Posts by Alex Hemingway

Alex Hemingway

About Alex Hemingway

Alex Hemingway is an Economist and Public Finance Policy Analyst at the CCPA’s BC Office. His work focuses on the state of public finances and services in BC, including education, health care, social programs and regulation. He also works on tax fairness—looking at the links between how our tax system is structured and the problem of growing inequality—and explores how high-quality, accessible public services can improve British Columbians’ quality of life.

Alex is currently finishing a PhD in Political Science at the University of British Columbia, where his research focuses on the relationship between economic inequality and inequality of political influence. He holds two master’s degrees from the London School of Economics (MSc Social Policy and Planning; MSc Global Politics), as well as a BA in psychology from Simon Fraser University, with a focus on evolutionary psychology and the evolution of human morality. Follow Alex on Twitter

Fresh from the lockup: Highlights of BC’s action-packed budget 2018

Feb 20, 2018
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BC Budget 2018 includes major new investments in child care, housing and infrastructure combined with significant improvements in tax fairness. This budget—the new provincial government’s first full budget—is a turning point. For too long, BC budgets have prioritized tax cuts and balancing the books over all else—preferring to sweep social, economic and environmental problems under… View Article

BC needs bold, transformative change. Will Budget 2018 bring it?

Feb 1, 2018
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BC is a beautiful place to call home—and an extraordinarily wealthy one. Yet, despite this wealth, our province is facing crises of affordability, inequality, poverty and environmental degradation. Next month’s provincial Budget is an opportunity to face up to and truly tackle these crises—something that would require the new BC government to think big and… View Article

Tackle inequality through tax fairness: BC Budget 2018

Nov 16, 2017
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Over the past decade and a half, BC’s tax system has become remarkably unfair. CCPA analysis shows that personal tax changes between 2000 and 2016—including income, sales, property, carbon and Medical Services Plan (MSP) taxes—overwhelmingly benefited the wealthiest British Columbians. Households with income over $400,000—the richest 1 per cent—received a tax cut of $39,000 per… View Article

Let’s strengthen public education in BC: Budget 2018

Nov 8, 2017
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The BC government’s September budget update included significant new funding for K-12 education as expected in light of last year’s Supreme Court of Canada ruling. This was vital after years of chronic underfunding by the previous government. The new funding to restore class size and composition provisions illegally stripped from teachers’ contracts means that thousands… View Article

BC has fiscal room to make lives better

Oct 23, 2017
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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

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

Sep 25, 2017
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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