Search results for “site/Pat Armstrong”

  • Cost of F-35 fleet could reach $126 billion, report finds

    CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FULL REPORT OTTAWA – A report on the cost of F-35s has just been released by the Rideau Institute and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. “The Plane That Ate the Canadian Military” was written by University of British Columbia political science professor Michael Byers.…

  • Waste-to-energy incineration is both noxious and expensive

    At the “Waste-Based-Energy” industry conference in Toronto last November, the tony Yorkville hotel meeting room was filled with consultants, lawyers, company reps, and municipal bureaucrats, all talking trash: waste tonnage spread-sheets, the seeming evils of landfill sites, the supreme benefits of burning municipal solid waste (MSW) to make energy. There…

  • Seniors Care

    Beyond the economy: Where are BC’s major parties on health care and our aging population?

    We have been surprised, to say the least, at the lack of public discourse around health care during this election period. As a top-of-mind issue for British Columbians, you’d think it would be as central as the always large and looming economy. So what are the burning issues in health…

  • Shortchanging public sector workers is bad for BC

    Public sector workers are in the midst of difficult contract negotiations with the BC government. The workers are reportedly asking for wages to keep up with inflation, but the government hasn’t been willing to come to the table with an offer that reflects the rising cost of living. Public sector…

  • Colour-Coded Canada

    Canada has failed to reduce persistent racism in the labour market: Report

    READ THE FULL REPORT HERE. TORONTO/OTTAWA — Despite an increasingly diverse population, a new report released today reveals that little-to-no progress has been made towards reducing racism in labour market outcomes. Canada’s Colour Coded Income Inequality, released by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, uses 2016 Census data to compare work…

  • Our recommendations for the 2023 BC budget

    The BC government is holding its annual public consultation on Budget 2023 this June, inviting British Columbians to share their priorities for government investment next year.  On June 14, I presented CCPA-BC’s recommendations to the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services. Via the BC Legislative Assembly website, you…

  • Corporate Mapping Project

    Big Oil’s Political Reach

    Mapping fossil fuel lobbying from Harper to Trudeau Download 1.41 MB 64 pages In Canada between 2011 and 2018 the fossil fuel industry was one of the most active industry groups lobbying the federal government with over six contacts per working day made with government officials. During this period, the…

  • Fast Facts: The Education Property Tax Rebate

    Do we seniors really need it? This commentary was also published in the Winnipeg Free Press on Oct 17, 2013. The opposition’s unproductive filibuster of the provincial 2013 budget increase in the PST has left many aspects of the budget undebated. One is its failure to provide for improvement in…

  • Right-to-Work: The (Ayn?) Rand Formula

    There’s reluctance among Canadian proponents to call for it by name. But Right-to-Work (longer, harder, without representation or recourse, for less money and fewer sick days or pee breaks) seems to be the flavour du jour amongst…ahem…politicians of a certain age. (By which I mean the Age of Dickens. Pip-pip, cheerio, y’all.)…

  • Where Icebergs are Born

    Nearly all the icebergs in the North Atlantic start in this place. Disko Bay, Greenland, is littered with ice as far as the eye can see. Huge icebergs sit somnolent in the morning sun, their surfaces lined with dark blue veins of frozen fresh water. A sudden clap of thunder…

  • Manitoba releases a long-awaited homelessness strategy: It must be election time

    Previously published in the Winnipeg Free Press Saturday March 11, 2023 The Manitoba government released its Homelessness Strategy on February 28th. The primary questions being asked by social housing advocates are: what took you so long, and what’s the long-term plan? As noted in the strategy, tackling homelessness requires multiple…

  • 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…