A few weeks ago the Canadian Federation of Independent Business announced that Penticton had been declared the No.1 entrepreneurial city in Canada (for cities with a population of under 150,000).
This was the good news, and there were a few individuals patting themselves on the back for that.
What I have not seen mentioned in the paper, however, was how Penticton was ranked in the 2015 B.C. Municipal Spending Watch Report (also published by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business). The B.C. Municipal Spending Watch analyses the sustainability of municipal finances by ranking municipalities based on their operating costs and spending growth.
In 2013, local government spending per capita was highest in Northern B.C. and lowest in the Thompson Okanagan region. Despite that, according to the 2015 report — when ranked against other BC municipalities that have a population of over 25,000 — Penticton can be found among the three biggest (worst) municipal per capita spenders; just behind Langford and West Vancouver. Anybody want to take credit for that?
David Korinetz
Penticton