Posts by Alex Hemingway

About Alex Hemingway

Alex Hemingway is a Senior Economist and Public Finance Policy Analyst at the CCPA’s BC Office. His research focuses on tax fairness, public finances, public services, and economic inequality in BC and Canada.

Alex holds a PhD in political science from the University of British Columbia, where his research examined the relationship between economic class and political inequality in the advanced industrialized world. He holds two master’s degrees from the London School of Economics (MSc Social Policy and Planning; MSc Global Politics), as well as a BA in psychology from Simon Fraser University.
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Nine things to know about BC Budget 2019

Feb 19, 2019

By Iglika Ivanova and Alex Hemingway

BC Budget 2019 delivers modest new investments in two key areas—poverty reduction and climate action—and maintains momentum on other files that implement the ambitious investments announced last year. Here are our highlights, fresh from the lockup. 1.   New BC Child Opportunity Benefit The flagship announcement of BC Budget 2019—and likely of the upcoming first-ever BC… View Article

Budget 2019: Strengthening public education vital after years of chronic underfunding

Jan 30, 2019

By Alex Hemingway

This post is part of our BC Budget 2019 series, which highlights key findings from the CCPA’s research and outlines our recommendations for the 2019 provincial budget. Find more from the series at: policynote.ca/budget2019 Strengthening public education is a vital public policy area as the government of BC prepares its 2019 budget, and the CCPA-BC… View Article

Priorities and funding for health care in BC

Jan 14, 2019

By Alex Hemingway

This post is part of our BC Budget 2019 series, which highlights key findings from the CCPA’s research and outlines our recommendations for the 2019 provincial budget. Find more from the series at: policynote.ca/budget2019 In any provincial budget, health care is one of the biggest line items and, of course, one of our most vital… View Article

Whose wealth is it anyway? BC’s top 10 billionaires and the rest of us

Dec 12, 2018

By Alex Hemingway and David Macdonald

Economic inequality has exploded in recent decades—globally, in Canada and here in BC. Much of our concern about inequality has focused on the growth of extreme disparities between the incomes of the very rich and those of us on the middle and lower rungs of the income ladder. But there’s been much less focus on… View Article

BC can afford major new investments in the common good

Dec 3, 2018

By Alex Hemingway

This post is part of our BC Budget 2019 series, which highlights key findings from the CCPA’s research and outlines our recommendations for the 2019 provincial budget. Find more from the series at: policynote.ca/budget2019 BC has the financial means to make major differences in the lives of British Columbians. The most recent update to BC’s… View Article

What’s missing from the Uber debate? Market power, congestion, pollution, and even deaths

Nov 26, 2018

By Alex Hemingway

The BC government has introduced legislation expected to bring ride-hailing to the province late next year, though many questions remain about what the outcome will be in practice. A number of important policy details still need to be filled in by the Passenger Transportation Board and ICBC. Meanwhile the debate on ride-hailing has largely been… View Article

Employer Health Tax refinements good news for public services, non-profits

Nov 22, 2018

By Alex Hemingway

Just over a month before the new Employer Health Tax comes into effect, we have some of the final details of the tax’s design at hand. The provincial government released implementation details for the tax (EHT) over the summer and introduced legislation to enact it last month. The EHT replaces the deeply unfair Medical Services… View Article

BC’s speculation tax is a key piece of the housing affordability puzzle

Oct 25, 2018

By Alex Hemingway

The BC government has brought forward legislation to implement one of its major policy measures on housing: the speculation tax. In a defence of the tax earlier this year, we outlined why the speculation tax represents an important step in addressing the housing crisis. The tax covers a limited set of geographical areas in BC that have a high demand… View Article

Elite private schools rake in public funds while special needs students go without

Oct 2, 2018

By Alex Hemingway

Every year the BC government provides hundreds of millions of dollars in public funding to private schools, including elite prep schools. Given that BC’s public education system has been severely underfunded for most of the past two decades—and is still failing to adequately support students with special needs—this use of public resources is hard to fathom…. View Article

The new school year begins with more affordable child care and better education funding for all ages — but challenges remain in the education sector

Sep 10, 2018

By Iglika Ivanova and Alex Hemingway

It’s back-to-school season and this September, BC students of all ages are returning to schools facing a very different funding environment. That’s because in its first year in power, BC’s new provincial government made a major shift in direction in education policy, significantly increasing education investments for students of all ages. The largest and perhaps… View Article