Two obvious but generally unstated details about the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline are climate change and that oil and gas companies stand to make mega-profits. An honest appraisal of the project would be something like, “yes, putting in the pipeline will facilitate even more greenhouse gas emissions from the Alberta oil sands, but our buddies [...]
Odious profits and the Enbridge pipeline
January 27th, 2012 · Marc Lee · Climate change, Energy, Environment, resources & sustainability
→ No CommentsTags:
Breaking down financial barriers to higher education is more affordable than you think
January 25th, 2012 · Iglika Ivanova · Economy, Education, Employment & labour, Women
In a new report released today by the CCPA, I revisit the important question of who really pays for university education. Convention wisdom has it that the public heavily subsidizes post-secondary education. The illusion of a subsidy comes from the fact that tuition fees, high as they are, don’t cover the entire cost of education. [...]
→ No CommentsTags:
Fossil fuel lobbyists: the real radicals
January 25th, 2012 · Robert Hackett · Climate change, Energy, Environment, resources & sustainability
Most of the fossil fuel lobby’s arguments against its opponents should be reversed. Consider: Who are the real ‘radicals’ – those working for a sustainable climate and environment – or those who promote carbon-bombing the atmosphere, making us all guinea pigs in one of history’s most reckless experiments? Who are the real hypocrites – those [...]
→ No CommentsTags:
Top 10 Reasons for Upper-Income Tax Increases
January 17th, 2012 · Seth Klein · Poverty, inequality & welfare, Taxes
Some feel we shouldn’t increase taxes on upper-income folks. After all, people know best how to spend their money, whereas the government will only waste it on needless activities. Well then, I humbly submit the following Top 10 list of reasons for upper-income tax increases (in descending order). #10: Ridiculous real estate. Check out Vancouver’s [...]
→ 20 CommentsTags: inequality·Taxes
A prescription for health care reform: think integration & collaboration
January 16th, 2012 · Iglika Ivanova · Health care, Provincial budget & finance, Transparency & accountability
This morning the CCPA released a new report (co-authored by yours truly) that looks at the thorny issue of health care reform in BC and identifies some practical, evidence-based strategies that have been successful in improving quality of care and controlling costs in other jurisdictions. The paper comes out at a time when all Canadian [...]
→ 1 CommentTags: BC·health care
New Brunswick Auditor General latest to blast public private partnerships
January 15th, 2012 · Keith Reynolds · Privatization, P3s & public services
One more provincial Auditor General has come out swinging at public private partnerships (P3s). Last week New Brunswick’s AG released a report on two P3 schools that had been announced by the NB government in 2008. New Brunswick Auditor General Kim MacPherson joins public auditors in Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario, and British Columbia who have [...]
→ No CommentsTags: Auditor General·Kim MacPherson·New Brunswick·P3
Making health care funding sustainable
January 13th, 2012 · Seth Klein · Health care
The BC Legislature’s Select Standing Committee on Health is currently investigating the sustainability of BC’s health care system (with a focus on demographic / aging trends), and asked for written submissions of peer-reviewed studies on the subject. Here’s what I just submitted: Submission to the BC Legislature’s Select Standing Committee on Health From: Seth Klein, [...]
Comments OffTags: budget·health care costs
Who’s really “skewing” the pipeline debate?
January 11th, 2012 · Robert Hackett · Environment, resources & sustainability
Apparently the Harper government and its echo chamber in the blogosphere (e.g. Vivian Krause) think that philanthropic funding of environmental groups is “skewing” the debate on the northern pipeline project. Presumably they would like to return to a more “normal” debate. You know, one disproportionately influenced by well-heeled corporate-funded market fundamentalist think tanks and pseudo-grassroots [...]
→ 1 CommentTags: democracy·pipeline
The BC government could start with local purchasing to build jobs in our communities
January 3rd, 2012 · Keith Reynolds · Economy, Employment & labour
The BC government has been heavily promoting its “jobs plan” over the last week on television, radio and on the internet. On twitter they invited people to come on line to give their ideas about what could be done to promote more jobs in communities. But there is one idea to promote jobs in communities [...]
→ 8 CommentsTags:
Tackling inequality means rethinking upper-income tax rates
December 23rd, 2011 · Seth Klein · Poverty, inequality & welfare, Taxes
2011 was the year rising inequality finally exploded into the mainstream discourse. A few year-end reading recommendations: Victoria Times-Colonist editorial writer Paul Willcocks wrote a terrific piece on the subject (you can find it here); and similarly, a group of UBC economists (including CCPA research associate David Green) authored a series on inequality for the [...]
Comments OffTags: inequality·Taxes
