector capital spending by accelerating project review and permitting processes and increasing spending on basic maintenance and repair work that can be undertaken with minimal delay
* Proceed expeditiously with the long-planned George Massey Tunnel replacement project
* Actively support already underway or imminent private sector capital projects that have faced delays and uncertainty (e.g., the TMX expansion, Coastal GasLink Pipeline)
* Work with and, if necessary, compel municipalities to speed up approvals for residential development projects which are in the queue and ready to go. At a time when the province desperately needs more private sector investment, it makes no sense to have residential development projects mired in municipal red tape
* Advance and support Gateway infrastructure spending based on lists of ready-to-go projects at Port of Vancouver, the Port of Prince Rupert
and YVR

For a summary of the report: www.strongertomorrowbc.com