2011 was the year rising inequality finally exploded into the mainstream discourse. A few year-end reading recommendations: Victoria Times-Colonist editorial writer Paul Willcocks wrote a terrific piece on the subject (you can find it here); and similarly, a group of UBC economists (including CCPA research associate David Green) authored a series on inequality for the [...]
Seth Klein’s Blog Posts
Seth Klein is the BC Director of the CCPA. Seth’s research deals primarily with welfare policy, poverty, inequality and economic security. A social activist for over 20 years and a former teacher, Seth is a founding board member with the Vancouver-based Centre for Native Policy and Research. He is also an advisory board member for the Columbia Institute’s Centre for Civic Governance, and an advisor and instructor for Next Up, a leadership program for young people committed to social and environmental justice.
Tackling inequality means rethinking upper-income tax rates
December 23rd, 2011 · Seth Klein · Comments Off · Poverty, inequality & welfare, Taxes
Tags: inequality·Taxes
Reflections on the year past and the year to come: Inequality explodes into the public discourse
December 22nd, 2011 · Seth Klein · 2 Comments · Climate change, Poverty, inequality & welfare
If this past year – marked by the Arab Spring and the fall arrival of the Occupy movement — has taught us anything, it is that we never know when historic moments come. And when they do, that which seemed political impossible is suddenly in play. Many of us found the explosion of the Occupy [...]
Growing support for cities to adopt living wage
November 16th, 2011 · Seth Klein · Comments Off · Employment & labour, Municipalities, Poverty, inequality & welfare
New developments since my recent post calling on municipalities to lead the way on adopting living wage policies: First, over just over 100 candidates have responded to the Open Letter issued by the Living Wage for Families campaign, covering almost every Lower Mainland municipality. Almost all have expressed support for this proposal or at least [...]
Tags: living wage·Municipalities·poverty
Living Wage Policy: Why Municipal Governments should lead the way
October 25th, 2011 · Seth Klein · Comments Off · Employment & labour, Poverty, inequality & welfare
By Michael McCarthy Flynn and Seth Klein The Living Wage for Families Campaign, along with 54 organizations representing over 300,000 British Columbians, recently issued an Open Letter calling on all municipal election candidates to help low-income families in their cities by passing a Living Wage policy if they are elected (available here). Many families are [...]
BC’s Top 1%: Doing fabulous, thank you
October 11th, 2011 · Seth Klein · 9 Comments · Poverty, inequality & welfare, Taxes
Occupy Wall Street has shone new light on the growing gap between the richest 1% and the rest of us (the 99 percenters). But that’s the U.S. right? Surely, our reality is different, eh? As the occupy movement comes to Canada in the coming week, we don’t really have reason to copy these American trouble-makers, [...]
Tags: inequality·tax cuts·Taxes
NDP propose BC Poverty Reduction Act
June 2nd, 2011 · Seth Klein · 3 Comments · Poverty, inequality & welfare
Today in the BC Legislature, the Official Opposition (MLA Shane Simpson) introduced a private member’s Bill proposing a BC Poverty Reduction Act. That Act, were it to be enacted, would see the government develop a comprehensive poverty reduction strategy, and legislate specific targets and timelines to reduce the breadth and depth of poverty within one [...]
Here’s what bold climate targets look like
May 29th, 2011 · Seth Klein · Comments Off · Climate change
Premier Christy Clark recently re-affirmed her commitment to BC’s greenhouse gas emission targets in an open letter to British Columbians. That’s good (and thanks to our friends at the Sierra Club of BC for drawing this to my attention). To remind folks: BC has committed to reduce it’s GHG emissions by 33% by 2020, and [...]
Tags: greenhouse gas
Christy’s HST “fix”: politics trumps good policy
May 26th, 2011 · Seth Klein · 18 Comments · Taxes
This is no way to make tax policy. Wednesday’s proposed reforms to the HST provide yet more evidence that what we really need is a Fair Tax Commission –– a full public engagement exercise in which the entire tax regime is on the table, and people can deliberate on how we want to raise the [...]
From The Missing Issues File: Climate Change
April 14th, 2011 · Seth Klein · 1 Comment · Climate change, Environment, resources & sustainability
Did I miss something, or did the two-hour English election debate go by with only one passing reference to climate change, the most urgent issue of our time? There seems to be an inverse relationship at play between the severity of the crisis and its place on the political radar. The issue is receiving much [...]
Tags: Climate change·greenhouse gas
Corporate tax cuts haven’t delivered
March 23rd, 2011 · Seth Klein · 2 Comments · Economy, Taxes
Yesterday I debated an economist from the Fraser Institute on CBC radio about the Federal Budget. One of the points of contention (and indeed, one of the core issues around which this budget will likely bring down the government) was the matter and merits of corporate tax cuts. My point: corporate tax cuts simply have [...]
