Archive
BC governments extends outsourced health information management despite issues raised by Auditor General
Mar 11, 2013
British Columbia’s government today announced it had extended its agreement with Maximus BC, a US subsidiary corporation, to manage BC’s health information for another five years. The $264 million contract will run from 2015 until 2020. The original contract began in 2005. That ten year deal cost $324 million. On a comparable basis the new five year… View Article
The Shifting Terrain of Taxes in BC: Budget signals new openness to tax increases
Mar 3, 2013
[The following piece was also published on The Tyee here.] These are certainly interesting times. For all the faults in last week’s BC Budget (and there were many), it’s worth noting that the conversation about taxes has fundamentally shifted, and in a welcome direction. After vigorously insisting for years that tax increases would be ruinous… View Article
A new government? It’s not as easy as it looks
Feb 28, 2013
If there is a new government in BC on May 15th, it will be confronted with issues that make the transition particularly challenging. The financial issues are a given. Debt has gone up. Possibly, given the economic recession we faced, it should have gone up even further. The dramatic rise in long term contractual obligations… View Article
BC’s social infrastructure house of cards
Feb 23, 2013
In her report on BC’s 2013 budget CCPA-BC economist Iglika Ivanova concluded that the province’s financial statement focused on balancing the budget at the expense of British Columbians’ present and future wellbeing. The following are a few examples of this. Last Tuesday’s budget continues a 12 year record of systematically undermining the province’s social infrastructure…. View Article
Seniors Advocate position a mixed bag of hopeful and disappointing
Feb 21, 2013
A year ago (February 2012), the province’s Ombudsperson released a comprehensive report addressing the crisis in BC’s home and community care system, including 176 recommendations for a creating a more accessible and accountable system. The centrepiece of the provincial government’s response was the announcement that it would create an Office of the Seniors Advocate, following… View Article
Spot the Seniors: 2013 Budget Edition
Feb 21, 2013
As mentioned in last week’s Speech from the Throne and Tuesday’s 2013 provincial budget, BC’s population is aging. It’s projected the seniors population in BC will double over the next 25 years – meaning more than 30% of our population will be over the age of 65 by 2036. While the budget does mention aspects… View Article
Thank you, Hugh Segal
Feb 21, 2013
The debate on Bill C-377 has moved to the Senate. As many Policy Note readers probably know, Bill C-377 would impose onerous and unfair financial and operational disclosure obligations on unions and other labour organizations, in the lofty name of “transparency and accountability,” but with the actual malicious aim of weakening Labour and publicizing the… View Article
BC Budget 2013 News Release
Feb 19, 2013
We will be posting more commentary on the budget in the coming days; this is our news release from today’s budget lockup. Budget may be “balanced,” but lack of action on poverty, climate creates serious social, environmental defecits (Victoria) The 2013 BC budget focuses on balancing the budget at the expense of British Columbians’ present… View Article
Parliamentary reform idea: Get Out of the House
Feb 15, 2013
By Seth Klein and Shannon Daub [Note: Samara Canada has been gathering ideas for reforming Parliament. All the ideas they have collected are being posted on their blog, which you can find here. What follows is our contribution.] Here’s the big dilemma: Whatever reforms are made to Parliamentary practice and conduct, the simple truth is… View Article
Fairness by design: a framework for tax reform in Canada
Feb 14, 2013
A new CCPA (National) report by Marc Lee and myself argues that Canada’s tax system needs a “fairness” overhaul and presents a framework for progressive tax reform. Those of you who have been following our tax work so far will find this study a great complement to the BC Tax Options Paper. Tax policy is… View Article
BC throne speech repackages old announcements, lacks courage and vision
Feb 12, 2013
Today’s Speech from the Throne reads more like a list of what this government sees as its main achievements than a true framework for going forward. New initiatives are few and far between, sandwiched between pages of self-congratulatory recap of the natural gas strategy, the jobs plan and highlights from the last budget. All in… View Article
RIP Clyde Hertzman
Feb 11, 2013
As many of you have likely heard, late last week we at the CCPA lost a great friend, and Canada lost one of its greatest advocates for children: See here and here. The sudden and untimely passing of Clyde Hertzman comes as a terrible shock. Clyde was the life partner of our former Chair and… View Article
More twists and turns in the dubious economics of LNGs
Feb 8, 2013
This morning the newspapers bring news that the natural gas industry is seeking tax breaks for developing liquified natural gas (LNG) plants. Apparently the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers is asking for increased capital cost allowances , which would cost the federal government as much as $2 billion over seven years in foregone revenues. The… View Article
Response to a tax critic: the sky will not fall
Feb 8, 2013
On January 29, the Vancouver Sun ran an opinion piece by Iglika Ivanova and myself entitled “The Case for Higher Taxes.” Last Monday (February 4), the Sun ran an opinion piece in response by Andrew Wilkinson (a former deputy minister currently seeking the BC Liberal nomination in Vancouver-Quilchena) entitled “Wave goodbye to skilled labourers.” Today, the… View Article
Seeking a Real Families First Agenda this First BC Family Day
Feb 7, 2013
By Seth Klein and Adrienne Montani On February 11, British Columbians will enjoy a well-deserved new stat holiday. With the inaugural Family Day, Premier Christy Clark has made good on a promise made during her bid for the BC Liberal leadership. The winter stretch needed a new long weekend, and many will appreciate this new-found… View Article
Tea Party Tactics
Feb 7, 2013
There is no question that climate change is one of the major issues of our time . And we do need to challenge our political leaders to state clearly what plans and strategies they have both to reduce GHG emissions and to prepare for the changes that are already happening and likely to intensify. However,… View Article
State of play – 3rd party advertising rules and the 2013 provincial election
Feb 5, 2013
BC’s third party election advertising law has been highly controversial since its introduction in 2008. I wrote the following briefing note to help organizations understand if/how the law affects them. BC’s 3rd party election advertising law applies to many many kinds of public communication during a provincial election campaign — so even if you don’t… View Article
Progressive tax options for BC or how to raise needed revenues and make our tax system more fair
Jan 30, 2013
In a new report we released this week, Seth Klein and I show there’s a clear need of tax reform in BC, both to raise new revenues and to make our tax system more fair (Vancouver Sun oped here, CTV News story here). As the report’s title suggest, this is all about options. Instead of… View Article
An inadequate appeal process for tenants means a bumpy ride for everyone
Jan 24, 2013
(Co-authored by Kendra Milne and Jess Hadley, staff lawyers at the Community Legal Assistance Society) Earlier this week, we read with interest Kathy Tomlinson’s January 21st CBC Go Public story, “Landlords ‘powerless’ as tenants get free ride”, which investigates one family of tenants who have apparently taken advantage of several successive landlords. In her article,… View Article
The dubious case for casinos
Jan 22, 2013
I got way off my usual research agenda this morning for a business panel on CBC radio. The topic was the economics of casinos, the result of the City of Surrey voting down a new casino proposal. I have often disparagingly compared stock markets to casinos, but in fact I knew relatively little about the… View Article