Kelowna's unemployment rate soars as boom turns to bust

[John Zeger]

It was reported that Kelowna’s unemployment rate shot up in May to 11.5% being one of the highest in B.C. and well above both the provincial and national rates of 7.6% and 8.4%, respectively. Mayor Sharon Shepherd attributes this leap in the number of unemployed to a sharp slowdown in building activity and the fact that about one in four jobs locally is related to the construction industry. So much for Economic Development Commission Chairman Robert Fine’s claim that the local economy has been successfully diversified. The truth is that it has become dangerously dependent on the construction sector in recent years as a result of Kelowna city council not putting controls on the pace of development and allowing the free market to determine our rate of growth. And whenever controls are foregone in favour of a laissez faire policy, rather than there being a moderate expansion, one can expect boom to be followed by bust.

However, the fallout from all this will not just be a personal problem for those who have lost their jobs but will be felt community wide. Sociologists universally agree that a rise in unemployment results in a higher crime rate and an increase in alcoholism, family breakdown, mental illness and suicide. And although a relatively small number have reaped most of the benefits of Kelowna’s boom, we will all be paying for the bust. As we watch the statistics that track social disorganization tick upwards in the weeks and months ahead, we should all remember those short-sighted men and women who have sat on city council for the past decade and have allowed this to happen. If they have gotten any of the credit for the good times, they should receive their fair share of the blame for the bad.