Archive
Ten tax myths revisited: 20th Anniversary retrospective
Oct 6, 2017
In October 1999, I wrote the report Ten Tax Myths. Any retrospective on this issue must examine the relationship between research and analysis and the question of political agency. We know that no matter how good the research and analysis, unless there is a change agent to use it, the work sits frustratingly on the… View Article
Vancouver looks to more ambitious affordability proposals
Oct 3, 2017
When the previous BC government brought in a 15% foreign buyer tax in August 2016, Metro Vancouver’s housing market paused: real estate transactions dropped dramatically, prices fell at the high end of the market and housing starts slowed. By Spring 2017, however, the housing market rediscovered its animal spirits, and more recently we are back… View Article
A Dam Troublesome Exception: Progress Energy’s dams should not be exempted from environmental review
Oct 2, 2017
I sent the following letter to BC’s Environmental Assessment Office (EAO) in response to Progress Energy’s extraordinary request to retroactively exempt the Lily and Town dams from environmental reviews. Such reviews should have been conducted before the dams were built. Not only did those reviews not happen, but the company also failed to obtain other… View Article
Public libraries are becoming the new social safety net
Sep 28, 2017
Public libraries in British Columbia are evolving beyond spaces of quiet contemplation, equipped with card catalogues and encyclopaedias. In a time of increased Internet use and communication via social media, the way we access knowledge and use the library is changing. We are seeing digital storytelling and inspiration labs, access to design software, e-readers and… View Article
20 years later: How corporations took over Canada’s health care system
Sep 26, 2017
Caring for Profit: How corporations are taking over Canada’s health care system was published by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) and New Star Books nearly 20 years ago, shortly after the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) General Agreement on Trade in Services kicked into gear. Both… View Article
Firehose of corporate cash or financing our democracy together? A no-brainer
Sep 25, 2017
A long-overdue and badly-needed overhaul of BC’s election finance rules was introduced by the provincial government last week. Media headlines mostly focused on the decision to include public funding for political parties, questioning whether it is an appropriate use of taxpayer dollars and whether the governing NDP has reversed itself on this issue. But this… View Article
Challenging Site C: The BC Utilities Commission preliminary report
Sep 21, 2017
The BC Utilities Commission preliminary report demonstrates why independent review of mega-projects like Site C is so essential, even with the short timeframe imposed by the BC government (the final report is due November 1). The previous government’s deliberate exemption of Site C from BCUC review is scandalous in subverting a rigorous and transparent public… View Article
BC’s last Climate “Leadership” Plan was written in big oil’s boardroom (literally)
Sep 18, 2017
Newly uncovered documents obtained through Freedom of Information requests reveal the cozy relationship between the fossil fuel industry and the last BC government went even further than suspected — all the way to inviting industry to directly craft the province’s climate “leadership” plan. Let’s rewind for a second: back in the spring of 2015, then-premier… View Article
Budget Update investments a positive first step for British Columbians
Sep 11, 2017
The BC Budget Update injects much-needed investment in a number of important policy areas that will quickly start to make a positive difference in the lives of families and communities around the province. Some of the highlights: MSP fee cut Medical Services Plan (MSP) fees will be cut by 50% in January 2018 for everyone,… View Article
9 things to look for in Monday’s BC Budget
Sep 8, 2017
BC’s new government is set to table its first provincial budget on Monday, September 11. While it is expected to be less comprehensive than a full budget (as almost half the year has already passed), the investments made or missing from it will reveal a lot about this government’s priorities. The agreement signed by BC… View Article
Why BC’s new government should make Freedom of Information reform a top priority
Aug 31, 2017
When a political party returns to power after an absence of 16 years, it is going to have a lot of priorities and will encounter a lot of people advocating for particular issues. That will mean some tough choices about how these priorities are scheduled. I am going to suggest that one of the top… View Article
Lifting tuition fees for adult basic education is just the beginning
Aug 29, 2017
The August 8, 2017 announcement that the new NDP government was fulfilling a promise to end tuition fees for Adult Basic Education students and English Language Learners in time for September classes is welcome indeed. This is the first step in undoing an educational wrong. The BC Liberals announced in late 2014 that “adults with… View Article
The enormous cost of public-private partnerships
Aug 3, 2017
Three recent BC public private partnership (P3) hospitals developed in co-operation with the province’s Partnerships BC (PBC) will cost the public $260 million more than traditionally delivered projects, according to figures released in July in response to a Freedom of Information request.1 The three projects were the BC Children’s and BC Women’s Redevelopment Project Phase… View Article
Australia’s LNG catastrophe: Why Petronas’ LNG cancellation is a blessing for BC
Jul 31, 2017
British Columbians should not be lamenting Petronas’ decision to pull its Pacific Northwest Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) proposal. Instead, they should be celebrating the demise of a project built on bad economics, climate change denial and wishful thinking. A few pundits have told the Petronas story as a tragedy. Some are blaming the brand new… View Article
Three health care priorities for a new government
Jul 27, 2017
The transition to power for a new government in BC provides the opportunity to set a new course that addresses both immediate and longstanding policy challenges. On the health care front, there is no shortage of pressing issues facing the new government. It is reassuring, however, that one of the foundational principles of the NDP… View Article
Debunking the Fraser Institute’s latest scaremongering on Indigenous rights
Jul 4, 2017
In a particularly dick move (sorry, no other term for it), the Fraser Institute chose National Aboriginal Day (June 21) to release a report by Tom Flanagan claiming that a sharp increase in people with Registered Indian status will drive up government costs. The methodology employed by Flanagan is remarkably shoddy, as I explain below…. View Article
Time to rethink the approval process for fossil fuel industry developments in BC’s northeast
Jun 28, 2017
When the provincial government created the Oil and Gas Commission in 1998, it did much more than open a “one stop shop” for speedy oil and gas industry approvals; it also set British Columbia on a collision course with First Nations. The consequences of that collision course are more apparent with each passing day, and… View Article
How big is BC’s budget surplus?
Jun 21, 2017
Some recent media commentary has taken to flights of fantasy by assuming that large personal tax increases would be needed to fund the policies contained in the NDP and Greens’ Supply and Confidence Agreement. The assumption that major tax increases would be required ignores a key starting point: large surpluses are projected in this budget… View Article
Brace yourself for more stale arguments on taxes
Jun 20, 2017
What will happen if a new BC government raises taxes on rich individuals and corporations as the NDP promised in its election platform? If years of finger-wagging from pundits and the business lobby can be believed, you might assume the sky will come crashing down—right onto the BC economy. It’s an argument that’s been hammered… View Article
BC NDP-Green agreement commits to Indigenous consent
Jun 15, 2017
In their power-sharing agreement, the BC New Democrat and Green parties commit to support the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Supreme Court of Canada’s 2014 Tsilhqot’in decision, calling the documents “foundational” to their shared policy agenda. Central to both is Indigenous peoples’ right to free, prior and informed consent when… View Article