Archive
Inside job: How BC Hydro customers wound up bankrolling private power companies
Feb 27, 2019
The chickens have finally come home to roost on the previous BC government’s private power giveaway. The just-released provincial report by Ken Davidson on the costs of BC Hydro’s power purchases is a damning indictment of its electricity policies—policies whose exorbitant and wholly unnecessary costs will saddle BC ratepayers with an enormous financial burden for… View Article
How clean is a BC that subsidizes accelerated fossil fuel extraction?
Feb 25, 2019
When the provincial government unveiled its new climate plan late last year, Environment Minister George Heyman, Green Party leader Andrew Weaver and Premier John Horgan presented a happy, united front as ceremonies got underway at Vancouver’s main library. But the biggest smiles of the day may have been on the faces of senior executives at… View Article
Goin’ slow: BC Budget fails to make meaningful investments in climate action
Feb 22, 2019
The BC government’s new climate plan, CleanBC, was released in December 2018 to great fanfare. The plan, as we noted back then, is progress after many years of stalling and pretend climate leadership, but is still a work in progress. The government’s widely repeated claim that CleanBC gets 75% of the way to BC’s 2030 GHG… View Article
False advertising by the Alberta government and oil lobby
Feb 20, 2019
As an Alberta-born and -raised earth scientist who has made a career studying fossil fuels and energy issues, I am dismayed at the bombardment of ‘fake news’ in print, online and TV ads from the Alberta government on the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion (TMX). These ads are repeated hourly on several TV stations. One ad… View Article
Nine things to know about BC Budget 2019
Feb 19, 2019
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
Carbon pricing: Prospects and protests
Feb 11, 2019
The federal government’s plan to put a price on carbon is set to be a top issue heading into October’s federal election. The carbon pricing backstop—which lets provinces and territories implement their own plans but imposes a minimum carbon tax on those who do not—has drawn the ire of provincial governments in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan… View Article
CCPA report confirms BC’s new investments in child care affordability are urgently needed
Feb 7, 2019
Last year, the BC government made a landmark investment to begin addressing the affordability crisis in child care. A new report released by CCPA this week shows just how urgently needed those measures were (and continue to be). The report, Developmental Milestones: Child care fees in Canada’s big cities 2018, shares results from the CCPA’s annual… View Article
BC Budget 2019: Maintain momentum building a universal, affordable, quality child care system
Feb 6, 2019
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 Now that the BC government has laid the foundation for a new universal, affordable, quality child care system with a major investment… View Article
Tackling poverty in BC: Celebrating how far we’ve come and looking ahead
Feb 5, 2019
As I flipped my calendar over to a new year, I thought about the work the current provincial government has done: 2018 was a year where many initiatives were introduced—initiatives that provide steps along the path to an accountable, bold and comprehensive poverty reduction plan. This is something to celebrate. Given the depth of the… View Article
Five ways BC Budget 2019 could pave the way for a comprehensive poverty reduction plan
Feb 4, 2019
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 a province where poverty was ignored for too long, BC’s current government deserves credit for finally making poverty reduction a… View Article
Expand climate action initiatives to reflect the urgency of the crisis
Feb 1, 2019
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 The provincial government announced its new CleanBC climate plan in December and BC Budget 2019 provides an opportunity to deliver on… View Article
Budget 2019: Strengthening public education vital after years of chronic underfunding
Jan 30, 2019
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
Accelerate investment in public transit
Jan 28, 2019
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 Expanding public transit is a win-win for the province: it reduces costs for households, improves mobility, creates good jobs and supports… View Article
Human Rights Commission has opportunity to change workplace culture around sexual harassment
Jan 25, 2019
Sexual harassment in the workplace has been a focus of recent talk and action, spurred on by the #MeToo movement. As one of many ways in which women continue to experience inequality at work, more needs to be done to prevent and address workplace sexual harassment. The forthcoming BC Human Rights Commission is well-positioned to… View Article
Through the front door, then the back: How government methodically killed environmental oversight of major gas industry projects
Jan 23, 2019
Few regulations in British Columbia have died as quick and ignoble a death as a 2014 Order in Council exempting proposed natural gas plants from having to undergo environmental assessments. It was a change that fossil fuel companies drilling and fracking for natural gas in the northeast of the province had demanded for some time…. View Article
Investment needed for dedicated affordable housing
Jan 21, 2019
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 The 2018 BC Budget took some major new steps towards housing affordability, in particular on the taxation side with new progressive… View Article
Review and reform natural resource revenues
Jan 18, 2019
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 Natural resource revenues account for $2.7 billion or 5.2 per cent of provincial revenues. Resource revenues are generally not taxes, but… View Article
TimberWest forestry operations destabilizing Vancouver Island communities
Jan 17, 2019
TimberWest is consistently one of the top exporters of raw, unprocessed logs from British Columbia’s coastal forests. The company also has growing ties with Island Timberlands, BC’s other top log exporter. The two companies share roads, log sort yards and other infrastructure to generate profits. “As affiliated companies, TimberWest and Island Timberlands can each do… View Article
How (and how much) doctors are paid: why it matters
Jan 15, 2019
How we pay doctors through our public health system is an important issue that receives little public scrutiny, despite the fact that physician compensation represents a significant share of the provincial budget and has been among the fastest-growing health care costs in recent years. A very useful analysis was conducted by BC’s Auditor General in… View Article
Priorities and funding for health care in BC
Jan 14, 2019
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