From housing market to human right: A view from Metro Vancouver

May 29, 2018
I made the following submission to the Government of Canada’s consultation on National Housing Strategy’s human rights-based approach to housing, through which they are requesting “opinions and ideas about the key elements of a human rights-based approach to housing, the proposed approach to the new legislation, and new concepts to be explored.” This submission outlines key reasons… View Article

Threatened caribou further endangered: Suppressed audit shows Oil and Gas Commission undermining provincial efforts to save species

May 28, 2018
On an April morning in 2014, members of the Fort Nelson First Nation tucked into a helicopter to begin a day of flying to fossil fuel company operations in their territory. The Nation’s lands are part of the expansive Treaty 8 territory that includes northeast British Columbia. A professional biologist from Fort St. John was… View Article

Deep poverty: BC government can—and should—end it

May 24, 2018
The BC government’s public consultations into the development of a poverty reduction plan have ended. Now the ideas and recommendations from hundreds of British Columbians are in the hands of the government as they turn all that input into the official plan. We’ve been told to expect enabling legislation—including legislated targets and timelines—for the fall… View Article

A carbon budget framework for BC: Achieving accountability and oversight

May 22, 2018
When it comes to climate change Canada’s leaders have been great at setting targets for far into the future and then failing to meet them. Nationally, this pattern goes back to prime minister Brian Mulroney and has continued through prime ministers Jean Chrétien, Stephen Harper and now Prime Minister Trudeau. The Paris Agreement on climate… View Article

Death of the Oil Weapon

May 17, 2018
Alberta’s threat last month to cut oil supplies to British Columbia and thereby cause gasoline prices to spike is not an original idea. It is called the oil weapon: holding a supply of critical oil over your customer’s head. As detailed in Daniel Yergin’s tome on the oil industry, The Prize, it was most famously… View Article

Government wrong to exclude farm workers from basic minimum wage protection

May 15, 2018
A crowded van picks up an elderly Punjabi grandmother. After a 45-minute unpaid ride to the farm, she picks blueberries in the hot sun for up to ten hours with no overtime pay. If she slows down or takes too many breaks in the shade, the contractor may arbitrarily decide she hasn’t earned enough hours… View Article

Moving on from the CCPA-BC: A Message from Seth Klein

May 2, 2018
Dear friends and CCPA-BC supporters, If you are reading this post, you’ve heard that I’ve decided to step down as the CCPA’s BC Director at the end of this year. I’ve been mulling over this decision for some time and it has been a difficult one. But it’s time for me to move on. I… View Article

Mobility pricing in practice: A look at London, Stockholm and Singapore

Apr 30, 2018
An independent commission on mobility pricing (also called “road pricing” or “congestion charging”) will report to TransLink and the Mayors’ Council shortly. In a recent CCPA paper, I looked at the types of mobility pricing that could be considered for Metro Vancouver and the challenge of ensuring a new system is fair. Declining technology costs,… View Article

Kinder Morgan: Costs and benefits unbalanced, not in the national interest

Apr 23, 2018
The Alberta and federal governments claim that Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion (TMX) is in the national interest due to its economic benefits. But a closer look at TMX’s full range of benefits and costs shows the project to be extremely lopsided in its distribution. First, the economic gains accrue almost entirely to Alberta… View Article

What’s Kinder Morgan’s real end game?

Apr 16, 2018
Here’s a different take on Kinder Morgan’s ultimatum and the so-called “constitutional crisis” it has sparked. I’m speculating, of course, as we all seek to understand what Kinder Morgan is really up to. But allow me to posit a minority theory: We’re getting played! It is entirely possible that Kinder Morgan has already decided to… View Article

BC’s poverty reduction plans: Progress and next steps

Apr 13, 2018
After years of the previous BC government refusing to develop a poverty reduction plan, the new provincial government is finally moving forward on a plan. The Confidence and Supply Agreement between the BC NDP and Greens includes a commitment to “design and implement a province-wide poverty reduction strategy.” This is particularly gratifying for us at… View Article

Move to prevent extra billing will strengthen BC’s public health system

Apr 11, 2018
It’s taken over 14 years, but British Columbians will finally be protected against unlawful charges for medical services — just like all other Canadians. In 2003, the BC government brought in the Medicare Protection Amendment Act (Bill 92) to prevent unlawful extra billing as required by the federal Canada Health Act. These provincial and federal… View Article

Easy Water: Time bombs, fracking dams and the rush for H2O on private farmlands

Mar 29, 2018
The number of unlicensed and potentially dangerous dams built in recent years in northeast British Columbia is nearly double what has been reported, according to one of the province’s top water officials. At least 92 unauthorized dams have been built in the region where natural gas industry fracking operations consume more water than just about… View Article

Damming the information flow: BC government officials button lipped on potentially dangerous dams

Mar 29, 2018
Early last spring, provincial civil servants cut off virtually all communication about what the government knew about a sprawling network of potentially dangerous and unregulated dams in northeast BC on the pretext they could not comment because of the impending election. The coordinated effort meant there was virtually no comment until months after voting day… View Article

Does BC need a UK-style Minister of Loneliness?

Mar 28, 2018
A British Cabinet Minister, Tracey Crouch, has been given the task of coming up with a national strategy to combat an epidemic of loneliness in the UK. Loneliness is a health problem around the world, and British Columbia is no exception. Social isolation is increasing here and across our country. SFU’s Director of Gerontology, Andrew Wister, notes… View Article

Poverty interventions are health interventions: Three considerations

Mar 23, 2018
An irrefutable evidence base demonstrates that socioeconomic conditions—in particular poverty and inequality—impact health. In health care we call these conditions ‘social determinants of health’ (SDOH)—a term that describes the downstream health impacts of multiple forms of systemic inequity. In the context of a society, culture and health system that focus on the individual, it is… View Article

Comprehensive action on surgical waiting times is good news for BC

Mar 22, 2018
The case for bold, evidence-based action on surgical waiting times—especially for hip and knee replacements that are among the longest in the country—is clear. That is why the BC government’s move to take decisive action to reduce surgical waiting times throughout the province is very good news for all British Columbians. Data reported by the… View Article

In defence of BC’s new “speculation” tax

Mar 22, 2018
Among the housing measures announced in BC Budget 2018, the new speculation tax has caused the most uproar. Some of this stems from a lack of clarity on how the tax will be applied. Details are being worked out by the Ministry of Finance and in their absence there’s been some confusion and alarm. The… View Article

Do you want a more transparent, accountable government? Tell them so!

Mar 19, 2018
The story goes that Franklin Delano Roosevelt once met with a group of activists who wanted bold action. He listened and then said, “You’ve convinced me. Now go out and make me do it.” BC’s new government is holding a consultation on updating our Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy legislation. On the basis… View Article

A missed opportunity to help people with disabilities: BC Budget 2018

Mar 15, 2018
I approached BC’s February budget full of hope. It was the first full budget by an NDP government in 17 years and had been hyped as a spending budget. As a disabled woman and disability advocate, I was encouraged to see an image including someone in a wheelchair on the cover of the budget document…. View Article