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

Small steps on affordable housing: A look at the new federal and Vancouver plans

Jan 10, 2018

By Marc Lee

In November 2017 two important new efforts to address the crisis of affordable housing were delivered a day apart: a National Housing Strategy (NHS) tabled by the federal government; and the City of Vancouver’s Housing Vancouver Strategy (HVS). This piece reviews the details of these plans. Both represent forward progress, but also leave key ingredients… View Article

Canada is still a rogue state on climate change

Dec 11, 2017

By Marc Lee

It has now been two years since world leaders created the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. At those meetings, the Canadian delegation joined a broad coalition aiming to keep “the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above… View Article

Where is BC headed on climate action?

Nov 30, 2017

By Marc Lee

Canadian politicians have a long-standing tradition of proclaiming targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, then failing to meet them. After a wake-up call in the form of a record fire season this past summer, what are the prospects for climate leadership from BC’s new government? First, a look back November 29 marked ten years since… View Article

Rising housing costs in Vancouver: New evidence from the Census

Nov 27, 2017

By Marc Lee

Vancouver’s housing affordability crisis is full of jaw-dropping anecdotes about home prices and rents. But with almost a million households in Metro Vancouver, there are both winners and losers from the boom. A recent Statistics Canada release on housing affordability from the 2016 Census allows us to put some numbers to the crisis. Almost two-thirds… View Article

Big transportation investments needed now in Metro Vancouver: Budget 2018

Nov 20, 2017

By Marc Lee

In Metro Vancouver, as the region’s population has grown so has its congestion problems. Whether enduring a long wait to cross a bridge or get on a bus, everyone can relate to the additional time and stress caused by a transportation system under strain. Metro Vancouver is, for all intents and purposes, at “peak car”:… View Article

BC Budget 2018 should use progressive tax options to deliver on affordable housing promises

Nov 7, 2017

By Marc Lee

BC’s real estate boom has created winners and losers and has led to a growing housing affordability crisis with tremendous social and economic consequences. Metro Vancouver continues to have a massive housing affordability problem—in both home ownership and rental markets—that threatens to undermine the region’s long-term prosperity. Moreover, the 2017 Homeless Count revealed that homelessness… View Article