Archive
BC oil and gas royalty review seriously flawed without consideration of water
Nov 25, 2021
Open letter to the provincial government As prospects grow for intensified gas extraction in our province, we applaud the provincial government’s decision to review British Columbia’s decades-old oil and gas royalty regime. This once in a generation review is essential, given the significant threats posed to the climate and the environment by continued fossil fuel… View Article
Next steps for federal housing policy: A look at 2021 election promises
Nov 18, 2021
Affordable housing was an important theme in the 2021 federal election, with all major parties tabling a range of policy actions. These include some high-profile promises with real potential to rein in financialization and speculation, along with a number of new incentives for first-time buyers, which are mostly gimmicks. Below I mostly consider the proposals… View Article
Old-growth deferrals and the elephant in the room: we’re out of trees to cut thanks to failed provincial policies
Nov 12, 2021
No one should be surprised that the British Columbia government’s decision to potentially defer logging in 26,000 square kilometres of old-growth forest angered many and pleased few. First Nation leaders were highly critical of the incredibly short, 30-day turnaround that the government imposed on them to respond to the deferral proposals, the paltry funding provided… View Article
Paying a living wage key to Canada’s post-COVID economic recovery
Nov 10, 2021
The cost of living in Canada is on the rise and for workers earning low wages, making ends meet continues to be a struggle. The living wage rates for cities and communities across the country have just been released and not surprisingly they are also on the rise. The 2021 rates include Vancouver ($20.52), Victoria… View Article
Albertans have a right to be outraged…about the $3.5 million Allan Inquiry
Nov 1, 2021
Last week Albertans received the fruits of the Kenney Government’s inquiry into foreign-funded “anti-Alberta” activities targeting the oil and gas industry. The $3.5 million report, a year late and a million dollars over budget, found no evidence of illegal activities or wrongdoing on the part of any individual or organization targeted by the Inquiry. When… View Article
A challenge to the 44th Parliament: Make the global fossil fuel phase-out your legacy
Oct 28, 2021
In the past five years, the federal government has brought in important climate policies — including a national carbon price and coal power phase-out — that have helped flatten Canada’s emissions curve. On the other hand, this government has championed fossil fuel extraction at home and abroad, exemplified most clearly by the purchase of the… View Article
84 doctors, health experts & economists across Canada call on BC government to show national leadership with 10 days paid sick leave
Oct 21, 2021
As economists and health experts from across Canada, we urge the BC government to implement a robust employer-paid sick leave program that includes at least 10 paid sick days for workers. Employer-paid sick days are already a right of workers in most developed countries around the world, including a majority of OECD countries, because they… View Article
Five lessons from BC’s horrific wildfire season
Oct 7, 2021
In British Columbia, climate change is no longer something abstract for the future. The late June heat dome event—that claimed 500-600 lives—and the wildfires that followed confirm that climate change is a clear and present danger that’s not going away any time soon. As of September 28, some 867,000 hectares of land had burned, making… View Article
Legislated Paid Sick Leave – A Historic Moment for Worker Rights
Oct 6, 2021
The BC government will implement the right for all employees to have a minimum number of employer-paid sick days on January 1, 2022. BC will become just the third province in Canada to do so—and has an opportunity to make history by bringing in the strongest, most well-designed program in the country. Last May, the provincial government established… View Article
Remembering Murray Dobbin—activist, intellectual, mentor, friend
Sep 27, 2021
Neoliberal myth-buster. Far right exposer. Movement philosopher. Activist mentor. Murray Dobbin was all of these. On Sept. 8, our good friend and comrade Murray died at age 76. Murray was not ready to leave, but after two-and-a-half years the inexorable brutality of cancer led him to choose medical assistance in dying to end his life… View Article
BC’s human rights inquiry into hate incidents better late than never
Sep 24, 2021
Last month, BC’s Office of the Human Rights Commissioner (BCOHRC) announced it had been monitoring incidents of hate and white supremacy, noting a significant increase in reported hate-related incidents throughout BC since early 2020. According to their terms of reference, the Human Rights Commissioner will launch an inquiry into hate incidents, examine causes of the… View Article
Will BC enact a robust paid sick days plan, or will corporate power derail it?
Sep 17, 2021
British Columbians are on the cusp of winning a meaningful right to paid sick days—if the powerful corporate lobby doesn’t get its way. Paid sick days are common sense and already a right of workers in many advanced democracies around the world. The idea is simple. If you’re sick, you stay home and you get… View Article
Robust wealth tax could raise $363B over 10 years
Sep 14, 2021
Amid a rise in extreme inequality, the idea of an annual tax on the wealth of the super-rich has risen to prominence in recent years in many countries. New analysis shows that a robust wealth tax in Canada—one that goes further than those currently on the table in the federal election—could raise well over a… View Article
For climate’s sake, Canada Pension Plan needs to take a serious look at its investments
Sep 10, 2021
The Canada Pension Plan (CPP) manages the pensions of 20 million Canadians. In a recent Corporate Mapping Project report, we found that the CPP has increased the number of shares it owns in fossil fuel companies since Canada signed the Paris Agreement five years ago. The CPP’s total fossil fuel investments across its entire portfolio… View Article
11 steps toward a more just society for Budgets ‘22 and beyond
Aug 25, 2021
As a fourth wave of COVID-19 ramps up, the impact of the pandemic on the economy, policymaking and budgets has not gone away. More broadly, government responses to the pandemic at both the national and provincial levels have generally been seen as a success. Much like in WWII, this appears to have led to a… View Article
CPP oil investments on the rise
Aug 12, 2021
From unprecedented droughts to deadly heat waves, climate change is making the present—and all of our futures—less secure. The dream of a tranquil retirement is already being interrupted by nightmares such as the wildfires raging across BC and Alberta this summer. Sadly, the Canada Pension Plan (CPP), which was designed to enhance our retirement security,… View Article
Big ideas on the supply side of housing affordability
Jul 14, 2021
The final report of the Canada-British Columbia Expert Panel on the Future of Housing Supply and Affordability, published in June 2021, contains 23 recommendations made primarily to the BC and federal governments. The Panel organized these under five broad calls to action: Creating a planning framework that proactively encourages housing; Reforming fees on… View Article
In a flawed survey, BC seeks input on changes to freedom of information and privacy
Jul 12, 2021
It is again time to review British Columbia’s Freedom of Information and Privacy Act. Every six years the legislature reviews the Act and the process has begun with the province placing a questionnaire online asking for people’s opinions. But before you go online to respond to the survey you might be interested in some background… View Article
BC’s reopening plans must address highly unequal pandemic impacts
Jul 7, 2021
As a successful vaccination campaign spurs broader reopening of BC’s economy, we are all feeling the excitement of a more relaxed summer. But in the rush to get back to a semblance of normal, it would be a huge mistake to return to the pre-pandemic status quo of undervaluing and underpaying the front-line caring and… View Article
More than intentions needed for BC forests
Jun 29, 2021
So, our provincial government “intends” to do something about the sorry state of our forests and forest industry. It intends to protect more old-growth forests. It intends to see more high-value wood products made in British Columbia. It intends to make rural communities more secure. And it intends to do all this while ending practices… View Article