Posts by Alex Hemingway

About Alex Hemingway

Alex Hemingway is a Senior Economist and Public Finance Policy Analyst at the CCPA’s BC Office. His research focuses on tax fairness, public finances, public services, and economic inequality in BC and Canada.

Alex holds a PhD in political science from the University of British Columbia, where his research examined the relationship between economic class and political inequality in the advanced industrialized world. 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.
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Who owns it? The democratic socialist debate Canada should be having this election

Aug 19, 2019

By Alex Hemingway

We live in an era of extreme inequality of wealth and power across much of the developed world, and Canada is no exception. Public confidence in political institutions and “political classes” in the West is in long-running decline. The failure of established institutions to grapple adequately with the crises we face is giving way to an… View Article

Why are we letting corporate medicine take hold in Vancouver’s new urgent care centres?

May 23, 2019

By Alex Hemingway

The BC government has rolled out a flurry of impressive measures to strengthen our public health care system over the past two years. Flying below the radar, though, is a new effort by for-profit corporations to push their way into BC’s health care system — and the Vancouver Coastal Health authority seems to be waving… View Article

Reality check: Only BC’s very richest paying higher tax rate

Mar 25, 2019

By Alex Hemingway

Under personal tax changes announced by the BC government over the past year and a half—including elimination of Medical Services Plan (MSP) premiums—the vast majority of households are seeing their tax bills fall, while the richest 1% are paying more. This is good news for tax fairness in BC. In a fair system, we pay… View Article

Nine things to know about BC Budget 2019

Feb 19, 2019

By Iglika Ivanova and Alex Hemingway

BC Budget 2019 delivers modest new investments in two key areas—poverty reduction and climate action—and maintains momentum on other files that implement the ambitious investments announced last year. Here are our highlights, fresh from the lockup. 1.   New BC Child Opportunity Benefit The flagship announcement of BC Budget 2019—and likely of the upcoming first-ever BC… View Article

Budget 2019: Strengthening public education vital after years of chronic underfunding

Jan 30, 2019

By Alex Hemingway

This post is part of our BC Budget 2019 series, which highlights key findings from the CCPA’s research and outlines our recommendations for the 2019 provincial budget. Find more from the series at: policynote.ca/budget2019 Strengthening public education is a vital public policy area as the government of BC prepares its 2019 budget, and the CCPA-BC… View Article

Priorities and funding for health care in BC

Jan 14, 2019

By Alex Hemingway

This post is part of our BC Budget 2019 series, which highlights key findings from the CCPA’s research and outlines our recommendations for the 2019 provincial budget. Find more from the series at: policynote.ca/budget2019 In any provincial budget, health care is one of the biggest line items and, of course, one of our most vital… View Article

Whose wealth is it anyway? BC’s top 10 billionaires and the rest of us

Dec 12, 2018

By Alex Hemingway and David Macdonald

Economic inequality has exploded in recent decades—globally, in Canada and here in BC. Much of our concern about inequality has focused on the growth of extreme disparities between the incomes of the very rich and those of us on the middle and lower rungs of the income ladder. But there’s been much less focus on… View Article

BC can afford major new investments in the common good

Dec 3, 2018

By Alex Hemingway

This post is part of our BC Budget 2019 series, which highlights key findings from the CCPA’s research and outlines our recommendations for the 2019 provincial budget. Find more from the series at: policynote.ca/budget2019 BC has the financial means to make major differences in the lives of British Columbians. The most recent update to BC’s… View Article

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