November 22, 2010

Gordon Campbell’s legacy

Campbell is responsible for decade of growth and stability

NORM STREU

LMS Reinforcing Steel Group

Thank you, Mr. Campbell. You will be missed. I don’t know who they were talking to in recent polls, but it wasn’t me. It wasn’t my colleagues. It wasn’t the vast majority of the construction industry.

We know full well what your leadership has brought.

For us, you will be remembered as one of the greats.

When you were elected in 2001, British Columbia was a very different place.

The economy was weak, internal and external investment was low, the government’s fiscal house was a mess and unemployment was high.

We were burdened with cumbersome regulations and comparably high taxation rates.

“Stagnant” was the word that best described the state of the construction industry.

My company supplies and installs reinforcing steel to projects across British Columbia.

When you were elected in 2001, we employed about 100 ironworkers, steel fabricators, steel detailers and office workers.

Our company was like thousands of small and medium-sized companies in B.C. at the time, struggling to grow in an environment that seemed conceived to thwart our every effort.

We questioned whether this was an environment where we could grow and prosper, where we had a future.

With your election in 2001, things changed quickly.

From almost the day you took office, the tax reductions and regulatory simplifications began to stir a confidence the province had not seen for some time.

With this confidence came investment and employment.

And once that investment began to flow, it didn’t stop.

Did our company benefit from your policies? You bet it did.

The unbelievable $46 billion in public sector investment was a good start.

Our company supplied and installed reinforcing steel for many of the landmark projects your leadership helped create: the Vancouver Convention Centre, the Sea-to-Sky Highway, the Golden Ears bridge, the Abbotsford hospital, the BC Place roof, to name just a few.

But, the public sector investment was just the tip of the iceberg.

Your policies unleashed a torrent of private sector investment, the likes of which the province has never seen.

We supplied and installed steel to the 60-storey Shangri-La hotel, the 50-storey Fairmont, the Woodwards redevelopment, and literally hundreds of commercial and residential projects that sprung up across the province.

Our success allowed us to expand into new markets – we now service projects across Western Canada.

Did our employees benefit from your policies? You bet they did.

Our overall employment went from about 100 to more than 600 employees, with another 300 ironworkers working for us under sub-contract.

During this time, our average wage increased by 25-30 per cent.

Even with these increases, we spent most of the past decade struggling to find the workers we needed. And because of your many tax reductions, our employees were able to keep more of what they earned.

Mr. Campbell, let them quibble about the HST. We know what you did for us and for our province, and we thank you for it.

Norm Streu is the Chief Operating Officer of the LMS Reinforcing Steel Group and a past chair of the Vancouver Regional Construction Association. He is member of the Journal of Commerce Editorial Advisory Board.

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