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CP Images (toP left + bottom rIght); gettY Images (toP rIght); robert johnson/flICkr maY 2015 BCBusiness 37 which promptly fell right back into recession in 1986, Expo be damned). The attempt by Bill Ben- nett's Socred government to deal with the situa- tion by slashing spending and cutting the salaries of public employees led to massive strikes and unrest, and even contributed to the existence of terror cells such as the Squamish Five. You may have heard of them…. Over subsequent decades, the forestry indus- try would recover and collapse, and recover and collapse again, but its share of the provincial economy and workforce headed mostly in one direction: down. Meanwhile, the loss of all those head offices and union jobs was a significant con- tributor to our slide well down the national pay scale. Now we bumble along around the Cana- dian average, with per capita incomes about 35 per cent below yours. So yes, there have been some tough times. But Alberta, we also have a bit of good news for you. Out of all this ruin, British Columbia has emerged with a very different and surprisingly promising economy—and arguably with a sunnier, less smoky character too. And some of that is even due to the complications that prevented our natural resources from being exploited the way many people thought they should be. Today we have the most diversified economy in the country, so it doesn't matter as much that our own energy gambits—coal, natural gas, pipelines—are faltering just as badly as yours. Or that the complex issues that have kept our copper and gold resources from being aggressively exploited remain as confounding as ever. Ironically perhaps, only one resource industry is doing really well right now—and that's forestry, which has grown in value some 60 per cent over the past five years and is now worth in the order of $12 billion annually. (But then again, forestry too has been stumbling down a rocky clear-cut in recent months.) Meanwhile, the evolution of that industry— precipitated in part by a war in the woods that led to the arrest of hundreds of protesters—means that we still have at least some remnants of our incredible old-growth rainforests to show off to the rest of the world. That's one factor behind a tourism industry that today exceeds forestry as an economic contributor. Possibly as well, a help to our film industry, which is a lot smaller in the scheme of things but does chip in a billion or so dollars a year and helps with some of those cultural jobs and benefits our provincial govern- ment stepped away from. The relatively pristine environ- ment also played a role in Metro Vancouver's transformation into post-industrial show pony. In the same way that our province attracted other Canadians in the 1970s and you have during the past decade, B.C.'s larg- est city now pulls in people from all over the globe. The place-making expertise that evolved out of this has even become an unlikely export commodity, with a large cadre of resident planners, designers and developers who are remaking cities in our image all over the planet. Have you been to Abu Dhabi recently? It's the spitting image of Yaletown. Then again, our developers have also been busy in Edmonton and Calgary, so the trans-Atlantic inspection tour may not be necessary. Another strange byproduct of Vancouver's glo- DIVERSIFICATION If Christy Clark's LNG aims miss the mark, B.C. will be just fine; Alberta Premier Jim Prentice oversees a far less hedged, oil- based economy which promptly fell right back into recession in 1986, Expo be damned). The attempt by Bill Ben- nett's Socred government to deal with the situa- tion by slashing spending and cutting the salaries of public employees led to massive strikes and unrest, and even contributed to the existence of terror cells such as the Squamish Five. You may Over subsequent decades, the forestry indus- try would recover and collapse, and recover and collapse again, but its share of the provincial economy and workforce headed mostly in one direction: down. Meanwhile, the loss of all those head offices and union jobs was a significant con- tributor to our slide well down the national pay scale. Now we bumble along around the Cana- dian average, with per capita incomes about 35 So yes, there have been some tough times. of $12 billion annually. (But then again, forestry too has been stumbling down a rocky clear-cut in recent months.) precipitated in part by a war in the woods that led to the arrest of hundreds of protesters—means that we still have at least some remnants of our incredible old-growth rainforests to show off to the rest of the world. That's one factor behind a tourism industry that today exceeds forestry as an economic contributor. Possibly as well, a help to our film industry, which is a lot smaller in the scheme of things but does chip in a billion or so dollars a year and helps with some of those cultural jobs and benefits our provincial govern ment stepped away from. ment also played a role in Metro Vancouver's transformation into Our place-mak- ing expertise has become an unlikely export. A large cadre of resident planners, designers and developers are remaking cities in our image all over the planet. Have you been to Abu Dhabi recently? It's the spitting image of Yaletown 2015 BCBusiness 37 or so dollars a year and helps with some of those cultural jobs and benefits our provincial govern- The relatively pristine environ- ment also played a role in Metro Vancouver's transformation into post-industrial show pony. In the same way that our province attracted other Canadians in the 1970s and you have during the past decade, B.C.'s larg- and you have during the past decade, B.C.'s larg- and you have during the past decade, B.C.'s larg est city now pulls in people from all over the globe. The place-making expertise that evolved out of this has even become an unlikely export commodity, with a large cadre of resident planners, designers and developers who are remaking cities in our image all over the planet. Have you been to Abu Dhabi recently? It's the spitting image of Yaletown. Then again, our developers have also been busy in Edmonton and Calgary, so the trans-Atlantic Another strange byproduct of Vancouver's glo-

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