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Topic

Extractive Roots, Branching Futures: How British Columbia Government Speeches and Strategies Imagine the Provincial Economy, 1960–2024

School of Public Administration

Date & location

• Thursday, April 14, 2026

• 2:30 P.M.

• Clearihue Building, room B007

• & Virtual Defence

Reviewers

Supervisory Committee

• Dr. Tamara Krawchenko, School of Public Administration, ̽��ϵ�� (Co-Supervisor)

• Dr. Christopher Kennedy, Department of Civil Engineering, UVic (Co-Supervisor)

• Dr. Kim Speers, School of Public Administration, UVic (Member) 

External Examiner

• Dr. Matt Huculak, Libraries, Reference Services, ̽��ϵ�� 

Chair of Oral Examination

• Dr. Timothy Iles, School of Pacific and Asian Studies, UVic

   

Abstract

The narrative history of British Columbia’s (B.C.) economy follows a resource extraction path with the timber industry taking a central role in self-image since the early twentieth century. However, the government institutions that shape economic activity from policies to promotion often go unrecognized in forming this self-image. Using content analysis and topic modeling of government strategic documents, budget and throne speeches together with economic statistics, this thesis combines quantitative and qualitative analysis to explore publicly available government documents that set out a vision of B.C.’s economy, and how they relate to the direction of B.C.’s economy. Specifically, speeches, broad strategic documents, and economic statistics produced since 1960 are examined using content analysis with industry classification codes and topic modelling to produce a picture of the broad currents found in B.C. government institutional discourse. The findings indicate that B.C.’s economy evolved alongside the language it uses about itself and its future. Specifically, the government of B.C. over successive administrations has struggled to reconcile the need for economic growth based on a staples economy with the pressures to meet environmental standards targeted by mature economies. This struggle appears across institutional discourse as the government tries to forge a path forward. While the precise impact of discourse on economic outcomes remains difficult to isolate, the analysis reveals meaningful patterns linking institutional narratives, broader government discourse, and economic change while demonstrating a set of methods that future studies can build upon.

Keywords: B.C. economy; institutionalism; resource economy; economic development; staples economy