Search results for “site/economics of childcare”

  • Twenty years of talk about climate change

    Doha, Qatar — The 18th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is now underway in Doha, Qatar. This year’s president is His Excellency Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiya, chair of Qatar’s Administrative Control and Transparency Authority. Al-Attiya said the conference is “a turning…

  • Assessing BC’s Fiscal Health: Can BC afford more deficits?

    By Seth Klein and Iglika Ivanova [Note: this piece has also appeared in the Tyee here.] OK, time for a reality check on BC’s deficits. Simply put, while arguments about deficits and “who is the better fiscal manager” may make for entertaining politics, there is no compelling economic reason why…

  • Can BC afford more deficits?

    OK, time for a reality check on BC’s deficits. Simply put, while arguments about deficits and “who is the better fiscal manager” may make for entertaining politics, there is no compelling economic reason why BC cannot run a few years of modest deficits. And in the absence of deep cuts…

  • The Age of Austerity

    Despite austerity’s failure, politicians still won’t scrap it We are living in the “Age of Austerity” – or at least so says David Cameron, the U.K.’s Prime Minister. He made this announcement in 2009 at the Conservative convention just before becoming Prime Minister. This meant, he explained, that he would…

  • Closing the Loop: Zero Waste, GHG Emissions and Green Jobs in BC

    Below is the summary for our latest Climate Justice Project report, Closing the Loop: Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Creating Green Jobs through Zero Waste in BC (I recommend checking the much prettier full paper, stand-alone summary, and awesome infographic by Sam Bradd on the website). Closing the Loop was a complex and challenging…

  • BC should think twice before opening its doors to multinational ride-hailing corporations

    Last year, the BC government introduced legislation expected to bring ride-hailing to the province, but many questions remain about what that will look like in practice. One of the bodies responsible for working out the policy details is BC’s Passenger Transportation Board (PTB), an independent tribunal that has been handling…

  • Nova Scotia Alternative Budget

    Nova Scotia Alternative Budget 2013

    Strengthening Connections, Connecting Communities Download 2.99 MB116 pages The 2013 Nova Scotia Alternative Provincial Budget invests in good jobs, strong communities, and participatory economics. It is a comprehensive budget that involved 30 plus collaborators and makes strategic investments to boost the sluggish economy and expand opportunities for all Nova Scotians.…

  • The Oil Industry’s Dilbit Cover-Up

    Tar sands bitumen spills harder and costlier to clean up It’s amazing to watch the lengths to which Enbridge and the oil industry will go in pretending that tar sands diluted bitumen (dilbit) is no different from conventional oil. On Aug. 26, the Canadian Press reported that the Northern Gateway…

  • Policy Points: An alternative to property taxes

    Municipalities (villages, towns, and even big cities) across Canada have major financial problems – their tax base is (1) inadequate for their responsibilities or for the needs of their citizens, AND (2) almost entirely dependent on the revenues from property taxes. No one is happy with the property tax. It…

  • Fast Facts: Canadian Premium Sand Frac Sand Mining Project About to Hit a Financial Wall

    There are important new developments regarding the proposed frac sand operation adjacent to Hollow Water First Nation on the east side of Lake Winnipeg that will have a large impact on the entire project. Canadian Premium Sand (CPS), a publicly traded and Canadian-owned mining company, received an Environmental License from…

  • Atlantic Canada’s story of inequality

    Statistics Canada released new data yesterday on high income trends in Canada with nary a mention of the Atlantic Provinces. From a Canadian comparative perspective, the data told a story that was more striking for most of the rest of the country and in particular, Alberta, Ontario, BC and Quebec where 92%…

  • The dubious case for casinos

    I got way off my usual research agenda this morning for a business panel on CBC radio. The topic was the economics of casinos, the result of the City of Surrey voting down a new casino proposal. I have often disparagingly compared stock markets to casinos, but in fact I…