Short BC throne speech neglects climate crisis, poverty

Jun 26, 2013
Everyone expected today’s throne speech to be a brief recap of Christy Clark’s election platform. And on this front, it certainly delivered: only 8 pages, compared to the usual 20+, pinning our province’s hopes on LNG exports, and using much of the same language, word for word, that we’ve heard repeatedly throughout the election campaign…. View Article

Does Premier Clark, the great petro pretender, have a Plan B?

Jun 24, 2013
In January, one of the world’s most sophisticated deep-sea drilling vessels, the $540-million Chikyu, left the Japanese Port of Shimizu destined for a distant point in the Phillippine Sea. The voyage marked a milestone in what by then was an 18-year, $700-million research and development effort aimed at one day weaning Japan off of its… View Article

Is the Fraser Surrey Docks coal port proposal in the best interest of BC?

Jun 18, 2013
Today’s CBC Edition Business Panel focused on the proposal by Fraser Surrey Docks to build a new coal terminal on the Fraser river to export US thermal coal (if you missed it, here’s the recording starting at 1:50). My co-panelist, Jock Finlayson from the BC Business Council, kept trying to narrow the conversation to technical… View Article

CFIB spokesperson blames downloading for muni cost increases

May 31, 2013
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) published a report this week talking about the alarming rate of increase in municipal spending and blaming it all on overpaid public employees. It turns out their numbers are suspect but there are other problems that raise questions about whether this is just about a political agenda. BC’s… View Article

Phony numbers, screaming headline

May 31, 2013
An enormous error in a report by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) led to a screaming headline in Wednesday’s Vancouver Sun suggesting spending by local governments was out of control. The CFIB’s report looked at spending in major Canadian cities, including Vancouver, from 2000 to 2011.  It concluded: From 2000 to 2011, Vancouver’s… View Article

Keeping democracy alive: Engaging in political process between elections

May 30, 2013
Last week, Seth Klein reflected on some lessons from the 2013 BC election.  Among the many important lessons he noted was the fact that “we need to better understand why so many people feel disengaged from politics and key policy debates.”  Indeed.  Now that the election is over, those of us who are passionate about… View Article

Lessons from the 2013 BC Election: What’s a progressive research institute to do?

May 22, 2013
As I write, it has been just a few days since the provincial election. As was the case for most of you, the result was unexpected. We are still processing what it means for our work and rethinking some of our research plans. For those of us who engage in deep thinking about policy ideas,… View Article

Big Numbers – Big Lies

May 22, 2013
The election results were disheartening; it was, as many have commented, a victory of style over substance. Hope for something unachievable (a debt free B.C. in fifteen years) and fear of a leader and party that does not exist (an untrustworthy Chavez of the north) won the day. It was not a great moment for… View Article

The Green Part of Green

May 10, 2013
Unlike a number of green advocates, political and otherwise, I think there can be some significant benefit for British Columbians from the development of LNG exports, particularly if issues around the supply and pricing of electricity, and the regulation and offset of industry GHG emissions are properly addressed. Nevertheless, I do agree with those who argue… View Article

Reality check on government spending: is the overspending fear mongering justified

May 9, 2013
Both main parties in this election campaign are accusing the other of being big spenders. The BC Liberals claim the BC NDP is making election promises that are too expensive and argue the 1990s (the last time the NDP was in government) was a time of particularly high spending. The BC NDP points out that… View Article

Comparing platforms with respect to climate action

May 9, 2013
As many readers of this blog will know, back in February the CCPA (with the assistance of a number of our partners in the Climate Justice Project) published an Open Letter to the BC political parties calling on them to recommit to BC’s legislated greenhouse gas reduction targets, and to table plans for how to… View Article

Coal association gets free pass on election advertising while public interest groups chilled

May 8, 2013
Just when I thought the situation with BC’s third party advertising rules couldn’t get any more ridiculous, this comes in from the “Are You Kidding Me?!” department: According to The Tyee, a three page advertorial for the Canadian Coal Association “extolling the virtues of BC’s coal industry” in last week’s Globe and Mail has been… View Article

The call for a BC poverty reduction plan: where have the parties landed

May 8, 2013
The CCPA is a founding member of the BC Poverty Reduction Coalition (PRC), which for over four years now has been advancing the call for a comprehensive BC poverty reduction plan. Its Open Letter calling on the BC government to adopt a legislated plan has been signed by hundreds of organizations. The PRC has now… View Article

Vancouver child poverty rate is second-highest in Canada

May 8, 2013
The story of child poverty in Canada is very much an urban story. One out of every 10 children living in urban areas was poor in 2010, compared to one in 20 children living in non-urban areas. Three quarters (or 76%) of all poor children in Canada lived in one of the urban centres shown… View Article

Beyond the economy: Where are BC’s major parties on health care and our aging population?

May 7, 2013
By Shannon Daub & Janine Farrell We have been surprised, to say the least, at the lack of public discourse around health care during this election period.  As a top-of-mind issue for British Columbians, you’d think it would be as central as the always large and looming economy. So what are the burning issues in… View Article

Final election fact sheet: Enhancing social support for seniors living in BC

May 6, 2013
We have completed the last of our series of three fact sheets on seniors issues in preparation for the upcoming election! This fact sheet highlights the importance of communities that are inclusive and accessible to people of all ages and abilities.  And, while it is important for seniors to “age in place,” they must also be… View Article

Debt Free BC?

May 4, 2013
It is pretty clear that the election-inspired promise of a debt free BC is not to be taken seriously. There is no credible market analysis indicating that the royalties from B.C. LNG exports would be sufficient to do that in 15 years, as the Premier would have it. The potential for increased gas supply from… View Article

Living wage reports reveal a big gap between actual wages and the costs of raising a family in BC

May 2, 2013
How much do working parents need to earn to be able to afford to live in our community? There reports released today provide the answer for the three largest regional districts in BC, home to 2/3 of this province’s population: $19.62/hour in Metro Vancouver, $18.73/hour in Greater Victoria and $16.37/hour in the Fraser Valley…. View Article

Why BC’s lower-wage workers are struggling: the case for stronger employment standards

Apr 30, 2013
This is an opinion piece that I co-wrote with David Fairey, CCPA research associate, labour economist and Co-Chair of the BC Employment Standards Coalition. BC has acquired the “distinction” of being home to Canada’s largest income gap, highest poverty rate, and second highest child poverty rate.  It also has greater employment insecurity and lower wages… View Article

Project Mania

Apr 26, 2013
One can excuse politicians in the heat of a campaign of simplifying issues and seeking out tags and slags in lieu of substantive debate. But there is no excuse for leading columnists of major newspapers, like Barbara Yaffe in her most recent attack on the BC NDP, to do the same. Yaffe raises the spectre… View Article