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 [...]
Keith Reynolds’s Blog Posts
Keith Reynolds is a National Research Representative for the Canadian Union of Public Employees. He has done policy work for all three levels of government. Keith maintains a Facebook page in honour of BC cheese.
Assistance recipients on government hit list
March 8th, 2010 · Keith Reynolds · 5 Comments · Poverty, inequality & welfare, Provincial budget & finance
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Loukidelis did good work for government accountability. Now it’s a legislative committee’s turn.
January 24th, 2010 · Keith Reynolds · No Comments · Law & legal issues, Transparency & accountability
David Loukidelis, British Columbia’s Freedom of Information Commissioner has accepted the new role as the province’s deputy attorney general. Vaughn Palmer did a good column on the switch in jobs but I thought Loukidelis deserved more credit for his ten years on the job.
Personally, I think Loukidelis’s leadership was almost completely responsible for BC’s FOI legislation keeping [...]
Tags: accountability·FOI·Loukidelis
Will CanWest’s bankruptcy lead to more media concentration or new opportunities?
January 18th, 2010 · Keith Reynolds · 1 Comment · Media
There is an old political adage that you should never argue with someone who buys their ink by the barrel. Let’s ignore that good advice for a minute and talk about the CanWest bankruptcy.
CanWest, Canada’s largest media company, filed for bankruptcy protection for its assets which include all of CanWest’s newspaper publishing and associated digital [...]
Tags: bankruptcy·Canwest·media democracy
Bankers and cleaners
January 11th, 2010 · Keith Reynolds · 3 Comments · Poverty, inequality & welfare
So who is worth more to society: someone who cleans hospitals for a living or someone who runs a bank?
The answer to that question might seem subjective. Someone flat on their back in a hospital room might have pretty strong opinions.
But Britain’s New Economics Forum (NEF) has produced some pretty thought provoking work on this [...]
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The business elite’s parking tax backlash
January 8th, 2010 · Keith Reynolds · 5 Comments · Environment, resources & sustainability, Municipalities, Privatization, P3s & public services
The media is reporting a “backlash” against the new parking tax in Vancouver. The Vancouver Sun reports it is a “slickly organized” backlash being run by Vancouver’s business elite. This is apparently a 30 member business coalition including the Board of Trade.
This is not the first time Vancouver’s business elite has gotten organized around the [...]
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Ho Ho Ho. Help!
December 18th, 2009 · Keith Reynolds · 1 Comment · Uncategorized
Are you worried about a last minute gift for one of your progressive friends? Me too. So I have a proposal that might help both of us. I am going to suggest a new book you might find interesting in the hopes that you will take advantage of the comment section at the end of [...]
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AG’s office changes policy
December 9th, 2009 · Keith Reynolds · No Comments · Privatization, P3s & public services, Provincial budget & finance, Transparency & accountability
BC’s Auditor General has made an important change in the way his office does its work that will help guarantee the independence of his office.
In the past, part of the money that paid for the operation of the AG’s Office came from providing contracted services to organizations like crown corporations and other agencies outside of [...]
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Public or private – how the choice for P3s gets made
November 14th, 2009 · Keith Reynolds · 2 Comments · Privatization, P3s & public services, Uncategorized
Did you ever wonder how Partnerships BC justifies using 35 year contracts for public private partnerships rather than borrowing the money publicly and doing things like hospitals and roads as public projects?
Well now you can find out. PBC has published its methodology on a website. They have even asked for comments on the methodology, though [...]
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Property taxes: are major industries suffering?
November 3rd, 2009 · Keith Reynolds · No Comments · Economy, Environment, resources & sustainability, Municipalities, Taxes
Businesses across Canada have been complaining about what they pay in property taxes, well, since there were property taxes.
But the issue in BC came into sharper definition in July when Catalyst Paper hand-delivered cheques to four municipalities that only covered 25% of their property tax bill. Timberwest, Celgar and West Fraser Timber joined Catalyst and [...]
Tags: Castlegar·Catalyst Paper·Celgar·Kitimat·Timberwest·West Fraser Timber
CPRN: RIP – the loss of an independent voice
October 30th, 2009 · Keith Reynolds · No Comments · Transparency & accountability
There was sad news yesterday for those of us who are policy wonks and for anyone else who pays serious attention to public issues in Canada.
After 15 years of public policy research the Canadian Policy Research Network is closing its doors. The organization’s president, Dr. Sharon Manson Singer announced they were no longer financially viable.
The [...]
Tags: CPRN
