Posts by 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

What’s missing from the Uber debate? Market power, congestion, pollution, and even deaths

Nov 26, 2018

By Alex Hemingway

The BC government has introduced legislation expected to bring ride-hailing to the province late next year, though many questions remain about what the outcome will be in practice. A number of important policy details still need to be filled in by the Passenger Transportation Board and ICBC. Meanwhile the debate on ride-hailing has largely been… View Article

Employer Health Tax refinements good news for public services, non-profits

Nov 22, 2018

By Alex Hemingway

Just over a month before the new Employer Health Tax comes into effect, we have some of the final details of the tax’s design at hand. The provincial government released implementation details for the tax (EHT) over the summer and introduced legislation to enact it last month. The EHT replaces the deeply unfair Medical Services… View Article

BC’s speculation tax is a key piece of the housing affordability puzzle

Oct 25, 2018

By Alex Hemingway

The BC government has brought forward legislation to implement one of its major policy measures on housing: the speculation tax. In a defence of the tax earlier this year, we outlined why the speculation tax represents an important step in addressing the housing crisis. The tax covers a limited set of geographical areas in BC that have a high demand… View Article

Elite private schools rake in public funds while special needs students go without

Oct 2, 2018

By Alex Hemingway

Every year the BC government provides hundreds of millions of dollars in public funding to private schools, including elite prep schools. Given that BC’s public education system has been severely underfunded for most of the past two decades—and is still failing to adequately support students with special needs—this use of public resources is hard to fathom…. View Article

The new school year begins with more affordable child care and better education funding for all ages — but challenges remain in the education sector

Sep 10, 2018

By Iglika Ivanova and Alex Hemingway

It’s back-to-school season and this September, BC students of all ages are returning to schools facing a very different funding environment. That’s because in its first year in power, BC’s new provincial government made a major shift in direction in education policy, significantly increasing education investments for students of all ages. The largest and perhaps… View Article

Land wealth is a massive source of inequality in BC

Sep 4, 2018

By Alex Hemingway

Many of us worry about income inequality in BC, and so we should. But here’s the thing—bad as income inequality is, wealth inequality is worse. And in our province, that wealth inequality is driven in large part by real estate—who owns it, and who doesn’t. The ownership of real estate wealth in BC is highly… View Article

Math is hard: The Fraser Institute’s “Consumer Tax Index” is a mess

Aug 17, 2018

By Alex Hemingway

As surely as the seasons pass, each year the Fraser Institute reissues its paint-by-numbers “Consumer Tax Index.” As usual, the latest release tries to create the impression that taxes in Canada are out of control (taxes on the average family are supposedly up 2,112% since 1961, if you can believe it!). This methodological mess of… View Article

Community Benefits Agreements add value to public infrastructure projects

Aug 14, 2018

By Alex Hemingway

The BC government recently announced that major new public infrastructure projects, such as the Pattullo Bridge, will be subject to a “Community Benefits Agreement.” The agreement requires that public benefits flow not only from the outcome of a project, but also from the process of building it. The move was immediately criticized by some industry… View Article

Low property taxes help fuel housing crisis

Jun 4, 2018

By Alex Hemingway

In the wake of February’s BC Budget, property taxes have been making headlines. But less attention has been paid to the province’s unusually low property tax rates, particularly in Vancouver, and how they help fuel the housing crisis. The city of Vancouver has among the lowest property tax rates in the country. Even the additional… View Article

In defence of BC’s new “speculation” tax

Mar 22, 2018

By Marc Lee and Alex Hemingway

Among the housing measures announced in BC Budget 2018, the new speculation tax has caused the most uproar. Some of this stems from a lack of clarity on how the tax will be applied. Details are being worked out by the Ministry of Finance and in their absence there’s been some confusion and alarm. The… View Article