Provincial budget & finance

Seniors Advocate position a mixed bag of hopeful and disappointing

Feb 21, 2013
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A year ago (February 2012), the province’s Ombudsperson released a comprehensive report addressing the crisis in BC’s home and community care system, including 176 recommendations for a creating a more accessible and accountable system. The centrepiece of the provincial government’s response was the announcement that it would create an Office of the Seniors Advocate, following… View Article

Spot the Seniors: 2013 Budget Edition

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As mentioned in last week’s Speech from the Throne and Tuesday’s 2013 provincial budget, BC’s population is aging. It’s projected the seniors population in BC will double over the next 25 years – meaning more than 30% of our population will be over the age of 65 by 2036. While the budget does mention aspects… View Article

BC Budget 2013 News Release

Feb 19, 2013
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We will be posting more commentary on the budget in the coming days; this is our news release from today’s budget lockup. Budget may be “balanced,” but lack of action on poverty, climate creates  serious social, environmental defecits (Victoria) The 2013 BC budget focuses on balancing the budget at the expense of British Columbians’ present… View Article

Polling on taxes – response to a critic

Dec 11, 2012
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On November 29, the CCPA released an opinion research study led by myself and Randy Galawan called Beyond the 1%: What British Columbians think about taxes, inequality and public services. The study involved an extensive online survey (poll) of a broad sample of British Columbians, conducted by Environics Research, and nine group interviews held in… View Article

BC’s Other Deficits

Nov 28, 2012
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The release of the BC Budget Second Quarterly report notes an increase in the projected budget deficit to $1.5 billion, up from $1.1 billion when the beans were first counted back in September. The growing deficit, amid a soft economy, is bound to get plenty of media attention. But this blog post is not about… View Article

HST vs MSP: why are only some increases revolting?

Nov 3, 2012
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Vaughn Palmer had an interesting piece in the Vancouver Sun yesterday. In a piece entitled “Dix agenda bows to post-HST reality,” Palmer writes that the NDP, if elected next May, will be forced to keep its tax increases modest, and that this is the legacy of the HST battle that raged after the last election:… View Article

Time to Rethink The Way We Fund Higher Education

Oct 9, 2012
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This September, like every year, a new group of high school graduates headed to college or university to pursue higher education. But today’s generation of students is in for a very different experience from the ones their parents had. On campuses across the country shiny new buildings are popping up, bearing corporate logos or the… View Article