Five steps BC needs to take to begin building a universal, affordable, quality child care system

Oct 26, 2017
There’s no question that BC’s fragmented patchwork of child care programs with exorbitant prices, inadequate spaces and inconsistent quality fails to meet the needs of BC families. It was great to see that the 2017 Confidence and Supply Agreement between the BC New Democrat Caucus and BC Green Caucus included the commitment to “invest in… View Article

BC has fiscal room to make lives better

Oct 23, 2017
Looking ahead to BC’s 2018 budget, strong public investment is needed more than ever if our province is to tackle the large and pressing problems before us. Fortunately, we have the economic and fiscal capacity to make significant reinvestments in our public sector and the critical services it provides. The government’s September Budget Update projects… View Article

Legal Aid Denied: A 20th Anniversary retrospective

Oct 20, 2017
Legal Aid Denied: Women and the Cuts to Legal Services in BC was written in 2004 shortly after the election of a neo-conservative Liberal government in BC. The report outlined the nature of the changes this government quickly introduced to the provision of Legal Aid in BC including slashing funding from almost $100 million to… View Article

Tracking the gender gap in Canada’s big cities: How’s BC doing?

Oct 18, 2017
A new report released today uncovers important gaps in the experiences of men and women across Canada. The CCPA’s annual study of the Best and Worst Places to be a Woman in Canada by Kate McInturff ranks the country’s largest cities according to the gaps between men’s and women’s access to economic security, education, health,… View Article

Eight reasons the Site C dam is not needed: My testimony to BC Utilities Commission

Oct 16, 2017
Last week, I appeared before the BC Utilities Commission (BCUC) at their Technical Presentation Session in Vancouver, and gave a brief presentation about my findings relating to the economics of the proposed Site C dam. Here’s what I had to say: Thank you to the Commission for the invitation to speak. My name is Marc… View Article

Employment supports and labour market participation: 20th Anniversary retrospective

Oct 13, 2017
From 2001 to 2003, BC’s new Liberal government instituted significant policy reforms in the delivery and governance of public services. In 2004, Simon Fraser University and the CCPA-BC secured a five-year Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Community-University Research Alliances (CURA) grant to research how those reforms were affecting the economic security… View Article

BC First Nations are poised to lead the renewable energy transition

Oct 12, 2017
These are exciting times in British Columbia for those interested in building sustainable, just and climate-friendly energy systems. The recent change in government could mean a shift away from a corporate agenda driven by the needs of a massively energy-intensive fracking and LNG industry towards one that prioritizes action on climate change, First Nations’ self-determination… View Article

An environmental mess: BC government needs to bring gas industry and regulator under tighter control

Oct 10, 2017
Few environmental messes inherited by the new BC government rival the unregulated free-for-all that has unfolded in the province’s northeast where companies that frack for natural gas have built nearly 60 unlicensed dams. Not only do some of those dams show distressing signs of failing, but the companies that built them—and the government agencies that… View Article

Ten tax myths revisited: 20th Anniversary retrospective

Oct 6, 2017
In October 1999, I wrote the report Ten Tax Myths. Any retrospective on this issue must examine the relationship between research and analysis and the question of political agency. We know that no matter how good the research and analysis, unless there is a change agent to use it, the work sits frustratingly on the… View Article

Vancouver looks to more ambitious affordability proposals

Oct 3, 2017
When the previous BC government brought in a 15% foreign buyer tax in August 2016, Metro Vancouver’s housing market paused: real estate transactions dropped dramatically, prices fell at the high end of the market and housing starts slowed. By Spring 2017, however, the housing market rediscovered its animal spirits, and more recently we are back… View Article

A Dam Troublesome Exception: Progress Energy’s dams should not be exempted from environmental review

Oct 2, 2017
I sent the following letter to BC’s Environmental Assessment Office (EAO) in response to Progress Energy’s extraordinary request to retroactively exempt the Lily and Town dams from environmental reviews. Such reviews should have been conducted before the dams were built. Not only did those reviews not happen, but the company also failed to obtain other… View Article

Public libraries are becoming the new social safety net

Sep 28, 2017
Public libraries in British Columbia are evolving beyond spaces of quiet contemplation, equipped with card catalogues and encyclopaedias. In a time of increased Internet use and communication via social media, the way we access knowledge and use the library is changing. We are seeing digital storytelling and inspiration labs, access to design software, e-readers and… View Article

20 years later: How corporations took over Canada’s health care system

Sep 26, 2017
Caring for Profit: How corporations are taking over Canada’s health care system was published by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) and New Star Books nearly 20 years ago, shortly after the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) General Agreement on Trade in Services kicked into gear. Both… View Article

Firehose of corporate cash or financing our democracy together? A no-brainer

Sep 25, 2017
A long-overdue and badly-needed overhaul of BC’s election finance rules was introduced by the provincial government last week. Media headlines mostly focused on the decision to include public funding for political parties, questioning whether it is an appropriate use of taxpayer dollars and whether the governing NDP has reversed itself on this issue. But this… View Article

Challenging Site C: The BC Utilities Commission preliminary report

Sep 21, 2017
The BC Utilities Commission preliminary report demonstrates why independent review of mega-projects like Site C is so essential, even with the short timeframe imposed by the BC government (the final report is due November 1). The previous government’s deliberate exemption of Site C from BCUC review is scandalous in subverting a rigorous and transparent public… View Article

BC’s last Climate “Leadership” Plan was written in big oil’s boardroom (literally)

Sep 18, 2017
Newly uncovered documents obtained through Freedom of Information requests reveal the cozy relationship between the fossil fuel industry and the last BC government went even further than suspected — all the way to inviting industry to directly craft the province’s climate “leadership” plan. Let’s rewind for a second: back in the spring of 2015, then-premier… View Article

Budget Update investments a positive first step for British Columbians

Sep 11, 2017
The BC Budget Update injects much-needed investment in a number of important policy areas that will quickly start to make a positive difference in the lives of families and communities around the province. Some of the highlights: MSP fee cut Medical Services Plan (MSP) fees will be cut by 50% in January 2018 for everyone,… View Article

9 things to look for in Monday’s BC Budget

Sep 8, 2017
BC’s new government is set to table its first provincial budget on Monday, September 11. While it is expected to be less comprehensive than a full budget (as almost half the year has already passed), the investments made or missing from it will reveal a lot about this government’s priorities. The agreement signed by BC… View Article

Why BC’s new government should make Freedom of Information reform a top priority

Aug 31, 2017
When a political party returns to power after an absence of 16 years, it is going to have a lot of priorities and will encounter a lot of people advocating for particular issues. That will mean some tough choices about how these priorities are scheduled. I am going to suggest that one of the top… View Article

Lifting tuition fees for adult basic education is just the beginning

Aug 29, 2017
The August 8, 2017 announcement that the new NDP government was fulfilling a promise to end tuition fees for Adult Basic Education students and English Language Learners in time for September classes is welcome indeed. This is the first step in undoing an educational wrong. The BC Liberals announced in late 2014 that “adults with… View Article