The promise of a new federal development agency for B.C. that will be more responsive to the province’s unique needs may be as much about improving relations as it is economic development, according to the federal minister charged with delivering the new entity.
In an interview this week, Economic Development Minister Melanie Joly said the new agency, promised as part of the federal government’s recent fiscal update, is a chance to both expand the federal footprint in the province and build a bridge from Ottawa.
“The reality is once you have an agency, the idea is to make it as close to the ground as possible and as relevant as possible,” said Joly. “It becomes a way to not only foster economic development in the community but is also a convener of many other departments from the federal government.”
The agency is expected to replace Western Economic Diversification Canada, which has been used by Ottawa to distribute millions of dollars in aid to businesses and organizations in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
Joly has been making the media rounds over the last few weeks talking up the plan to create a new agency that would better tailor programs for B.C.’s economy and geography.
She said she does not yet have a firm timeline for when she would like to see the entity up and running, but she will be spending the next few months engaging with business and political leaders in B.C. to ensure it is a made-in-B.C. solution.
Joly is not the first federal minister to identify the divide between B.C. and Ottawa, but she may be the first to do something about it. Last year, during a housing announcement in Victoria, then Families Minister Jean Yves-Duclos told the Times Colonist there was clearly a disconnect between the province and the federal government.
“I think we need to increase our presence, our footprint and to make sure we take an economic development approach that is linked to the realities of B.C.ers,” Joly said. “The creation of a new agency will be a good way to increase and further relations between B.C. and the federal government, and I would say to increase trust between people in B.C. and the federal government.”
Joly dismissed the suggestion that it took a pandemic for Ottawa to take action.
“I had a mandate pre-pandemic to create a new vision for the regional development agencies across the country and pre-pandemic, I was very much aware there was a need in B.C. that we had to address,” she said. “I am a Quebecker and aware we can never take for granted the relationship between [the provinces] and the federal government.
“It’s a question of showing that the federal government is relevant in people’s lives and we’re here to support their needs.”
She said the pandemic brought the federal government much closer to people’s everyday lives as a result of the billions of dollars in relief and aid packages that touched most Canadians, but it also highlighted the need for an agency on the ground in B.C. that could better target areas of need.
One of the biggest areas of need, one that is at the centre of the B.C. economy, is tourism, which has been devastated by the pandemic.
Joly said the federal relief and aid programs in place now are designed to ensure the industry can survive, and she promises there will also be funding to ensure it is part of the country’s economic recovery.
Asked if that means more marketing dollars for Destination Canada and other destination marketing organizations when the pandemic is over and people are ready to travel again, Joly said her goal is to “make sure they survive and afterwards that they can rebound.”
“I’m convinced the sector is extremely resilient,” she said.
aduffy@timescolonist.com
