***Mar 2006 Focus pg 1-32 - Focus Magazine

feed them—940 to 1100 permanent jobs wouldbe created. If that range is then worked throughthe American gas industry’s formula for totaljobs created, we arrive at a bright and shinyfuture of 4000 to 5000 full-time equivalentjobs—not 75,200.The accuracy of the estimate of 39,400 fulltimejobs to build these plants and pipelinesfaces similar challenges. I’ll spare you the details.Suffice to say the report starts with an averageof 11,400 direct full-time jobs and then hammersthat with multipliers. I’ll have more on the artof exaggerating construction jobs later on.The willingness of the Ministry of Energy,Mines and Natural Gas to stray some distancefrom reality is starkly evident in their 2012Natural Gas Strategy: Fuelling BC’s Economyfor the next Decade and Beyond, which states:“BC’s natural gas sector employs tens of thousands...”Statistics Canada, however, put thatnumber at 3500 in 2012. That comparesfavourably with 3300 employed in “heritageinstitutions” (museums), but it’s a tiny dropin a very big bucket when compared with the2,312,500 people working province wide.Sewage treatment AND 10,000 jobsNot long after Victoria MP Denise Savoieresigned her federal seat in 2012 and Victorianswere waiting for Stephen Harper to call a byelection,the CRD began running ads in theTimes Colonist promoting the benefits of theirchosen treatment plan.One of those ads (see below) seemed to saythe CRD was projecting an increase of 10,000jobs during construction, creating a massiveIs foot or ankle pain preventing you from living life fully?Our team has developed an innovativeapproach utilizing the CuteraGenesis Plus Laser to alleviatemusculoskeletal injuries withoutmedications or surgery.Proven Clinical Treatment Plan and Post-Treatment Care provided for Achilles Tendinitis,Ankle Sprains, Neuromas, Plantar Fasciitis, Shin Splints, and Post-Operative Pain/SwellingCovered by most Extended Health PlansDr Bill Mirchoff & Dr Gregg CongdonDoctors of Podiatric Medicine350 - 1641 Hillside Ave • 250-592-0224Learn more at: www.drgreggcongdon.comspike in the local employment rate. Unemploymentin the CRD was then running at about 5.7percent, which meant 11,000 people withoutjobs. The sewage treatment project, it appeared,would be almost like having full employmentthrust on us: imagine the economic benefits!CRD advertisement that ran in the Times Colonist before the federal by-electionImagine Pain FreeThe fine print in the ad, however, revealedthe project would create 10,000 job years,not 10,000 jobs. Still, this was overwhelminglygood news, especially for the 11,000people looking for work and the thousandsof small business owners struggling to survivein the current down economy.As soon as the by-election was called, theads were pulled—at the request of then CRDBoard Chair Geoff Young. Young recently toldFocus, “The CRD had—and has—a policy ofnot getting involved in public input processesduring elections, and I felt that these ads violatedthat principle.”The jobs ad pictured here also seemed toviolate a basic principle of truthful advertising:It clearly implies there would be an increaseof 10,000 jobs during construction, but at thesame time, in finer print, says there would bean average of 2,000 jobs per year. It saystwo different things. Which is true?As it turns out, probably neither is true. CRDCorporate Communications Manager CarlaWormald supplied Focus with the report “CRDEconomic Impact Measure Analysis,” authoredby their consultant Ernst & Young, which justifiedthe “10,000 job years” claim. An examinationof the report revealed that two primary figuresused by Ernst & Young were, um, wrong. Theirwww.focusonline.ca • June 201311