The Remaining Light is a documentary film that journeys through an often invisible part of Canada's health care system -- the community-based services that provide care to seniors as they age and die. The film features the stories of seniors and their families, and explores themes related to dignity, preventing illness and social isolation, and keeping health care costs under control as the boomer generation ages.
The Remaining Light is set in BC, where the province's Ombudsperson is carrying out an investigation into a fragmented and underfunded system of seniors care. But the film's themes and stories will resonate with people across Canada who worry that we are not treating seniors with the dignity and respect they deserve.
Learn more: www.policyalternatives.ca/bcseniors. Order a free copy of the DVD: send an email to bcseniors[at]policyalternatives[dot]ca.
Today the CCPA-BC published a new study on carbon pricing, and we created a "zooming presentation" to go with it, using a web-based software called Prezi. Watch the presentation below and share the link with your contacts. And download the report or summary here: Fair and Effective Carbon Pricing: Lessons from BC.
(Vancouver) A new study from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and Sierra Club BC calls on the provincial government to scale up BC's carbon tax, and makes a number of recommendations to make the tax more effective and fair.
“As currently structured, the BC carbon tax is increasing social inequality, while squandering revenues on expensive corporate income tax cuts," explains Marc Lee, senior economist at the CCPA and author of Fair and Effective Carbon Pricing: Lessons from BC. “But in my view it can be fixed, and has the potential to be transformational for BC in the fight against climate change.”
A carbon tax makes it more expensive to emit greenhouse gases, but revenues should be used to accelerate climate action, says the report. Public transit, energy efficiency, forest conservation and green job creation are investments that need to be funded from carbon tax revenues.
The study finds that once tax cuts and credits are figured in, the carbon tax as currently structured has a negative impact on low-income British Columbians, while providing a net benefit to the highest-income households, which are, ironically, also the biggest greenhouse gas emitters.
This is largely due to a growing share of carbon tax revenues going to corporate income tax cuts, which will total $1 billion in 2012/13 – equal to two-thirds of revenues (compared to only one-third when the carbon tax was introduced). The BC carbon tax is currently “revenue-negative” – costing the treasury more than it collects – due to escalating corporate income tax cuts.
"The wealthiest households in BC get more back in tax cuts than they pay in carbon tax," says George Heyman, Executive Director of the Sierra Club of BC. "That is unfair, and needs to be reversed if the carbon tax is to increase."
Lee recommends that the provincial government rethink how carbon tax revenues are spent, calling for half of revenues to support climate action, and the other half to go towards a new refundable tax credit aimed at low- to middle-income households to ensure households are not adversely affected.
“How the revenues are spent is critical to a fair outcome,” says Lee. “A new round of climate action must scale up the carbon tax in way that is effective and equitable.”
The report also looks at other BC carbon pricing initiatives such as the commitment to carbon neutral government and the Western Climate Initiative. It makes ten recommendations for more equitable and effective carbon pricing in BC, including:
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Fair and Effective Carbon Pricing: Lessons from BC is available at www.policyalternatives.ca/carbonpricing
Imagine… a working carbon tax for BC, a slideshow based on the study, can be viewed at: www.policyalternatives.ca/workingcarbontax
For more information or to arrange an interview with Marc Lee, contact Sarah Leavitt at 604-801-5121 x233 or sarah@policyalternatives.ca. This study is part of the Climate Justice Project, a partnership between the CCPA-BC and UBC, funded by Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).
CCPA-BC Public Interest Researcher Iglika Ivanova will be speaking at this student-led conference, hosted by SFU Faculty of Health Sciences, bringing together students, researchers, health professionals and health care providers in a conversation about equity in health care financing and delivery.
Keynote speakers are Dr. Bob Evans from UBC's Centre for Health Services and Policy Research and Dr. Andrew Coates with Physicians for a National Health Program (USA). Participants will have the chance to discuss the role of government and health authorities in the promotion of equitable health care financing and delivery, the use of health care financing and delivery in achieving gender equity and community care and the role of Canada in promoting global equity in health care financing and delivery.
Seats are limited, so register today to reserve your place at the conference.
Details:
$20 Students / $30 General Attendees
SFU Harbour Centre
515 West Hastings St.
Register at www.affirmingequity.wordpress.com
Co-sponsors: UBC Medical Undergraduate Society, Canadian Doctors for Medicare, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Hospital Employees Union, CUPE, and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
Announcing the release of our first documentary film! The Remaining Light journeys through an often invisible part of Canada's health care system -- the community-based services that provide care to seniors as they age and die. The film features the stories of seniors and their families, and explores themes of dignity, preventing illness and social isolation, and keeping health care costs under control as the boomer generation ages.
The Remaining Light is set in British Columbia, where the province's Ombudsperson is carrying out an investigation into a fragmented and underfunded system of seniors care. But the film's themes and stories will resonate with people across Canada who worry that we are not providing seniors with the dignity and respect they deserve.
Watch the film and learn about how you can help promote a public dialogue about seniors care. To order a copy of the DVD and/or organize a community screening, contact us: bcseniors[at]policyalternatives[dot]ca, 604-801-5121 x223.
Vancouverites are invited to join us at the premiere of The Remaining Light on Saturday February 12 -- more info here.
The Remaining Light is jointly presented by the CCPA and the Hospital Employees' Union.
The CCPA and the Hospital Employees' Union (HEU) have produced a powerful documentary film called The Remaining Light that looks at the growing crisis in seniors' health care. Set against the backdrop of an aging population and a system of seniors' care in crisis, the film explores what it means to age and die with dignity. Seniors, their families, and people who work day-to-day with seniors, tell their stories and share their hopes for more accessible and accountable services.
The film will be screened for the first time at the World Community Film Festival at Langara College, 100 West 49th Avenue, Vancouver.
Buy a day-pass for just $15, or pick up a weekend pass for the whole festival for $30. Tickets are available online or by phoning CoDevelopment Canada at 604-708-1495 x113. This is the 10th annual festival, featuring over 40 social justice and environmental documentaries that go to the heart of the issues confronting communities here and around the world. Find out more about the festival here.
You can also watch the full half-hour film online here. Or request a copy of the DVD: bcseniors[at]policyalternatives[dot]ca, 604-801-5121 x223. If you'd like to organize a screening in your community, please let us know, we'd be happy to help.
We're very pleased to announce that Amy Goodman will be the featured speaker at our 2011 Gala Fundraiser on Friday, April 29. You can buy your tickets online now: buy individual tickets ($75 each) or reserve a group table for eight ($600).
Amy is a pioneer in the independent media movement. She's the first journalist to receive the Right Livelihood Award, widely known as the Alternative Nobel Prize, for “developing an innovative model of truly independent grassroots political journalism that brings to millions of people the alternative voices that are often excluded by the mainstream media.”
The details:
Our annual gala often sells out, so buy your ticket in advance to make sure you get a seat!
CCPA not only does first-rate research; it also connects with the real world by putting powerful information in the hands of advocacy groups and by presenting intelligent, progressive ideas in the media. It is a BC jewel and I urge everyone to support it.
— Kathleen Ruff, founder, RightOn Canada