Archive
COVID-19 pandemic highlights the need for a living wage
Jan 11, 2022
With the spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, news stories sounding the alarm over worker shortages are once again on the rise. And, like previous waves, these news stories are focused almost exclusively on workers in low-wage, precarious jobs. These jobs service large parts of the Canadian economy that are now being recognized as… View Article
The future of university divestment campaigns: Reflections from inside the movement
Jan 7, 2022
To an outsider, university divestment campaigns might look like a hopeful but impractical social movement led by naive cadres of sign-waving students. The truth, however, is that divestment is more successful and has more transformative potential than what first appears. Largely hidden but tightly woven connections between universities, finance and fossil fuels have provided ongoing… View Article
Key recommendations to the BC oil and gas royalty review
Dec 3, 2021
The oil and gas industry is a marginal player in BC’s overall economy, yet has far-reaching environmental impacts, is inconsistent with global climate action and undermines First Nations’ rights and title. And yet, since BC started to implement climate action targets and policies in 2007, gas production has doubled. In our submission to BC’s oil… View Article
The great tree robbery
Dec 2, 2021
As more old-growth trees topple and forest industry jobs plummet, an obscure government subsidy scheme fuels the collapse For more than 15 years, the BC government has rewarded logging companies with millions of additional old-growth trees to chop down thanks to an obscure “credit” program that allows companies to log bonus trees that don’t count… View Article
A flood of questions: As southern BC reels from epic flood, former provincial flood official says independent expert needs to investigate
Dec 1, 2021
Work at British Columbia’s River Forecast Centre is a little like trench warfare, long stretches of waiting followed by heart-racing action. As a fresh recruit at the forecast centre, Allan Chapman’s first big action occurred only months into the job. In October 2003, an atmospheric river or “pineapple express” slammed into the southwest coast hitting… View Article
Can CleanBC reach its 2030 GHG target? A closer look at industrial emissions
Nov 29, 2021
In the wake of negotiations in Glasgow to push forward global climate action, it is clear that rich countries and jurisdictions like BC are not doing enough to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. On the heels of Glasgow, the massive flooding in southern BC should be another wake-up call on top of a year of… View Article
LNG exports will doom BC’s emissions reduction goals
Nov 26, 2021
When the provincial government announced its CleanBC Roadmap to 2030 on Oct. 25, conspicuously absent was any mention of BC’s LNG export aspirations, which will increase emissions from the oil and gas sector and likely doom any chance of meeting BC’s emissions reduction targets. The LNG Canada project under construction in Kitimat includes a gas-fired… View Article
BC oil and gas royalty review seriously flawed without consideration of water
Nov 25, 2021
Open letter to the provincial government As prospects grow for intensified gas extraction in our province, we applaud the provincial government’s decision to review British Columbia’s decades-old oil and gas royalty regime. This once in a generation review is essential, given the significant threats posed to the climate and the environment by continued fossil fuel… View Article
Next steps for federal housing policy: A look at 2021 election promises
Nov 18, 2021
Affordable housing was an important theme in the 2021 federal election, with all major parties tabling a range of policy actions. These include some high-profile promises with real potential to rein in financialization and speculation, along with a number of new incentives for first-time buyers, which are mostly gimmicks. Below I mostly consider the proposals… View Article
Old-growth deferrals and the elephant in the room: we’re out of trees to cut thanks to failed provincial policies
Nov 12, 2021
No one should be surprised that the British Columbia government’s decision to potentially defer logging in 26,000 square kilometres of old-growth forest angered many and pleased few. First Nation leaders were highly critical of the incredibly short, 30-day turnaround that the government imposed on them to respond to the deferral proposals, the paltry funding provided… View Article
Paying a living wage key to Canada’s post-COVID economic recovery
Nov 10, 2021
The cost of living in Canada is on the rise and for workers earning low wages, making ends meet continues to be a struggle. The living wage rates for cities and communities across the country have just been released and not surprisingly they are also on the rise. The 2021 rates include Vancouver ($20.52), Victoria… View Article
Albertans have a right to be outraged…about the $3.5 million Allan Inquiry
Nov 1, 2021
Last week Albertans received the fruits of the Kenney Government’s inquiry into foreign-funded “anti-Alberta” activities targeting the oil and gas industry. The $3.5 million report, a year late and a million dollars over budget, found no evidence of illegal activities or wrongdoing on the part of any individual or organization targeted by the Inquiry. When… View Article
A challenge to the 44th Parliament: Make the global fossil fuel phase-out your legacy
Oct 28, 2021
In the past five years, the federal government has brought in important climate policies — including a national carbon price and coal power phase-out — that have helped flatten Canada’s emissions curve. On the other hand, this government has championed fossil fuel extraction at home and abroad, exemplified most clearly by the purchase of the… View Article
84 doctors, health experts & economists across Canada call on BC government to show national leadership with 10 days paid sick leave
Oct 21, 2021
As economists and health experts from across Canada, we urge the BC government to implement a robust employer-paid sick leave program that includes at least 10 paid sick days for workers. Employer-paid sick days are already a right of workers in most developed countries around the world, including a majority of OECD countries, because they… View Article
Five lessons from BC’s horrific wildfire season
Oct 7, 2021
In British Columbia, climate change is no longer something abstract for the future. The late June heat dome event—that claimed 500-600 lives—and the wildfires that followed confirm that climate change is a clear and present danger that’s not going away any time soon. As of September 28, some 867,000 hectares of land had burned, making… View Article
Legislated Paid Sick Leave – A Historic Moment for Worker Rights
Oct 6, 2021
The BC government will implement the right for all employees to have a minimum number of employer-paid sick days on January 1, 2022. BC will become just the third province in Canada to do so—and has an opportunity to make history by bringing in the strongest, most well-designed program in the country. Last May, the provincial government established… View Article
Remembering Murray Dobbin—activist, intellectual, mentor, friend
Sep 27, 2021
Neoliberal myth-buster. Far right exposer. Movement philosopher. Activist mentor. Murray Dobbin was all of these. On Sept. 8, our good friend and comrade Murray died at age 76. Murray was not ready to leave, but after two-and-a-half years the inexorable brutality of cancer led him to choose medical assistance in dying to end his life… View Article
BC’s human rights inquiry into hate incidents better late than never
Sep 24, 2021
Last month, BC’s Office of the Human Rights Commissioner (BCOHRC) announced it had been monitoring incidents of hate and white supremacy, noting a significant increase in reported hate-related incidents throughout BC since early 2020. According to their terms of reference, the Human Rights Commissioner will launch an inquiry into hate incidents, examine causes of the… View Article
Will BC enact a robust paid sick days plan, or will corporate power derail it?
Sep 17, 2021
British Columbians are on the cusp of winning a meaningful right to paid sick days—if the powerful corporate lobby doesn’t get its way. Paid sick days are common sense and already a right of workers in many advanced democracies around the world. The idea is simple. If you’re sick, you stay home and you get… View Article
Robust wealth tax could raise $363B over 10 years
Sep 14, 2021
Amid a rise in extreme inequality, the idea of an annual tax on the wealth of the super-rich has risen to prominence in recent years in many countries. New analysis shows that a robust wealth tax in Canada—one that goes further than those currently on the table in the federal election—could raise well over a… View Article