Archive
The staggering future costs of the BC government’s contracts
Jul 27, 2012
As usual, there has been quite a hubbub surrounding this week’s release of British Columbia’s Public Accounts. The provincial auditor says the provincial deficit is $520 million more than the government admits. And then there is the Auditor General’s review of finances at the legislature that found “substantial irregularities.” But all of the above is… View Article
The case for exempting child support from welfare
Jul 20, 2012
Based on recent announcements, it seems that the Ministry of Social Development is in the mood to address some of the long-standing problems within BC’s welfare system (although welfare rates remain distressingly low). Seth Klein recently recapped the Ministry’s June 11th announcement, which set out almost 30 proposed changes to the system. More recently, the… View Article
“Burning a little gas” to fire up our natural gas indusry? Let’s give our heads a shake.
Jul 17, 2012
With each passing month and no firm commitments by company shareholders to commit the billions of dollars required to build a natural gas pipeline to B.C.’s west coast or the billions more to build Liquefied Natural Gas processing plants, questions arise about the economic wisdom of gas exports from the province. But that isn’t stopping… View Article
How the rules got fiddled to make sure a public private partnership got pushed through
Jul 12, 2012
In 2008 British Columbia’s controversial public private partnership (P3) program was in trouble. With P3s private companies put up financing for public services and infrastructure and in exchange get to manage the projects with guaranteed profits for decades. The cost of private finance was always higher than if government borrowed the money itself, but in… View Article
Sliammon votes: what opportunities might come by sharing more than two sides of the story?
Jul 4, 2012
Sliammon (Tla’Amin) Nation, located on the northern segment of British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast, is making history. But not in the way that may have been expected. After over ten years of negotiations, the vote for a final treaty agreement was to take place on June 16th, 2012. The intention, according to both the Sliammon Treaty… View Article
Time for a Serious Conversation about Natural Gas
Jun 22, 2012
It is pretty clear that the government’s ill-conceived Energy Plan is falling apart. The near religious call for self-sufficiency has been moderated (though not sensibly changed) and the legislated requirement for insurance eliminated. The plan to develop run-of-river and wind IPPs for export has been abandoned. The problem of charging major new industrial customers less… View Article
Why do the citizens of Maine have a voice on free trade deals but Canadians don’t?
Jun 22, 2012
Canada is now facing east and west as it attempts to negotiate trade deals with both Europe and in the Pacific region. Both of these new deals are being negotiated in secret. There is no room for the public to know what is being traded away or to express an opinion. Does negotiating a trade… View Article
Marc responds to the Minister
Jun 22, 2012
Well, my paper with John Calvert on BC Hydro certainly touched a nerve with the BC government. In a long piece for the Vancouver Sun, Energy and Mines Minister Rich Coleman lashes back. It is great to see the BC government engaging on the issues we raise, but Minister Coleman’s lengthy denial suggests to me… View Article
Blowing in the Wind
Jun 20, 2012
I suppose I should feel guilty, just as I imagine the good citizens of Rio might feel when they complain about the giant Jesus towering over the city, but I just don’t like the windmill at the top of Grouse Mountain. For me, it not only is a manufactured blight on an otherwise stunning landscape,… View Article
Clean electricity, conservation and a zero-carbon future
Jun 20, 2012
Today we released a new Climate Justice Project report, Clean Electricity, Conservation and Climate Justice in BC: Meeting our energy needs in a zero-carbon future, co-authored by John Calvert and myself. The report is central to the vision we have been developing of a zero-carbon BC, with a focus on the need to transition off of fossil… View Article
New BC welfare rules: some positive steps forward (and a couple steps back)
Jun 12, 2012
Yesterday (June 11) the BC government surprised many when it announced a host of welfare policy changes. In all, almost 30 welfare rule adjustments are to be enacted (the full list can be found here). After more than a year as premier, the announcement was billed as “the first pillar of [Premier Clark’s] Families First… View Article
A Green Industrial Revolution
Jun 12, 2012
Today the CCPA (national) released a new big picture report by myself and student researcher Amanda Card calling for a Green Industrial Revolution. The report builds on work done for the BC-focused Climate Justice Project, bringing to bear a national analysis of green and not-so-green jobs. We take a close look at GHG emissions and employment by… View Article
Federal Budget Bill and Employment Equity
Jun 1, 2012
So many big changes are happening in the Federal government’s budget bill — Bill C-38 — that some significant issues like the changes to the Federal Contractors Program (FCP) have escaped attention. Part 4 Division 42 of C-38 is very short. It merely says that subsection 42(2) of the Employment Equity Act is replaced by… View Article
Seven reasons why you should support a move to low tuition fees for higher education
May 29, 2012
Much of the media coverage of the Quebec student protests has dismissed the protestors as cranky middle and upper-middle class children trying to protect their unfair privilege. And in fact, the vast majority of today’s university students do come from relatively well-off families. But rather than weakening their position, this supports the protestors’ claims that… View Article
Bringing a vision of climate justice into focus
May 28, 2012
One of the key barriers to change facing those of us working towards climate justice is the lack of a clear vision. By advocating for bold climate action, we are asking people to embrace dramatic change — yet the picture of their new life remains fuzzy and difficult to imagine. Compounding this challenge is the… View Article
The myth of the left-wing CBC
May 24, 2012
To anybody following CBC TV’s news and current affairs over the past five years, it’s no surprise that far from tilting leftward, the Mother Corp gives disproportionate access to Conservative politicians, as noted in Peter Stursberg’s book (see Charlie Smith’s article in the Georgia Straight). An even broader concern is how CBC is framing issues. … View Article
Inequality undermines collective action on climate change
May 23, 2012
Much has been written of late about the costs of inequality — the social and health costs, the costs to democracy and social cohesion, and the costs to the economy and productivity. But here’s another cost to rising inequality that has received less consideration — the costs to our climate. As we seek to urge… View Article
A decade of eroding tax fairness in BC demands progressive tax reform
May 23, 2012
(with Marc Lee and Iglika Ivanova) Most British Columbians would agree that everyone should pay their fair share of taxes. And most assume that the wealthy pay more, not only in straight dollars, but also a higher tax rate as a share of their income. So most would probably be shocked to learn that, in… View Article
From Bad to Worse — The Latest in BC Energy Policy
May 23, 2012
It is, I suppose, not surprising that the government would step in and effectively terminate the BC Utilities Commission’s hearing on BC Hydro’s rates. The issues and the evidence were getting embarrassing. In its rate application, BC Hydro reported that by 2014 it will be purchasing over 5000 GWh of private power that it acquired… View Article
So why is all the good writing on privatization of liquor distribution in the business press?
May 17, 2012
Privatization of government assets is always a controversial subject. One side says the genius of the marketplace will cut costs and improve efficiency. The other side says costs will go up and the public will lose control. One thing both sides should agree on, however, is that the process should be transparent. Thanks to Business… View Article