Every now and again you read something so outrageous you have to laugh. So it is with the report recently released by BC Citizens for Clean Energy: A Triple Legacy for Future Generations.
The essence of this lobby group’s proposal is that the government should develop an export policy for green energy targeting up to [...]
More Please!!!
March 9th, 2010 · Marvin Shaffer · Economy, Energy
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Assistance recipients on government hit list
March 8th, 2010 · Keith Reynolds · Poverty, inequality & welfare, Provincial budget & finance
Last week CBC reported cuts in social assistance services for British Columbia’s most challenged citizens. The story received almost no coverage in most other media, so it is probably worthwhile just to highlight what the government thinks must be cut to pay for their deficit.
On March 4th the government issued a press release with the [...]
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Women in the Canadian Economy
March 8th, 2010 · Iglika Ivanova · Children & youth, Economy, Women
Last weekend, I spoke at a community event celebrating International Women’s Day in Vancouver. It got me thinking about the status of women in the Canadian economy, reflecting both on the successes over the last half century and on the areas where work is still needed to achieve gender equality.
As a young woman in Canada, [...]
Climate inaction and BC’s budget
March 3rd, 2010 · Marc Lee · Climate change, Provincial budget & finance
The 2010 BC Budget was a disappointment on the climate action front. Even as Premier Campbell waxed poetic in the Globe about the impact of climate change on the 2010 Spring Games – with its sunny days, crocuses, daffodils and by the end, cherry blossoms making it fun for people on the street but a [...]
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BC Budget 2010 (notes from Iglika and Marc)
March 2nd, 2010 · Marc Lee · Provincial budget & finance
For a document titled Building a Prosperous British Columbia, the 2010 BC Budget is underwhelming in its ambition. Budget 2010 shows a government talking a lot about the legacy of the Olympics but lacking any coherent vision of how to translate upbeat sentiments into real improvements in British Columbians’ standard of living.
This budget says “steady [...]
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BC’s budget deficit third smallest in Canada
March 1st, 2010 · Iglika Ivanova · Economy, Provincial budget & finance, Transparency & accountability
Media attention may still be firmly focused on athletes and tourists today, but we’re already starting to see hints about what will dominate BC’s post-Olympics discourse.
The fear-mongering around our provincial debt and deficits is making a return
→ 1 CommentTags: bc budget·debt·deficits·Economy·recession·recovery
Costs do matter!
March 1st, 2010 · Marvin Shaffer · Economy
Admittedly, I’ve been over 4000 kilometres away from the frenzy on Robson Street for the last two weeks and more. Nevertheless, I still can’t buy into the new found enthusiasm for the Olympics. True, the men’s hockey final was spectacular, and I enjoyed it as much as anyone, celebrating with a margarita at a favourite [...]
→ 3 CommentsTags: Olympics
BC’s public sector: among the smallest in the country
February 25th, 2010 · Iglika Ivanova · Employment & labour, Privatization, P3s & public services, Provincial budget & finance
Have you heard pundits say that BC’s public sector is too big or “bloated”? It’s an argument frequently used as an excuse to advocate for government spending cuts, but is it true? You may want to take a look at the numbers for yourself.
The CCPA just released a short report on the size of the [...]
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Is it time to stop worrying about the economy?
February 22nd, 2010 · Iglika Ivanova · Economy, Provincial budget & finance
If you read the papers in this province, you’d think BC had long forgotten about the recession. Every bit of economic good news is trumpeted enthusiastically, from small increases in employment to the latest growth forecast released by private sector economists.
Yet economic forecasting is a notoriously difficult business. Just a year ago, we saw BC’s [...]
→ 1 CommentTags: economic forecasting·economic growth·Economy·recession·recovery
Will the Olympics boost long-term tourism to BC?
February 15th, 2010 · Seth Klein · Climate change, Economy
“We’ve invited the world, they’re coming, and the place is a mess.” That was the tag line the CCPA gave to our BC Solutions Budget back in 2004. At the time, we argued as strongly as we could that if BC was to change the story the world would tell of us this month, we [...]
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