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Search results for: “site/Pat Armstrong”

  • Corporate Mapping Project

    BC needs a full public inquiry into fracking

    Last year, more natural gas was produced in British Columbia than at any point in the past 10 years. That may come as a surprise to some people who thought that growth in BC’s natural gas industry hinged on the emergence of a Liquefied Natural Gas sector. It does not.…

  • Chaoulli II?

    So private surgical clinics, led by Brian Day, are suing the BC government so they can charge patients for services that they, the patients, already pay for through their taxes. What a surprise. Dr Day (aka Dr Profit) unveiled the lawsuit at a news conference on Wednesday at the Plaza…

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    What would a fossil fuel wind-down look like?

    Canada has an uneasy history when it comes to fossil fuels and climate change. Our leaders have been great at setting far-off targets for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) or carbon emissions, then failing to meet them. As part of the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change, Canada committed to a…

  • Massey Tunnel Replacement: where’s the data to support this project?

    It seemed like a good thing to do on a cold rainy day — curl up by the fire and read the long delayed, potential best seller: George Massey Tunnel Replacement Project — the Business Case. Admittedly, to some there are more exciting reads; but for a policy wonk like myself…

  • Voting to take care of one another

    This week my dad will be discharged from hospital in time to vote in the federal election. After receiving exemplary service from palliative care and the organ transplant team, we know what compassionate and high quality healthcare looks like. We also know how important it is to vote for a…

  • Selling the 2012 Federal Budget: Envy-nomics 101

    “It’s time for the public sector to have its 2008 recession,” proclaimed former RBC Chief Economist Patty Croft, impeccably dressed and looking admirably well-rested (early retirement seems to suit her), on CBC Newsworld’s The Bottom Line. We know that governments make budgets, and budgets are about choices, but her wish list struck me…

  • The Weapons Makers On Display

    Canada’s war industries flog their wares at big arms bazaar The glittering opulence and sheer pageantry of the Middle East’s largest arms bazaar held recently in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, was like an alchemist’s magic, transforming the dross display of the death-bestowing technologies into a grand…

  • Fast Facts: Wealth Care vs Health Care

    The debate around the private financing of Canada’s health care system has recently been revived as one of a series of video shorts on human rights issues in Winnipeg’s Canadian Museum of Human Rights. It discusses a Supreme Court hearing in which Quebec’s prohibition on private insurance to cover procedures…

  • BC isn’t broke: putting teacher bargaining in perspective

    Last Monday, BC teachers held a Day of Action in communities across the province to protest the BC government’s decision to legislate a contract and put an end to their collective bargaining process. I was invited to speak to teachers at the Surrey rally, where I had the opportunity to…

  • Fast Facts: Valley of Despair in Manitoba Health Care

    First published in the Winnipeg Free Press April 8, 2019 The overhaul of Manitoba’s health care system has been met with repeated calls to slow down from those on the front lines of care. The consistent and persistent stories from patients and front line workers alike detailing chaos and upheaval…

  • Ontario Alternative Budget

    Ontario Has Options

    Alternative fiscal paths for the 2019 budget Download 538.93 KB 19 pages The Progressive Conservatives are using financial fearmongering as a cover for cutting funding for public services. This paper outlines two alternative fiscal paths that maintain and enhance services while reducing Ontario’s deficit and debt-to-GDP ratio. Both alternative budget…

  • Ontario Alternative Budget

    ‘Ontario Has Options’ for Budget 2019

    Report outlines how province can maintain services while reducing the deficit CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FULL REPORT TORONTO—A new report released today shows the Ontario government has options that would allow it to reduce the provincial deficit while maintaining and enhancing public services, as long as the province begins…