IPCC: Time for a Global Carbon Budget

Sep 27, 2013
Political commitments on climate action, to the extent they exist, are usually pitched in terms of targets and timelines. BC, for example, has a legislated target of 33% below 2007 levels by 2020; Canada’s official target is a 17% reduction by 2020 relative to 2005 levels. Neither target will be met under status quo policy,… View Article

Stats Can rebuts CFIB on public sector sick leave

Sep 20, 2013
Yesterday Statistics Canada published a nice counterpoint to part of the relentless drumbeat against public employees by organizations like the Fraser Institute and the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB). Last December the CFIB published a report noting the horrifying finding that when it came to sick, disability and personal days off, public sector workers… View Article

Deconstructing BC Hydro’s Rate Increase

Sep 14, 2013
When the government imposed its Energy Plan on BC Hydro it never bothered to estimate the costs (or for that matter the benefits) of what it hoped to achieve. Ardent supporters of that Plan, like my good friend Mark Jaccard, constructed scenarios under which it would make sense to force BC Hydro to buy more… View Article

Memo to Obama: Canada’s carbon problem IS the tar sands

Sep 10, 2013
Canada’s Harper-ment is getting increasingly desperate. The quest to double production out of the Alberta tar sands needs new pipelines (or rail). In recent months, we have seen new proposals for pipelines to the west and to the east, amid further delays of the KeystoneXL pipeline to the south. The success of US activists (environmentalists,… View Article

What the UBC rape chant scandal says about women in the Canadian economy

Sep 10, 2013
The news of UBC Sauder Business School students chanting about rape of underage girls during a FROSH week event has generated much outrage. As it should. While the chant might seem like an isolated incident, it is not. The recent rape chant scandals in UBC and in St Mary’s University in Halifax are evidence of… View Article

Are we undermining our schools by not investing enough in education?

Sep 8, 2013
This year’s back-to-school media coverage featured surprisingly little analysis on how our schools are doing. Not to say that articles about innovative approaches to help students stay alert, back-to-school parenting advice and school lunch ideas aren’t useful, but surely those could have been combined with more in-depth analysis of the challenges and opportunities facing our… View Article

BC Hydro’s Integrated Resource Plan and The Case Against Site C

Aug 27, 2013
It could have been me taking time off during the short Vancouver summer, or perhaps that the news release got dropped on the Friday before the August long weekend, but I totally missed the release of BC Hydro’s Integrated Resource Plan (IRP). It is an important document for the province, one that sets out the… View Article

A Misdirected Response to a Self-Inflicted Problem

Aug 26, 2013
The essence of BC Hydro’s Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) is straightforward. Maintain aggressive conservation targets and plan to build Site C as soon as possible in order to meet the forecast growth in British Columbia’s basic electricity requirements. As for LNG, the energy needed for the liquefaction process is expected to be met by the… View Article

With BC’s job market stalled, it’s time for a jobs plan that actually works

Aug 13, 2013
The latest BC job numbers reveal a picture of persistently high unemployment and stalled job creation. Since January, BC’s unemployment rate has been on a roller-coaster ride, down one month and up the next. All in all, here have been very few jobs created in 2013, far fewer than needed to employ our growing working… View Article

Economist <3 car-sharing

Aug 1, 2013
It started with a car accident in February, and the total loss of our 2004 Prius, which had only been ours for less than a year. We were quickly compensated for its market value and were in a position to buy another car, but we held off due to a looming sabbatical that would take… View Article

The absurdity and injustice of now

Jul 25, 2013
I’m back from a short sabbatical, grateful for some time outside of my daily work and home life, feeling all big picture. But as I settle back into work, I feel like I’m seated in a Theatre of the Absurd play. My news feeds are pulling up astonishing things. Exhibit one: the North Pole at the… View Article

BC doctors need unbiased info on prescription drugs

Jul 25, 2013
As a family physician, I need to be sure that each medication I prescribe has good evidence behind its use for my patient’s diagnosis, concurrent medical conditions, and demographic. This isn’t as straightforward as it sounds, because good evidence isn’t always easy to find. In an often polarized culture of illness and suffering in which… View Article

Why does BC have the highest poverty rate in Canada?

Jul 16, 2013
Statistics Canada recently released new data on the incomes of Canadians and it shows two worrisome trends continuing through the economic recovery: BC has the highest poverty rate in Canada and the highest child poverty rate (tied with Manitoba); and Ordinary families in BC haven’t had a raise since 2008 – family incomes in the… View Article

Latest Statscan poverty numbers paint bleak picture for BC

Jul 8, 2013
Statistics Canada has released Incomes in Canada for 2011, with the latest poverty rates. You can find it here. And the numbers for BC are grim indeed, painting a very different picture from the rosy one the government likes to present. First Call has put out a news release detailing some of the latest child… View Article

Why wheelchair fees are not ‘fair’ and what they say about the state of seniors care in BC

Jul 5, 2013
The recent announcement of a $25/month user fee for wheelchairs used by people in long-term care facilities in the Fraser and Vancouver Coastal health regions has been unpopular – particularly given the simultaneous announcement of pay raises for top government political staff. Premier Clark has since withdrawn the promise of pay raises, except for her… View Article

Get a grip indeed

Jul 2, 2013
One wonders if the Globe and Mail’s intrepid Victoria correspondent, Justine Hunter, appreciates the irony of her weekend dispatch on Energy Minister Bill Bennett’s ‘vow’ to rein in BC Hydro spending. Pretty well everything Bennett promised to do, and that Ms Hunter dutifully reported, completely missed the point of what ails BC Hydro and what has… View Article

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