Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Mayor Takes Exception To Report

Written by Peter McIntyre 107.5 KISSFM Tuesday, 14 May 2013 06:04

Vernon's mayor is concerned a national study has incorrectly shed a negative light on the city. The Conference Board of Canada said last week Vernon's economy has contracted for five straight years, and has lost more than 11-thousand jobs since 2005. Mayor Rob Sawatzky feels the study was poorly researched. "Nothing in reality of the data that we can gather, supports the conclusions you could take from the conference board. It clearly is flawed data." Sawatzky says since 2006, Vernon has averaged 35,000 square feet of new building in the downtown annually. Vernon's economic development manager Kevin Poole also doesn't support the report's findings. "I don't see it as valid." Poole writes in a report to council, "The full report was made available to local media, however, upon request from staff, the Conference Board of Canada indicated there would be a fee of over $2,000 to purchase a copy. "In conversation with local media, staff were led to believe that the primary source of data within the document was the Canadian Labour Force Survey, which is not statistically valid for an area the size of Vernon due to the limited sample size.
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Don Quixote Note: Article from Macleans.
http://www2.macleans.ca/2013/05/13/infographic-help-wanted-in-canadas-mid-sized-cities/
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The employment stats cited for the Region seem to come from this Source: Selected BC Cities (282-0115) PDF XLS
http://www.bcstats.gov.bc.ca/StatisticsBySubject/LabourIncome/EmploymentUnemployment/LabourForceStatisticsAnnual.aspx

These figures that are cited for Vernon of a total labour force of 31,500 in 2005 declining to a total labour force of 19,300 are clearly marked for the entire region. Coldstream, Areas B & C and Vernon.

The Census figures for 2006 for these four areas (including IR6) are 55,423 BUT the 2006 Population 15 years and over is said to be 59,100. It appears that the years 2005-2008 are completely out of whack and unreliable.
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The BC Stats figures come directly from Canada Stats Figures that can be found at: