This is an opinion piece that I co-wrote with David Fairey, CCPA research associate, labour economist and Co-Chair of the BC Employment Standards Coalition. BC has acquired the “distinction” of being home to Canada’s largest income gap, highest poverty rate, and second highest child poverty rate. It also has greater employment insecurity and lower wages [...]
Marjorie Griffin Cohen’s Blog Posts
Marjorie Griffin Cohen is a professor at SFU, and has written extensively on public policy and political economy, especially the Canadian economy, electricity deregulation, women and labour, and nternational trade agreements. Ms Cohen has served on a number of Boards and Commissions including the BC Industrial Inquiry Commission on the Fisheries, the Board of Directors of BC Hydro, the Board of Directors of BC Power Exchange, and NewGrade Energy (Sask.). She was instrumental in establishing the CCPA in BC and is on its Board of Directors.
Why BC’s lower-wage workers are struggling: the case for stronger employment standards
April 30th, 2013 · Marjorie Griffin Cohen · Comments Off · Employment & labour
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Need for a Regional Police Force
January 3rd, 2013 · Marjorie Griffin Cohen · Comments Off · Law & legal issues
Creating a Vancouver region police force is at least one recommendation of the Missing Women Inquiry that should be put into effect as soon as possible. This will be difficult, mainly because the RCMP, with a 20 year contract that was put in place last March, is not going to be easily dislodged from the [...]
Tags: Opal Commission·police
Federal Budget Bill and Employment Equity
June 1st, 2012 · Marjorie Griffin Cohen · 2 Comments · Employment & labour, Women
So many big changes are happening in the Federal government’s budget bill — Bill C-38 — that some significant issues like the changes to the Federal Contractors Program (FCP) have escaped attention. Part 4 Division 42 of C-38 is very short. It merely says that subsection 42(2) of the Employment Equity Act is replaced by [...]
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BQ demise a big loss
May 3rd, 2011 · Marjorie Griffin Cohen · 2 Comments · Women
We have a lost a lot with the demise of the Bloc Quebecoise as a significant presence in Parliament. Social policy in Quebec has been more progressive than elsewhere in Canada for a long time. This is particularly important for policy related to women’s rights, including labour and social policy that allow women’s full participation [...]
Tags: election 20211·NDP
Harper’s Reckless Economics
May 1st, 2011 · Marjorie Griffin Cohen · 2 Comments · Taxes, Transparency & accountability
Throughout the election campaign Stephen Harper claimed the political high ground on the management of the economy. The surprise is that the opposition has pretty much let him get away with this. During the English Language debate the first question focused on $6 billion tax cuts to corporations. Harper said there were no tax cuts [...]
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A Modest Proposal
January 23rd, 2010 · Marjorie Griffin Cohen · 2 Comments · Environment, resources & sustainability, Housing & homelessness
At some point before long, Haiti is going to be rebuilt. It occurs to me that we in BC have available wood to help in the effort. Most things are built of concrete there because there simply isn’t any wood. Rebuilding out of concrete will be massively expensive and massively polluting. And, as Premier Campbell [...]
Tags: Haiti·pine beetle wood
Canada-US Clean Energy Dialogue – worrisome signs
October 7th, 2009 · Marjorie Griffin Cohen · Comments Off · Energy, Environment, resources & sustainability
In February 2009 the US and Canada initiated a joint effort to deal with climate change issues through the US-Canada Clean Energy Dialogue (CED). The CED`s working group issued its Action Plan on Sept. 16th. Much of the plan is encouraging, particularly priorities around clean energy technologies and research and development. But there are a [...]
Out of the Closet on Site C
September 14th, 2009 · Marjorie Griffin Cohen · 4 Comments · Energy, Environment, resources & sustainability
For years, successive BC governments have forbidden any new large-scale hydro dams. When I was on the BC Hydro Board of Directors in the mid-1990s, the Board passed a motion that all government land-holdings associated with Site C should be sold. The BC Hydro Board was against building Site C, or any other large dam, [...]
Tags: Bute Inlet·run-of-river·Site C
