Archive

By raising the living standards of millions, labor miraculously created a market for industry and lifted the whole nation to undreamed levels of production. Those who today attack labor forget these simple truths, but history remembers them. Martin Luther King speaking in 1961 On Labour Day 2011 unions in North America are facing historic challenges…. View Article

HST referendum: was the vote split along income lines?

Aug 26, 2011

One of the first things I did after the HST referendum results came out today was look at how different electoral districts voted. I noticed that West Vancouver, North Vancouver and Point Grey had the highest number of “No” votes (to keep the HST) while Surrey and East Van districts had the highest number of… View Article

So the HST was defeated. Now what?

Aug 26, 2011

Earlier today, Elections BC announced the much anticipated HST referendum results. British Columbians have voted to scrap the HST. The best part about having the results is that now we can move on from the narrow issue of what type of sales tax is better and focus our energies on some of the bigger issues… View Article

Public private partnerships under increasing attack in the UK

Aug 19, 2011

While British Columbia continues to invest billions in public private partnerships(P3s), a UK Parliamentary Committee today told its government to “wean itself off the practice.” The Treasury Select Committee found: We have not seen clear evidence of savings and benefits in other areas of PFI projects which are sufficient to offset this significantly higher cost of… View Article

Remembering Gideon Rosenbluth

Aug 18, 2011

Below is the text of the obituary for Gideon Rosenbluth, a renowned progressive economist, and a past president of the Canadian Economics Association. Gideon was a long-time Research Associate of the CCPA, and served many years on our Research Advisory Committee. **** Gideon Rosenbluth January 23, 1921 August 8, 2011 Gideon Rosenbluth died suddenly… View Article

BC Hydro Review

Aug 12, 2011

By Marvin Shaffer

If it were true that BC Hydro could effectively plan and operate its system with 20% fewer workers, as the government panel has recently suggested in its Review of BC Hydro, one would have to assume that the BC Hydro Executive and Board, as well as the BC Utilities Commission, have all grossly failed in their… View Article

What’s behind the push for a municipal auditor general?

Aug 12, 2011

The call for the creation of an Auditor General for BC’s municipalities almost seems like a “no-brainer,” doesn’t it? Charlie Smith had a good article in the Georgia Straight outlining reasons why a municipal AG would be a good idea. Some people, in some municipalities have had problems with transparency. And while the Province does… View Article

BC’s wood trade with China may be booming – but at a price

Aug 11, 2011

By Ben Parfitt

This year, members of the Lax Kw’alaams First Nation expect to fill the holds of nine ocean freighters in Prince Rupert with raw logs from BC’s north coast – logs that will then be shipped across the Pacific Ocean to ports in China. The northern coastal Nation has been active in logging for some time,… View Article

Hochstein and the demand to cut union wages

Aug 8, 2011

Last week Philip Hochstein had an op-ed in the Vancouver Province accusing municipalities of profligate spending and accusing municipal workers of being vastly overpaid. Hochstein is president of the Independent Contractors and Business Association of BC – representing non union construction corporations. He is the public face of the hard right in British Columbia and has… View Article

Public consultation down the drain as government comes to fracking industry’s aid

Aug 3, 2011

By Ben Parfitt

It has been a year since word began to percolate in the Hudson’s Hope area that Talisman Energy Inc. was eying the Williston Reservoir a short distance east of town as a long-term source of water for use in developing its gas resources. Yet in the intervening months – months in which local residents watched… View Article

Decarbonizing BC homes and the price of gas

Jul 28, 2011

Our climate justice framework for BC is to eliminate fossil fuels by 2040. In the household sector, this poses a significant challenge, not so much in terms of technology and knowledge, but because natural gas is much cheaper than electricity per unit of energy. Even though BC has among the lowest prices in North America,… View Article

Government restores a little of what it took away from social assistance recipients – Acknowledges value of being able to walk

Jul 26, 2011

If someone takes something away from you and then a year later gives half of it back, how much credit should they get for it? Well, less than half actually, but you get my point. That seems to be the question the BC government is posing with its announcement Monday that it has “expanded its… View Article

What is a middle class income these days?

Jul 20, 2011

Whenever we consider the pros and cons of a new policy, we want to know if it benefits or hurts the poor, the middle class and those who are better off. Often, the answer depends on how we define each of these groups. It’s said that 99% of Canadians think of themselves as middle class,… View Article

Future government contract costs jump 50% in one year

Jul 20, 2011

Although it has received some coverage in the media it is worth noting the eye-popping jump in the cost of long term contracts signed by the BC government in the last year. These contracts don’t go on the books as debt, but just like debt we will be responsible for it for the next 30… View Article

Darkwoods, the murky world of carbon credits and a “carbon neutral” B.C. government

Jul 15, 2011

By Ben Parfitt

It is spun in government press releases as a “first” for any jurisdiction in North America, an achievement that places British Columbia “on the leading edge” of efforts to combat climate change. But scratch the surface just a little and questions arise about the legitimacy of Environment Minister Terry Lake’s recent claim that “from this… View Article

How much does poverty cost BC?

Jul 14, 2011

We’ve known for a long time that we all pay for poverty. We just didn’t know how much. This is the question I investigate in my latest CCPA report The Cost of Poverty in BC. If you’re not in the mood for reading the report, you can watch a short video that summarizes the findings… View Article

Deconstructing BC’s carbon neutral government

Jul 13, 2011

Besides the carbon tax, one of the most important BC government climate action initiatives has been the adoption of Carbon Neutral Government. That is, count emissions from public buildings and travel, reduce them as much as possible and pay for carbon offsets to negate the rest. As of the 2010 calendar year, the BC government… View Article

Is BC about to drop a new carbon bomb?

Jul 11, 2011