Unlike a number of green advocates, political and otherwise, I think there can be some significant benefit for British Columbians from the development of LNG exports, particularly if issues around the supply and pricing of electricity, and the regulation and offset of industry GHG emissions are properly addressed. Nevertheless, I do agree with those who argue [...]
Entries Tagged as 'Economy'
The Green Part of Green
May 10th, 2013 · Marvin Shaffer · 4 Comments · Economy, Energy, Environment, resources & sustainability
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Reality check on government spending: is the overspending fear mongering justified
May 9th, 2013 · Iglika Ivanova · 2 Comments · Economy, Provincial budget & finance
Both main parties in this election campaign are accusing the other of being big spenders. The BC Liberals claim the BC NDP is making election promises that are too expensive and argue the 1990s (the last time the NDP was in government) was a time of particularly high spending. The BC NDP points out that [...]
Tags: budget·campaign·deficit·government priorities·government spending·Liberals·NDP·platform·recession·role of government·unemployment
Beyond the economy: Where are BC’s major parties on health care and our aging population?
May 7th, 2013 · Janine Farrell · 9 Comments · Economy, Health care, Seniors
By Shannon Daub & Janine Farrell We have been surprised, to say the least, at the lack of public discourse around health care during this election period. As a top-of-mind issue for British Columbians, you’d think it would be as central as the always large and looming economy. So what are the burning issues in [...]
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Debt Free BC?
May 4th, 2013 · Marvin Shaffer · Comments Off · Economy, Energy, Environment, resources & sustainability, Uncategorized
It is pretty clear that the election-inspired promise of a debt free BC is not to be taken seriously. There is no credible market analysis indicating that the royalties from B.C. LNG exports would be sufficient to do that in 15 years, as the Premier would have it. The potential for increased gas supply from [...]
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Living wage reports reveal a big gap between actual wages and the costs of raising a family in BC
May 2nd, 2013 · Iglika Ivanova · 1 Comment · Economy, Education, Employment & labour, Poverty, inequality & welfare, Taxes, Women
How much do working parents need to earn to be able to afford to live in our community? There reports released today provide the answer for the three largest regional districts in BC, home to 2/3 of this province’s population: $19.62/hour in Metro Vancouver, $18.73/hour in Greater Victoria and $16.37/hour in the Fraser Valley.
Project Mania
April 26th, 2013 · Marvin Shaffer · Comments Off · Economy
One can excuse politicians in the heat of a campaign of simplifying issues and seeking out tags and slags in lieu of substantive debate. But there is no excuse for leading columnists of major newspapers, like Barbara Yaffe in her most recent attack on the BC NDP, to do the same. Yaffe raises the spectre [...]
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Are average Canadians paying too much in taxes?
April 24th, 2013 · Iglika Ivanova · 4 Comments · Economy, Poverty, inequality & welfare, Provincial budget & finance, Taxes
On April 23, the Fraser Institute released the annual update of their misleading Consumer Tax Index report. The piece is meant to feed the anti-tax sentiment with numbers sprinkled liberally for their shock value instead of providing any meaningful analysis. Here are some of the main flaws with the report’s methodology. If what follows sounds [...]
Assessing BC’s Fiscal Health: Can BC afford more deficits?
April 17th, 2013 · Seth Klein · Comments Off · Economy, Provincial budget & finance, Taxes
By Seth Klein and Iglika Ivanova [Note: this piece has also appeared in the Tyee here.] OK, time for a reality check on BC’s deficits. Simply put, while arguments about deficits and “who is the better fiscal manager” may make for entertaining politics, there is no compelling economic reason why BC cannot run a few [...]
Investor alert: TSX over-valued due to a “carbon bubble”
April 15th, 2013 · Marc Lee · Comments Off · Economy, Environment, resources & sustainability
Canada’s economic development model is on a collision course with the urgent need for global climate action. Worldwide, extreme weather events from drought to floods to powerful storms and record-breaking temperatures are making a powerful statement that climate change can no longer be denied. Hurricane Sandy, which rudely interrupted a US election in which candidates [...]
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Climate justice and BC’s political moment
April 5th, 2013 · Marc Lee · Comments Off · Climate change, Economy, Energy, Environment, resources & sustainability
The following is based on a talk at the Bring Your Boomers election forum on April 3 at the Rio Theatre in Vancouver, the fourth in a series of intergenerational dialogues from Gen Why Media, and was co-sponsored by the CCPA, Get Your Vote On, LeadNow and Vancity credit union. I was asked to set the stage for a conversation on climate justice between [...]
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