Vancouver Island’s economy is at a critical point and hard decisions need to be made to ensure long-term prosperity. This is according to Susan Mowbray, partner at MNP, who delivered the State of the Island economic report at the annual Vancouver Island Economic Alliance summit on Tuesday, Oct. 28, in Nanaimo. …Mowbray had a mixed outlook of the Island’s major sectors, with forestry down year-over-year with an uncertain outlook, and the farmed salmon sector similarly uncertain. “Those resource sectors that have traditionally been the backbone in the economy are continuing to shrink, with weak market conditions, increases in softwood tariffs by the U.S. and just regulatory strangulation is hammering our forest industry.”