Posts by Marc Lee

About Marc Lee

Marc Lee is a Senior Economist at the CCPA’s BC Office. In addition to tracking federal and provincial budgets and economic trends, Marc has published on a range of topics from poverty and inequality to globalization and international trade to public services and regulation. Marc is Co-Director of the Climate Justice Project, a research partnership with UBC's School of Community and Regional Planning that examines the links between climate change policies and social justice. Follow Marc on Twitter

Counting the Costs and Contradictions of the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion

Jan 23, 2023

By Marc Lee

Canada’s uneasy relationship between climate change and fossil fuel development was illustrated in November 2021 when seven atmospheric rivers hit southern BC. The “big one” starting on Nov. 13 led to massive flooding and landslides that crippled infrastructure and isolated the south coast from the rest of Canada.  Among the shutdowns was the Trans Mountain… View Article

Swimming against the tide

Dec 7, 2022

By Marc Lee

The challenge of higher interest rates and high household debt  The run-up of interest rates since March, led by the Bank of Canada in a bid to tame inflation, represents a substantial economic shock, one that is now pushing the country towards a recession. The bank’s overnight, or policy, interest rate is now at 4.25… View Article

Severe climate events cost BC economy billions more than reported estimates

Nov 30, 2022

By Marc Lee and Ben Parfitt

Caroline and Paul Mosterman have seen their share of unusual weather in four-plus decades of farming. But nothing comes remotely close to what they experienced in November 2021 when their Sumas Prairie farm was inundated by floodwater. Because the couple farmed on a floodplain, they had no flood insurance. So, when their farm buildings, blueberry… View Article

Capping oil and gas emissions: Production declines must be central to discussion

Aug 3, 2022

By Marc Lee

New federal proposals for an emissions cap on the oil and gas industry have begun a difficult and uncomfortable conversation, but one that finally gets to the heart of climate and energy policy in Canada. This post looks at the new proposals and how we got here: the evolution of Canadian climate policy since the… View Article

Anticlimactic and anti-climate: BC’s oil and gas royalty review

Jun 13, 2022

By Marc Lee

The BC government’s recently completed review of its royalty regime for oil and gas is both anticlimactic and anti-climate. After many months of public engagement—including an independent review, discussion paper, hundreds of public submissions, and a “what we heard” report—the public release is surprisingly brief and the regime remains steadfastly committed to growing oil and… View Article

The rising cost of living in BC: What’s going on and how should we respond?

Jun 9, 2022

By Marc Lee

The cost of living is going up and is putting strains on household finances. BC’s headline inflation rate hit 6.7% in April, measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI).  Most of the policy response to rising inflation has emphasized the Bank of Canada raising interest rates to cool down the economy. However, much of the… View Article

Over a barrel: The case for a windfall profits tax to address surging gasoline prices

Mar 17, 2022

By Marc Lee

Do you support a windfall profits tax on oil and gas corporations? Let us know at the bottom of this article and sign up to receive e-mail updates! The recent surge in oil prices has caused pain at the pumps for many working people, further stoked inflation in the economy, and led to a rash… View Article

What happened to the 114,000 new affordable homes promised in BC?

Mar 11, 2022

By Marc Lee

During the 2017 election campaign as part of its plan to make life more affordable, the BC NDP promised if elected to “build 114,000 affordable rental, non-profit, co-op and owner-purchase housing units through partnerships over ten years. These homes will be a mix of housing for students, singles, seniors and families and will range from… View Article

BC’s property tax increases: What has been the impact of the 2018 changes?

Mar 8, 2022

By Marc Lee

Four years ago, the 2018 BC Budget introduced a number of new taxes in support of an affordable housing agenda. The taxes, along with new spending measures and renter protections, were part of the government’s Homes for BC 30-point housing plan and included: Higher provincial property taxes (Additional School Tax) for homes assessed at more… View Article

Upzoning and housing affordability

Mar 3, 2022

By Marc Lee

With the 2022 municipal elections now in sight—and a housing affordability crisis that’s as bad as ever—the City of Vancouver has embarked on two new directions for more dense housing in its detached-housing neighbourhoods. These moves are modest but point to the type of new housing supply needed region-wide. First, as part of a new… View Article