Tag Archive: accountability

To protect her legacy, Premier Clark should put a moratorium on the destruction of documents

Jun 1, 2017
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British Columbia is in interesting times politically and that makes transparency around government decisions more important than ever. It is both a medium-term issue and a critical short-term issue. Controversies around access to government information dogged the government in recent years. The “triple delete” scandal saw a government functionary fined $2,500 for making false statements… View Article

We have a new federal government. What now?

Oct 22, 2015
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Monday’s election results brought a palpable sense of relief to Canadians who had tired of the divisive and nasty politics of the Harper Conservatives, and they point to important lessons for progressives (which we outlined in this previous post). But a majority government is certainly a lost opportunity. A minority outcome would have been far… View Article

NDP propose BC Poverty Reduction Act

Jun 2, 2011
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Today in the BC Legislature, the Official Opposition (MLA Shane Simpson) introduced a private member’s Bill proposing a BC Poverty Reduction Act. That Act, were it to be enacted, would see the government develop a comprehensive poverty reduction strategy, and legislate specific targets and timelines to reduce the breadth and depth of poverty within one… View Article

What will it take to bring smarter family policy to BC?

Sep 27, 2010
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Did you know that the BC government has set a goal to reduce early childhood vulnerability to 15% by fiscal year 2015? You can hardly tell by their actions. BC did introduce full-day kindergarten in some communities this fall, but other than that the family policy front has been rather quiet lately. The latest childhood… View Article

Lack of water data a cause for public concern

Aug 19, 2010
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In our high-speed digital world, there is no excuse for regulators failing to post and update information that is readily available to them and of evident public interest. This is especially true when the fate of vitally important, publicly owned assets such as water hangs in the balance. To have faith that water resources are… View Article

Quebec Auditor General slams P3s in hospital project

Jun 11, 2010
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Quebec’s Auditor General has issued yet one more report slamming the use of public private partnerships (P3s).  With P3s, private corporations finance and operate public facilities and services.  The money they invest is more costly than money borrowed publicly.  It is paid back to them, along with profits for the corporation, by governments over multi-decade contracts…. View Article

BC opens door to private jails

May 2, 2010
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The BC government has taken the next step down the privatization road by opening the door to private prisons.  On April 28th Partnerships BC posted a request for qualification on the BC Bid web site for a public private partnership (P3) for the Surrey Pretrial Centre. You need to register with Bid BC to see… View Article