Will the BC government continue to ignore its own budget consultation?

Dec 13, 2016
Every fall, BC conducts a month-long budget consultation process and for at least the last three years, the provincial government hasn’t acted on its own report. You have to wonder if they’re actually listening. This is a shame because the process generates a large number of good ideas and policy recommendations, which if implemented would… View Article

Kinder Morgan’s pipeline sales pitch: Too good to be true?

Dec 8, 2016
After the federal approval of Kinder-Morgan’s controversial Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion (TMX), Alberta Premier Rachel Notley came to BC to sell the pipeline’s economic benefits. She claims BC will get a $1 billion per year boost in GDP as a result of the pipeline, as well as thousands of jobs in both construction and operations… View Article

BC’s higher-than-expected surplus is a wasted opportunity

Dec 8, 2016
BC is on track to have a massive budget surplus this year according to the November update on provincial finances. At the end of the second quarter of the fiscal year, we’re looking at a surplus of $2.24 billion. This is $300 million more than what the September budget update projected and a staggering $2… View Article

Recap of our 2016 Rosenbluth Lecture with Pierre Fortin

Dec 8, 2016
This year, CCPA-BC’s annual Gideon Rosenbluth Memorial Lecture featured economist Pierre Fortin, who shared lessons from Quebec’s experience with low-fee, publicly funded child care. Professor Fortin spoke about research he conducted with colleagues at the University of Sherbrooke, which found that for every $1 invested in the Quebec child care program, the provincial and federal… View Article

826 reasons Kinder Morgan got a green light for its Trans Mountain pipeline expansion

Nov 30, 2016
Despite sustained opposition to Kinder Morgan’s plan to twin the Trans Mountain pipeline, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Cabinet gave it their blessing yesterday. Reaction from the many people, communities and nations opposed to the pipeline was swift. Twenty one municipalities and over 100 First Nations and Tribes have registered their opposition since the… View Article

BC Tax Commission focuses on business and not the rest of us

Nov 23, 2016
This fall we presented recommendations to the provincial government’s “Commission on Tax Competitiveness”, which released its final report today. But the Commission suffered from a basic flaw: an exclusive focus on business taxes. What about how BC’s overall tax system affects the large majority of British Columbians? The Commission’s terms of reference precluded consideration of… View Article

Low-income seniors also victim to affordable housing crisis

Nov 22, 2016
It may be hard to believe, but Statistics Canada data shows that 52 per cent of senior renters (65+) in Metro Vancouver spend 30 per cent or more of their monthly income on rent, and 21 per cent spend half or more. So how are low-income seniors expected to survive? The ratio of rent to… View Article

The biggest source of waste in Canadian health care? The private, for-profit sector

Nov 21, 2016
Brian Day’s legal battle against universal public health care in Canada is now before the BC Supreme Court. Day—along with other would-be profit-makers—are hawking unprecedented privatization as the solution to challenges in Canada’s health care system. But two crucial facts are often missed in debates about public vs. private health care. First, Canada already leaves… View Article

The US election results: Brief thoughts on the unthinkable

Nov 18, 2016
Having watched the US electoral horror show unfolding over several months, I’m trying to stand back from the emotional impact of the outcome, to think of some of the themes for progressive debate and research in politics and communication. What understandings are relevant to the political action that our collective survival now necessitates? First, we… View Article

Lessons from the Trump election for progressives in Canada

Nov 18, 2016
It’s been a little over a week since we were jolted by the profoundly disturbing reality of a Donald Trump US presidency. We’ve all found ourselves in many discussions about how such an abhorrent and blatantly racist and misogynist candidate could have won the most powerful political office in the world, and about how to… View Article

Four planks for a bold and progressive BC jobs agenda

Nov 17, 2016
BC needs a revitalized jobs plan. The provincial government’s narrow focus on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) hasn’t worked. The government hitched BC’s economic wagon to the elusive investment decisions of foreign transnational corporations, and to the ups and downs of international commodity prices, and the hoped-for investment simply didn’t materialize. And for all the talk… View Article

What BC’s energy industry has to do with violence against Indigenous women

Nov 16, 2016
The following post was adapted from the executive summary of Out of sight, out of mind: Gender, indigenous rights, and energy development in British Columbia, Canada. “It’s not a pity story. We’re not looking for sympathy. But the public has to recognize that this is a disaster in the making.” —Norma Pyle, Blueberry River First Nations… View Article

British Columbians will pay the LNG industry’s power bills

Nov 14, 2016
In his Tyee article BC’s LNG Fraud, Andrew Nikiforuk pointed out that the government’s new eDrive policy—under which BC Hydro will supply electricity to LNG plants at the standard industrial rate, instead of the much higher rate that government had determined was needed for BC Hydro to recover its costs—will result in a subsidy of $34 million… View Article

The election story is an addiction story

Nov 9, 2016
I know I am not alone shedding tears for the story of the 2016 American election. These aren’t the tears of a campaign or game lost, or an ego wounded, nor are they tears of aloneness, because I know I am not the only one who is afraid. These tears connect me to all of… View Article

A critical juncture for BC’s forest industry

Nov 7, 2016
When it comes to understanding the risks that BC’s forests and forest-dependent communities face, you’d be hard-pressed to find two more qualified individuals than Anthony Britneff and Martin Watts. Between them, the two have worked a combined 70 years in forestry, Britneff serving four decades in senior positions with the provincial forests ministry and Watts… View Article

The case for a progressive property tax

Nov 2, 2016
In 1993, then-Finance Minister Glen Clark tabled a controversial BC Budget, featuring a wide range of tax changes. A one-point increase in the provincial sales tax was the largest measure, tempered by the introduction of a refundable sales tax credit. Most of the budget measures increased taxes on the wealthy and corporations. Up went the… View Article

BC government plots new course for job creation: Optimism or wishful thinking?

Oct 27, 2016
On August 30th, the provincial government issued a review of job creation since the last election, and a preview of an update to their jobs plan, which was intended to be released in full this fall, however, an announcement has yet to be made. In short, this is the precursor to a pre-election platform statement. … View Article

Shining an international light on women’s human rights in BC

Oct 24, 2016
The international spotlight is about to shine on Canada’s track record on women’s human rights and BC may get caught in the glare. Provincial and federal compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women is set to be reviewed on October 25th by the expert UN Committee tasked with… View Article

If precarious employment is the new normal, how come we’re not talking about it?

Oct 21, 2016
According to the Toronto Star,1 “Precarious work is the new norm.” The same article reports on research findings from a 2013 study2 by McMaster University/United Way/PEPSO that looks at precarious employment in the Toronto region. This study found that less than half of all jobs in the Toronto region are permanent, secure full-time jobs, and outlined the… View Article

Working poverty on the rise in Metro Vancouver

Oct 18, 2016
Thanks to the Labour movement, we’ve made significant gains in working conditions over the years. On average, unionized employees make higher wages than non-unionized employees, and are more likely to receive health benefits and to have pension plans. But for those people working at or minimally above the minimum wage, whether they are unionized employees… View Article