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Celebrate the Victoria Royals’ playoff run with a special four-page section Page A10
NEWS: Artist receives Governor General’s Award /A3 COMMUNITY: HAT brings nature to kids /A7 SPORTS: Victoria athlete shoots for gold /A18
VICTORIANEWS Friday, March 27, 2015
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Expect greater economic growth in 2015 Andrea Peacock Victoria News
Andrea Peacock/Victoria News
Greg Atkinson, spokesperson for the University of Victoria Students’ Society, speaks at a rally outside ICBC offices on Tuesday. Approximately 3,000 students signed a petition protesting the B.C. government’s recent proposal to allow ICBC to revoke drivers’ licenses of those who do not pay back their student loans.
Students protest ICBC, loans link Andrea Peacock Victoria News
Approximately 3,000 University of Victoria students have signed a petition rejecting the B.C. government’s recent proposal to link defaulted debt to driver’s license renewals. Under the proposal, ICBC would withhold driver’s licenses from people who have not paid off their student loans. This law would only apply to those who have not been in good standing for more than a year. Greg Atkinson, spokesperson for the University of Victoria students’ society, presented the petition to Kathy Corrigan, official opposition spokesperson for
advanced education on Tuesday, along with about a dozen other students in front of ICBC on Wharf Street. “We’re proposing an alternative that the government should be supporting students, not punishing them,” said Atkinson. “We’re demanding a needsbased non-repayable grants system – upfront cash for students to be able to go to school.” Atkinson added that B.C. is the only province in Canada without such a program. “In other provinces, when you apply for student loans, you automatically qualify if you come from a lower or middle income family for grants for your education.” Corrigan accepted the petition, saying
the government needs to support students who pursue post-secondary education. “I think the government needs to start listening to the thousands of students who are working very, very hard to get a good education so they can have good jobs in this province,” said Corrigan. “To punish those people that are just trying to do the right thing by going to school, getting jobs and being productive and making our society a better place, I think that’s a vindictive and petty thing to do.” Corrigan took the petition to the legislature on Wednesday. andrea.peacock@vicnews.com
Victoria’s economy is expected to grow faster in 2015 than it did in 2014, but more jobs are needed in the region, said Dallas Gislason, economic development officer for the Greater Victoria Development Agency, at an economic development forum this week. “Victoria is a very stable economy,” said Gislason. “I don’t think we’ll ever be a fast-growth economy, but we need to figure out as a community how to move that metre.” In 2014, Victoria’s GDP growth was 0 per cent. “If I took that to a few more decimal points, we actually did grow, but the way it’s rounded off it looks like 0.0 per cent,” said Gislason. This year, Victoria’s GDP is expected to grow by 1.9 per cent. Gislason said one major reason for growth this year is the state of the U.S. economy. “We do have growth occurring in the marketplace, we just need to capitalize on it.” One of the large sectors in Greater Victoria’s economy is the high-tech sector. More than 800 known high-tech companies in the region brought in $3 billion in revenues in 2014 collectively. This translates to $4 billion in economic impact, said Gislason. “Victoria’s high tech sector is very much alive. The big companies are doing well, which translates to job creation, which actually creates momentum in other sectors because they all have suppliers that they work with.” An important factor in improving Victoria’s economic development in the next year will be attracting skilled workers and creating jobs for those workers, said Gislason. PlEASE SEE: Economic Growth, Page A4
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