Poverty, inequality & welfare

A call for courageous leadership from BC parties in 2013

Jan 8, 2013
As we head towards the May 2013 BC election, what I’d most love to hear from BC’s political leaders is evidence that they are ready to get serious about the defining issues of this era. In particular, I’m going to be looking for real leadership on the issues of climate change and inequality (what we… 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

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

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

Poverty Reduction: Even Alberta joins the fold. When will BC?

Apr 29, 2012
With Alison Redford’s big re-election as Alberta premier last week, Alberta will now join the ranks of provinces with a comprehensive poverty reduction plan. This will leave BC and Saskatchewan as the only jurisdictions in Canada without a provincial or territorial plan. The Alberta plan may prove to be the most ambitious to date. On… View Article

Canadians want higher taxes from the federal budget

Mar 29, 2012
The Globe and Mail released the results of a new poll they conducted on what Canadian priorities are for the upcoming budget. The findings seem to have stumped at least some of the journalists, judging by their account: What stood out most was the across-the-board call for higher taxes. Yes, you read that right. Respondents… View Article