In December Canada once again made international headlines by defeating the Americans at the World Trade Organization, and, paradoxically, made it harder to promote and protect British Columbia’s agrifood sector. After a seven-year dispute, the United States was forced to repeal legislation requiring country of origin labelling (COOL) for muscle cuts…
First published in the Winnipeg Free Press January 23, 2018 There was a time when a plan to bury highly radioactive materials 500m from a river that provides drinking water and flows into Lake Winnipeg, would have attracted a fair bit of attention in Manitoba. Maybe even a mild uproar.…
La majorité des Canadiennes et Canadiens n’ont jamais appuyé l’orientation néoconservatrice agressive de l’ancien premier ministre Stephen Harper. Lors des élections fédérales d’octobre dernier, ils se sont ralliés derrière le parti de l’opposition ayant les meilleures chances de défaire les conservateurs. Ce désir de changement s’est cristallisé autour du Parti…
PhotoMavenStock //Shutterstock” style=”border-radius:0px;–objectFit:cover;–imagePosX:50%;–imagePosY:50%” decoding=”async” srcset=”https://www.policyalternatives.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/pn_oct2020_reality-check-childcare-300×133.jpg 300w, https://www.policyalternatives.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/pn_oct2020_reality-check-childcare-768×341.jpg 768w, https://www.policyalternatives.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/pn_oct2020_reality-check-childcare.jpg 900w” sizes=”(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px” />In the early days of the current BC election campaign child care took centre stage when NDP leader John Horgan recommitted his party to fully implement the $10aDay Plan1 if elected on October 24. Public discussion and commentary followed in the media and from other parties. Questions were raised about the…
VANCOUVER—BC’s Oil and Gas Commission withheld a report from the public for four years showing that 900 gas wells could be leaking methane—a finding that highlights why a public inquiry into oil and gas industry fracking operations is needed. The Commission published the December 2013 report on its website on…
Canadian investors have exploited a controversial mechanism in international investment treaties to challenge public interest regulations in 24 different countries, according to a study released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA). The report, by trade and investment researcher Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood, documents the 55 known cases of Canadian…
As the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations slouch toward an agreement, supporters have cranked the volume on their praise for what is sometimes called the “NAFTA of the Pacific.” Critics, of which there are a growing number, prefer “NAFTA on steroids” – a sign the 12-country pact can only lead to…
Le système de soins de longue durée nécessite 1,8 milliard de dollars pour atteindre des niveaux d’effectifs sécuritaires en personnel : rapport TORONTO— Dans la tourmente, le système de soins de longue durée de l’Ontario nécessite un investissement supplémentaire de 1,8 milliard de dollars par an pour atteindre les niveaux…
Joe Brusky / Flickr” style=”border-radius:0px;–objectFit:cover;–imagePosX:50%;–imagePosY:50%” decoding=”async” srcset=”https://www.policyalternatives.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/pn_jun2020_divest-300×133.jpg 300w, https://www.policyalternatives.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/pn_jun2020_divest-768×341.jpg 768w, https://www.policyalternatives.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/pn_jun2020_divest.jpg 900w” sizes=”(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px” />The death and disruption wrought by COVID-19 is calamitous. The bad news is that climate change will be worse. It is easy to forget that 2020 began with Australia burning in a brutal wildfire season. Like the current pandemic, Australia’s disaster was predicted years in advance by ecological science. As…
COVID-19 has decimated tourism and business travel, posing huge costs onto workers in those industries, but a fascinating side effect has been a more balanced rental market for Vancouver’s long-term renters. Asking rents for vacated units in Vancouver fell by 9 per cent in April compared to a year earlier,…
In their power-sharing agreement, the BC New Democrat and Green parties commit to support the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Supreme Court of Canada’s 2014 Tsilhqot’in decision, calling the documents “foundational” to their shared policy agenda. Central to both is Indigenous peoples’ right to free,…
It has a nice political ring to it — “power for jobs”. That is what Glen Clark wanted to do with the Columbia River Treaty power that was returned to the province in the late 1990’s. And that is what Vaughn Palmer argues B.C. should do today with the hydro…