Statement from Conservative Official Opposition Caucus Critic for Jobs, Economic Development, and Innovation Critic Gavin Dew on the August 2025 CFIB Business Barometer
“It’s the 1990s Decade of Darkness 2.0.” -Gavin Dew, Official Opposition Critic for Jobs, Economic Development, and Innovation and Kelowna-Mission MLA
Kelowna, BC — “Today’s CFIB Business Barometer report confirms what small business owners across British Columbia already know: confidence has cratered, and BC is falling behind the rest of the country.”
“While some provinces are managing to stay above the breakeven mark, British Columbia is not among them. The reality is simple: under the NDP, small businesses in this province have rock-bottom confidence and no reason to believe relief is on the way.”
“Nearly half of businesses point to insufficient demand as a major barrier, while crushing costs – from insurance to taxes to regulatory red tape – continue to pile up. Entrepreneurs are being squeezed from all sides, and the NDP’s only response is indifference and foot dragging.”
“Premier Eby and his government do not understand business, and they are unresponsive to the struggles of the very people who keep our communities alive and our economy moving. Every day that they remain in power, jobs, livelihoods, and hope are lost.”
“We have seen 70,000 people leave B.C. for other provinces as opportunities dry up. We are facing the worst youth unemployment since the end days of the 1990s Decade of Darkness, the last time the NDP ran our economy into the ground.”
“British Columbia needs change. We need a government that will cut red tape, restore confidence, and stand up for small business. That is what a Conservative government will deliver.”
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Media Contact:
Ryan Painter, Conservative Caucus Communications Team
Director of Communications
Ryan.Painter@leg.bc.ca
