Archive
Accelerate investment in public transit
Jan 28, 2019
This post is part of our BC Budget 2019 series, which highlights key findings from the CCPA’s research and outlines our recommendations for the 2019 provincial budget. Find more from the series at: policynote.ca/budget2019 Expanding public transit is a win-win for the province: it reduces costs for households, improves mobility, creates good jobs and supports… View Article
Human Rights Commission has opportunity to change workplace culture around sexual harassment
Jan 25, 2019
Sexual harassment in the workplace has been a focus of recent talk and action, spurred on by the #MeToo movement. As one of many ways in which women continue to experience inequality at work, more needs to be done to prevent and address workplace sexual harassment. The forthcoming BC Human Rights Commission is well-positioned to… View Article
Through the front door, then the back: How government methodically killed environmental oversight of major gas industry projects
Jan 23, 2019
Few regulations in British Columbia have died as quick and ignoble a death as a 2014 Order in Council exempting proposed natural gas plants from having to undergo environmental assessments. It was a change that fossil fuel companies drilling and fracking for natural gas in the northeast of the province had demanded for some time…. View Article
Investment needed for dedicated affordable housing
Jan 21, 2019
This post is part of our BC Budget 2019 series, which highlights key findings from the CCPA’s research and outlines our recommendations for the 2019 provincial budget. Find more from the series at: policynote.ca/budget2019 The 2018 BC Budget took some major new steps towards housing affordability, in particular on the taxation side with new progressive… View Article
Review and reform natural resource revenues
Jan 18, 2019
This post is part of our BC Budget 2019 series, which highlights key findings from the CCPA’s research and outlines our recommendations for the 2019 provincial budget. Find more from the series at: policynote.ca/budget2019 Natural resource revenues account for $2.7 billion or 5.2 per cent of provincial revenues. Resource revenues are generally not taxes, but… View Article
TimberWest forestry operations destabilizing Vancouver Island communities
Jan 17, 2019
TimberWest is consistently one of the top exporters of raw, unprocessed logs from British Columbia’s coastal forests. The company also has growing ties with Island Timberlands, BC’s other top log exporter. The two companies share roads, log sort yards and other infrastructure to generate profits. “As affiliated companies, TimberWest and Island Timberlands can each do… View Article
How (and how much) doctors are paid: why it matters
Jan 15, 2019
How we pay doctors through our public health system is an important issue that receives little public scrutiny, despite the fact that physician compensation represents a significant share of the provincial budget and has been among the fastest-growing health care costs in recent years. A very useful analysis was conducted by BC’s Auditor General in… View Article
Priorities and funding for health care in BC
Jan 14, 2019
This post is part of our BC Budget 2019 series, which highlights key findings from the CCPA’s research and outlines our recommendations for the 2019 provincial budget. Find more from the series at: policynote.ca/budget2019 In any provincial budget, health care is one of the biggest line items and, of course, one of our most vital… View Article
Our BC Budget 2019 priorities: Poverty reduction and climate action
Jan 8, 2019
In anticipation of the 2019 BC Budget—which the provincial government will present in February—the CCPA-BC is publishing a series of Policy Note posts highlighting the recommendations from our submission to the Budget Consultations. Those recommendations include ideas for improving BC’s health care, education, transit, child care and much more. Today, I kick off the series… View Article
Final farewell to the CCPA
Dec 20, 2018
Dear friends, After 22 years as founding Director of the CCPA’s BC Office, this month marks the end of my employment with the CCPA. Given that, I wanted to share some farewell thoughts and thanks (in addition to those I wrote when I announced my departure plans last spring). Leaving the CCPA is quite emotional…. View Article
Where is labour’s voice in coverage of pipeline controversies?
Dec 19, 2018
The news media play a strong role in shaping how many Canadians understand issues like climate change—and the tensions between the fossil fuel industry and those seeking to transition to a low-carbon economy. But are the media providing a clear view of the debate surrounding these issues? And are all stakeholders’ voices being heard? Short… View Article
Great news for human rights in BC!
Dec 18, 2018
On November 27, sixteen years after the previous government abolished it, the BC government passed legislation to bring back the BC Human Rights Commission. Human rights commissions play a vital role in promoting, defending and protecting human rights. Commissions across the country work to prevent abuses by building awareness of human rights, investigating issues of… View Article
BC’s shiny new climate plan: A look under the hood
Dec 17, 2018
BC’s new climate plan, Clean BC, is a big and visionary document and was instantly lauded by environmental groups and businesses alike. In this post, I recap the key components of the plan and do a bit of a reality check against the hype, in particular the challenge of fitting liquefied natural gas (LNG) into… View Article
Whose wealth is it anyway? BC’s top 10 billionaires and the rest of us
Dec 12, 2018
Economic inequality has exploded in recent decades—globally, in Canada and here in BC. Much of our concern about inequality has focused on the growth of extreme disparities between the incomes of the very rich and those of us on the middle and lower rungs of the income ladder. But there’s been much less focus on… View Article
BC can afford major new investments in the common good
Dec 3, 2018
This post is part of our BC Budget 2019 series, which highlights key findings from the CCPA’s research and outlines our recommendations for the 2019 provincial budget. Find more from the series at: policynote.ca/budget2019 BC has the financial means to make major differences in the lives of British Columbians. The most recent update to BC’s… View Article
True reconciliation in BC requires implementing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Nov 29, 2018
In the span of a decade, we have moved from the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples being largely absent from political and public discourse in BC to being fully endorsed by both the federal and provincial governments. In May 2017, implementation of the UN Declaration was called “foundational” to the Confidence and… View Article
What’s missing from the Uber debate? Market power, congestion, pollution, and even deaths
Nov 26, 2018
The BC government has introduced legislation expected to bring ride-hailing to the province late next year, though many questions remain about what the outcome will be in practice. A number of important policy details still need to be filled in by the Passenger Transportation Board and ICBC. Meanwhile the debate on ride-hailing has largely been… View Article
Employer Health Tax refinements good news for public services, non-profits
Nov 22, 2018
Just over a month before the new Employer Health Tax comes into effect, we have some of the final details of the tax’s design at hand. The provincial government released implementation details for the tax (EHT) over the summer and introduced legislation to enact it last month. The EHT replaces the deeply unfair Medical Services… View Article
Trans Mountain pipedreams and other energy follies: Why Canada needs a viable energy plan
Nov 13, 2018
Like it or not, we need to plan for a major transition over the coming decades from our reliance on fossil fuels to renewable energy. Fossil fuels are the major source of energy for Canadians and people around the world (providing 85 per cent of global primary energy in 2017). But hydrocarbons—oil, gas and coal—unfortunately… View Article
Pro rep leads to better public policy
Nov 8, 2018
Debunking the claims of proportional representation naysayers This post is part of a series explaining the benefits of proportional representation and debunking myths from the ‘No’ side of BC’s 2018 electoral reform referendum. More from the series is available at policynote.ca/pr4bc. Over the last few months, I’ve spent quite a lot of time debating and… View Article