The fifth annual Welfare Food Challenge is coming up

Sep 13, 2016
The 2016 Welfare Food Challenge—in which participants spend one week eating only what can be purchased with the money a welfare recipient receives—is coming up on October 16th. The organization behind the challenge, Raise the Rates, calculates the amount participants have to spend on food based on the expectation that welfare recipients will have to pay for rental housing,… View Article

Denham goes to Britain – and takes some BC freedom of information issues with her

Sep 9, 2016
Elizabeth Denham—British Columbia’s former Information and Privacy Commissioner, who aggressively pushed freedom of information and privacy issues here—is now doing a similar job in the United Kingdom. After approval from Queen Elizabeth, Denham was appointed UK Information Commissioner on July 15, 2016 – and in at least one important area she is going further than she… View Article

Potential profits big enough to justify a massive lawsuit: 6 things you should know about the Cambie trial

Sep 8, 2016
The biggest constitutional trial “perhaps ever” in Canada is now in court. The future of our publicly funded health care system is at stake. Putting Canadian Medicare on trial is complex, and vulnerable to the blatantly false and simplistic messaging that increasing “private care” will take the pressure off public wait lists, increase patient choice,… View Article

5 reasons why private surgeries won’t shorten waits in the public system

Sep 7, 2016
After years of delay, Dr. Brian Day’s case against the BC Government is now being heard in BC Supreme Court. Day and his private for-profit Cambie Surgery Centre are challenging the parts of the BC Medicare Protection Act that prevent doctors and private clinics from directly billing patients for medically necessary procedures; in other words,… View Article

Privatizing public infrastructure is enormously costly. Let’s not repeat the mistake.

Sep 1, 2016
An announcement is expected next week on a plan for the long-awaited Victoria wastewater treatment plant, which has been the subject of ongoing controversy about its need and location. But one question has received much less attention: will this roughly billion-dollar piece of infrastructure be publicly owned and controlled, or will it be handed over… View Article