A deadly wake-up call

Jun 1, 2022
In aftermath of a landslide that killed five, experts say government must act now to avoid more “preventable” deaths Second of Two Parts (read the first) As 2021 drew to a close, Premier John Horgan said many British Columbians would remember it “as the year that climate change arrived on our doorsteps.”  Whether it was… View Article

The need for affordable child care

May 20, 2022
Canada is at a game changing moment when it comes to child care. Historic federal funding agreements with provinces and territories now support a vision for high-quality, accessible child care across the country. Affordability is a top priority, with governments committing significant funds to reduce average child care fees by 50 per cent by the… View Article

A win for BC workers: single-step union certification

May 4, 2022
The BC government recently introduced legislation that allows a majority of workers in a workplace to organize a union a little more easily, making it harder for employers to intimidate and interfere in organizing drives. That’s good news both for working people and for the quality of our democracy. Single-step certification simply means that if… View Article

Health care spending falls short in 2022 federal budget

Apr 26, 2022
Marjorie Cohen will deliver the CCPA–BC’s 2022 Gideon Rosenbluth Memorial Lecture on September 14, 2022 at 4:00pm PT. This free lecture will be held on zoom, you can register online here. A consistent theme in the media, when writing about health care in Canada, is to use disparaging adjectives, such as ‘dilapidated,’ ‘ramshackled,’ ‘exhausted.’ They… View Article

Financing public housing: how a massive expansion of rental homes can literally pay for itself

Apr 21, 2022
In the face of a mounting housing crisis, what if BC could massively increase public investment in below-market rental housing—and if that upfront investment could literally pay for itself, with no increase to taxpayer-supported debt? While this might sound too good to be true, it simply follows from the basic logic of rental housing development…. View Article

Employment rights justice denied to thousands of BC Workers

Apr 14, 2022
For decades, the BC Employment Standards Branch has not effectively enforced the Employment Standards Act, meaning thousands of workers are denied their legal rights, a new report that we co-wrote with the BC Employment Standards Coalition shows. Complaints take between 18 months to three years to resolve; the Branch doesn’t proactively investigate employers, industries and… View Article

The last of the green gold: With the best trees gone and revenues plummeting, what’s next?

Apr 14, 2022
Last year, as hundreds of protesters were arrested at Fairy Creek on Vancouver Island for trying to stop logging of old-growth forests, the BC government raked in more money from companies doing such logging than at perhaps any point in history. In total, it collected more than $1.8 billion dollars in stumpage fees—a number that… View Article
Photo: Province of BC / Flickr

BC needs a public intercity transportation service

Apr 11, 2022
Northern British Columbia is a vast, rugged, mostly mountainous area roughly the size of France. In winter, its two-lane public highways often get hit with snow and ice storms, making travel hazardous and sometimes impossible for the 280,000 or so people who live and work in the region. But these are not the only storms… View Article

The Revolving Door: Troubling questions raised as BC’s chief forester prepares to work for global wood pellet giant, Drax

Apr 6, 2022
At mid-afternoon on Monday (April 4), senior staff at British Columbia’s Ministry of Forests were told that one of their highest-ranking members—the province’s chief forester, Diane Nicholls—was entering the revolving door that would sweep her seamlessly out of government employ and into the industry her ministry regulates.  “Diane is leaving us to further her work… View Article

Freedom of information review: how to fix a broken system

Mar 29, 2022
A lot of people don’t trust their governments these days. One of the things that undermines trust in government is when people don’t think government is being transparent. What is the government doing and how is it making its decisions? That is where Freedom of Information (FOI) can come in. When FOI works, it lets… View Article

Over a barrel: The case for a windfall profits tax to address surging gasoline prices

Mar 17, 2022
Do you support a windfall profits tax on oil and gas corporations? Let us know at the bottom of this article and sign up to receive e-mail updates! The recent surge in oil prices has caused pain at the pumps for many working people, further stoked inflation in the economy, and led to a rash… View Article

Jobs and forests up in smoke: Coalition calls for investigation into wood pellet juggernaut Drax

Mar 14, 2022
At 944,000 square kilometres in area, British Columbia is nearly four times larger than the United Kingdom.  But what the latter lacks in size it compensates for in reach, a reach that extends deep into the old-growth forests of Canada’s westernmost province.  To appreciate that reach it helps to consider  the tremendous loss of forests… View Article

What happened to the 114,000 new affordable homes promised in BC?

Mar 11, 2022
During the 2017 election campaign as part of its plan to make life more affordable, the BC NDP promised if elected to “build 114,000 affordable rental, non-profit, co-op and owner-purchase housing units through partnerships over ten years. These homes will be a mix of housing for students, singles, seniors and families and will range from… View Article

BC’s property tax increases: What has been the impact of the 2018 changes?

Mar 8, 2022
Four years ago, the 2018 BC Budget introduced a number of new taxes in support of an affordable housing agenda. The taxes, along with new spending measures and renter protections, were part of the government’s Homes for BC 30-point housing plan and included: Higher provincial property taxes (Additional School Tax) for homes assessed at more… View Article

Upzoning and housing affordability

Mar 3, 2022
With the 2022 municipal elections now in sight—and a housing affordability crisis that’s as bad as ever—the City of Vancouver has embarked on two new directions for more dense housing in its detached-housing neighbourhoods. These moves are modest but point to the type of new housing supply needed region-wide. First, as part of a new… View Article

What happened to the National Housing Strategy?

Mar 1, 2022
Launched in 2017, the National Housing Strategy (NHS) was billed as a major re-engagement by the federal government on affordable housing after more than two decades on the sidelines. Starting with a headline commitment of $40 billion when first announced and supplemented in subsequent budgets, the NHS is now ostensibly valued at more than $75… View Article

BC budget moves in the right direction but too slowly to address pressing challenges like housing, climate, toxic drug supply and poverty

Feb 24, 2022
With COVID centre stage for the past two years, Budget 2022 marked a shift back to normal. Yes, the budget earmarks $2 billion in contingencies for potential COVID needs, but this took up a mere half page of the main budget document. The budget narrative instead is framed around child care, climate change and investments… View Article

As deadline looms, what’s BC government’s plan for 15,000 businesses who will soon be violating provincial water laws?

Feb 21, 2022
In just days from now, March 1 to be exact, the BC government is going to find itself in difficult straits. That’s the day that all businesses in the province who rely on well water or groundwater to run their operations must, by law, have applied for a licence to continue to use that water…. View Article

Being a Hope Amid Crises with Dr. Cornel West

Feb 16, 2022
By
The CCPA-BC Office and the BC Black History Awareness Society co-presented an online event with Dr. Cornel West on Wednesday, February 16, 2022. View the video recording of the event below. Dr. West is an American philosopher, political activist, social critic and public intellectual. He is the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Chair at Union Theological Seminary. He… View Article

Energy giant Drax’s monopoly of BC’s wood pellet industry must be investigated

Feb 16, 2022
The following letter has been sent to Matthew Boswell, Commissioner of Competition, Competition Bureau of Canada. Dear Mr. Boswell, We write today to formally request that the Competition Bureau of Canada investigate the Drax Group’s dominant position in the wood pellet industry in British Columbia, Alberta and Canada more generally. The company has monopolized much… View Article