Gavin Dew leans into the moment with a mix of humour and urgency. “I am the last Jedi,” he jokes, riffing on his role as critic for Jobs, Economic Development, Innovation and artificial intelligence (JEDI).
Dew serves as a BC Conservative MLA and has held the jobs and economic development file since his election. His portfolio spans everything from permitting to skills training, giving him a broad view of how policy shapes opportunity.
That breadth shows in how he frames the province’s challenges. For Dew, the conversation is not about one sector. It is about whether British Columbia can still compete.
A province losing confidence
Dew’s central concern is economic drift. He points to weak small business confidence and rising uncertainty for workers.
“Our economy is in a very bad place,” he says, citing high youth unemployment and sluggish job growth. He argues that growth is barely keeping pace with population.
The issue, in his view, goes beyond numbers. It is about confidence.
“We need to get our mojo back,” Dew says. He believes governments have focused too much on large, headline projects. In doing so, they have overlooked the conditions that allow smaller firms to invest and grow.
That means faster approvals and a clearer path to “yes.” Without that, he says, capital looks elsewhere.
Resources and innovation are not rivals
Dew pushes back on a common narrative in urban centres. He rejects the idea that resource industries and innovation exist in tension.
“We depend directly or indirectly on the resource sector,” he says, recalling his upbringing in Vancouver as the son of a mining engineer.
For Dew, the real opportunity lies in combining the two. Resource innovation, he argues, can deliver both sustainability and growth. It also creates high-skilled, tech-enabled jobs.
He warns against assuming that tech alone will replace resource work. In fact, he notes that some entry-level tech roles are already under pressure from artificial intelligence.
The result is a sharper focus on resource-linked careers. These jobs, he says, offer stability and long-term value, especially for younger workers.
Competing in a changing world
Global uncertainty also shapes Dew’s outlook. Trade tensions and shifting geopolitics demand a more flexible approach, he says.
“We need to be very pragmatic,” he argues, calling for a strategy that expands market access. That includes new export routes for oil, natural gas and critical minerals.
At home, he sees a deeper challenge. British Columbia must make it easier to build, invest and innovate.
“Policy is downstream from politics and politics is downstream from culture,” Dew says. He believes the province needs a cultural reset that rewards entrepreneurship and celebrates success.
That shift, he adds, could help reverse a worrying trend. Too many young people are leaving for other provinces.
Dew’s message to them is simple. Stay, build and invest here. If that cycle takes hold again, he says, British Columbia can regain its edge.
For now, he frames the path forward in terms of choice. “We can bring back hope.”
Ian Biana writes for the Resource Works Accelerate team and can be reached at [email protected].
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