Poverty, inequality & welfare

BC Budget 2021: Stay-the-course budget misses the mark on key areas of urgency outside health

Apr 20, 2021
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The BC government tabled a surprisingly stay-the-course budget today, making some improvements on the margins but missing the opportunity to shift BC towards a more inclusive and sustainable economy. While it appropriately includes large sums of time-limited spending relating to the pandemic (and indeed BC has led other provinces on pandemic spending), it is scarce… View Article

One year later: Canadian billionaire wealth up by $78 billion

Apr 14, 2021
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One year into the COVID-19 pandemic that has upended the lives of millions of people in this country, Canadian billionaires have increased their wealth by $78 billion. Data from Forbes’ “real-time billionaires” listing on April 7 compared with a snapshot provided by their annual billionaires report last year shows this massive increase in wealth. Together,… View Article

Basic income panel calls for major reforms to income security in BC

Mar 29, 2021
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When the final report of BC’s Basic Income Panel came out in January, the media coverage was largely reduced to a few dismissive headlines that the panel had rejected basic income. Behind the headlines, however, is a comprehensive and thoughtful analysis of the state of poverty in BC and the large number of existing programs,… View Article

Massive public investment, not austerity, is the answer

Aug 18, 2020
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A depression is still around the corner if the Canadian government does not continue to radically intervene in the economy. We have all encountered the dark outlines of the crisis facing us by now. Everywhere there are warnings of mass unemployment unseen in decades, already vulnerable workers—young, racialized, women—hit hardest, entire industries at risk, a… View Article

We’re Moving towards a Healthier, More Equitable Society. Don’t Let Progress Stop

May 14, 2020
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Heartbreaking stories have emerged from their regular invisibility during the pandemic—hungry children, isolated elders, violence and child abuse, often with poverty or trauma at the root. Injustices experienced by many people in Canada predated the pandemic, and it hurts to witness it. Meanwhile, equitable societies are better for everyone in them. In January, an article in the… View Article

CCPA-BC signs Joint Statement for a Just Recovery

May 7, 2020
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Today the CCPA-BC added its support to a joint statement led by the Vancouver Just Recovery Coalition calling on the City of Vancouver to prioritize lessening existing inequalities, respecting Indigenous rights, and tackling the climate emergency in their COVID-19 recovery plans. Read the full statement below. You can endorse this statement here. Joint Statement for… View Article

Dismantling tent cities—why choice matters

Apr 28, 2020
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On April 25, 2020 the BC government announced a plan to evacuate tent city communities in Vancouver and Victoria and place residents in temporary accommodations.[2] There have been many calls from community urging the government to recognize that people experiencing homelessness are disproportionately vulnerable to COVID-19 and other health and human rights issues. We commend… View Article

Comparing provincial economic responses to COVID-19

Apr 23, 2020
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The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the vital importance of collective responses via governments at all levels. The Canadian context of federalism, with a division of powers between federal and provincial/territorial governments, also highlights key differences in approaches to the pandemic. At its best, federalism is an advantageous arrangement, with the federal government addressing national issues,… View Article

Digital equity and community solidarity during and after COVID-19

Apr 21, 2020
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As many have noted, COVID-19 is an efficient illuminator of our society’s strengths and weaknesses; its progress accelerates in spaces of inequality and injustice. There is a race among public health agencies at all levels to provide timely, accurate information about COVID-19 that is essential to support physical distancing policies and to maintain quarantine and… View Article