Provincial budget & finance

People don’t want cuts in government services: Ipsos-Reid

Aug 28, 2009
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An Ipsos-Reid poll of 800 British Columbians indicates people would rather see a deficit than see public services slashed. The poll was conducted in early August for the BC Federation of Labour.  It shows a solid majority of British Columbians disaprove of the way the government is handling the economic downturn.  Only 45% of people… View Article

Still reckless and unnecessary

Aug 27, 2009
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Gary Mason offers this summary of the past eight years in yesterday’s Globe: When B.C. Liberal Premier Gordon Campbell came to office in 2001 he unleashed a top-to-bottom review of all government agencies in an effort to bring finances in order. The result wasn’t pretty. It led to protests of all kinds from any number… View Article

The throne speech missed the point

Aug 25, 2009
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Today’s throne speech suggests that the BC government has finally recognized the severity of the recession and the hardship it’s causing to families across the province. Unfortunately, when it comes to policy implications or what to do about the recession, the government seems to have it all backwards. Instead of presenting an ambitious stimulus plan… View Article

Reading the entrails of BC’s election

May 13, 2009
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Three-peat. Hat trick. The media is full of jubilation for the re-election of the Campbell Liberals. But looking at the numbers, it was actually quite close: the BC Liberals got 45.7% of the popular vote, compared to 42.2% for the NDP. This slim margin validates the Angus Reid polling camp, which came closest on estimating… View Article

Watch out for that train

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Is it too early to start talking about what happens now the election is over? Because that light at the end of the tunnel really is a train. In their February Budget the Liberals said they were going to have a $500 million deficit this year. Nobody believed them then. Marc Lee called the Budget… View Article

BC’s economy and the Liberal platform

Apr 29, 2009
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With my oped last week on the NDP platform making me less than popular over at NDP HQ, today the Sun published my take on the Liberals’ platform, thereby guaranteeing that the list of Christmas parties I get invited to dwindles to next to nothing. BC’s Economic Challenges and the Liberal Platform By Marc Lee… View Article

The NDP Platform and BC’s Economic Challenges

Apr 20, 2009
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Below is an oped of mine that was done at the request of the Vancouver Sun and that ran in today’s paper. Unfortunately, for reasons that are not entirely clear, the last two paragraphs were cut off, leaving the oped hanging. I put them back in below, and have requested that the online version be… View Article

Unemployment surges again in March

Apr 9, 2009
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Just in time for a heated election campaign, the latest unemployment numbers paint a grim picture for BC. Just a year ago, BC was coasting along with an unemployment rate of just over 4%. By the end of 2008 that had crept up to 5%. And now a truly brutal first quarter that saw the… View Article