Provincial budget & finance

Our recommendations for the 2017 BC Budget

Oct 17, 2016
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On September 22, we presented CCPA-BC research and recommendations for BC’s 2017 Budget at a public hearing as part of BC’s 2017 budget consultation process. Here’s what we told the Committee. At first glance, BC appears somewhat isolated from the economic challenges facing the rest of Canada. Headline economic indicators like GDP growth and job creation… View Article

Massey Bridge P3 borrowing costs yet another problem

Oct 14, 2016
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As more information becomes available about the controversial $3.5-billion, 10-lane Massey Bridge project, concern about the project increases. Issues had already been raised about the cost and need for the project given questions about traffic growth, but the publication of two new documents raises concerns about the plan to build the bridge as a public private… View Article

BC should eliminate the MSP. Here are two better options.

Jul 6, 2016
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The MSP has been in the news a lot in recent months, and with good reason: it’s an unfair tax that needs to be eliminated. The BC government announced some reforms to MSP in Budget 2016, in response to mounting pressure from grassroots organizations like the BC Health Coalition, concerned citizens and both opposition parties…. View Article

BC needs to get to work on working poverty

Jun 29, 2016
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Over 100,000 working-age people in Metro Vancouver were working but stuck below the poverty line in 2012, not counting students and young adults living at home with their parents. This is the striking finding of my new report, co-published by the CCPA, the United Way of the Lower Mainland and the BC Poverty Reduction Coalition…. View Article

3 problems with the Fraser Institute’s alarmist report on health care spending

Jun 3, 2016
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A new report from the Fraser Institute declares: “Health care spending by British Columbia’s government is unsustainable.” But watchers of Canadian politics know to take that declaration with generous heap of salt, since we hear cries of “out-of-control health care spending” like clockwork from certain quarters (followed by calls for privatized, for-profit care). In fact,… View Article

BC’s public finances and the art of the possible

May 27, 2016
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We sit less than a year away from the next provincial election in BC, and the legislature has now closed its doors for the summer. It’s a good time to reflect on an important, big-picture question: what kind of path are we on in this province when it comes to public policy? While recent economic… View Article

What the new federal budget means for BC

Mar 23, 2016
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At first glance, BC appears somewhat isolated from the economic challenges the rest of Canada is facing but there are a number of worrying signs. Nearly half of British Columbians see the economic conditions in BC as “poor” or “very poor.” The economy may be growing but prosperity is not broadly shared. Despite decent economic growth, poverty remains… View Article