Poverty, inequality & welfare

The Economist Magazine calls out BC

Dec 1, 2010
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Well, I never thought I’d see this rebuke of Canada and BC in The Economist Magazine of all places. But the current issue of the conservative magazine singles out BC for its high rate of child poverty. You can find it here. The piece highlights cuts to welfare, and notes, “One of the keenest slashers… View Article

Poverty reduction update

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Lots of developments on the Poverty Reduction front over the last two weeks. Here are a few updates: First, last week brought news that Danny Williams is stepping down as premier of Newfoundland and Labrador. Personally, I’m sad to see him go. Rarely mentioned in the news reports last week about his record of accomplishments… View Article

A Paradigm Shift is Happening

Nov 21, 2010
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A “paradigm shift” was the theme of Dr. Marti Glenn, one of the keynote speakers at the 2010 International Congress of The Association for Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology & Health, which took place from November 11-14 at Asilomar, California. Dr. Glenn, who is the Dean of the Santa Barbara Graduate Institute, began by saying that,… View Article

Disappointing Premier’s announcement won’t help the BC economy

Oct 27, 2010
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British Columbians who expected to see any meaningful action on the economy tonight were greatly disappointed by Premier Campbell’s address. In a paid television appearance (*update* which we now know cost $240,000), the Premier attempted to set the record straight on HST and claimed to be concerned about the economy and families struggling to get… View Article

Perverse outcomes of the Basi-Virk case

Oct 21, 2010
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I — along with a whole lot of other British Columbians — have been stewing away about the abrupt end to the BC Rail trial, and the decision to let David Basi and Bob Virk completely off the hook for $6 million in legal fees. Politics of the matter aside, what really gets me is… View Article

Which is more important, lower taxes or a higher minimum wage?

Oct 2, 2010
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BC Labour Minister Murray Coell apparently got taken to the woodshed this week after telling a forum at the Union of BC Municipalities that his government was considering raising the minimum wage. The next day he quickly called a press conference on the driveway of a Whistler hotel to “clarify” his remarks.  He really just… View Article

New voices in support of a BC poverty reduction plan

Sep 30, 2010
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Two important new voices joined the call for a BC poverty reduction plan in the last couple days. First, on Tuesday, BC Provincial Health Officer Perry Kendall released a special report entitled Investing in Prevention. The report received quite a lot of media attention. However, most of the coverage dealt with the common-space issues of… View Article

Poverty Reduction: Even Alberta?

Sep 27, 2010
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Currently, six provinces have official poverty reduction strategies either in place or (in the case of Manitoba) in development. BC, despite having the highest poverty rates, remains stubbornly in the minority of provinces without a plan (along with Alberta, Saskatchewan and PEI). But now comes news earlier this month that an all-party committee of the… View Article

Our priorities for BC Budget 2011

Sep 17, 2010
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On September 15, I presented CCPA-BC’s recommendations for BC Budget 2011 at the Vancouver BC Budget Consultation public hearing. Take a look at my presentation slides for a brief overview of our take on BC’s current budget situation and economic outlook, and our advice for leading the province’s recovery…. View Article