Search results for “site/economics of childcare”

  • 10 ways we can improve the lives of low-income British Columbians

    This is the season when we find ourselves particularly conscious of poverty and homelessness, but this year more so than usual. British Columbians are faced with the paradox of our current economy; we are experiencing solid economic growth and decades-low unemployment on the one hand, and record homelessness, persistent poverty,…

  • Growing Gap

    Canada’s Growing Gap

    The Sleeper Issue of the Next Election? Could inequality be the sleeper issue of the next federal election? A new national poll conducted by Environics Research for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives shows a record-high 76% of Canadians believe the gap between rich and poor has widened over the…

  • Climate Justice Project

    Darkwoods, the murky world of carbon credits and a “carbon neutral” BC government

    It is spun in government press releases as a “first” for any jurisdiction in North America, an achievement that places British Columbia “on the leading edge” of efforts to combat climate change. But scratch the surface just a little and questions arise about the legitimacy of Environment Minister Terry Lake’s…

  • Darkwoods, the murky world of carbon credits and a “carbon neutral” B.C. government

    It is spun in government press releases as a “first” for any jurisdiction in North America, an achievement that places British Columbia “on the leading edge” of efforts to combat climate change. But scratch the surface just a little and questions arise about the legitimacy of Environment Minister Terry Lake’s…

  • Rising Inequality, Declining Democracy

    The “Occupy Canada” movement (with a little help from CCPA research) has raised public awareness of the unprecedented growth in income inequality and wealth concentration in Canada over the last 30 years. And recent reports from the OECD and the Conference Board confirming this trend have raised alarm bells amongst…

  • Why the Conservatives are cutting spending now

    Suffering from fiscal whiplash? First the Harper government tells us the 2005/06 surplus is $13.2 billion. Then on the same day, it announces large spending cuts. Doesn’t it seem a bit gratuitous to cut spending if Ottawa is flush with cash? For a government focused on getting a majority in…

  • Fast Facts: McFadyen’s Bloated Numbers Make For Murky Bi Pole III Debate

    As recorded in Hansard, since the beginning of the Legislative session on April 12, there have been ongoing relentless attacks, on Hydro, the West route for Bipole 3, and the government. The attacks, mainly by Conservative leader Hugh McFadyen, have centred on the costs of the West route, claiming that…

  • The Wild West and dysfunctional B.C. politics

    Anyone wanting to see just how dysfunctional politics in B.C. has become should check out Bob Simpson’s recent Private Members’ statement in the provincial legislature. For seven minutes Simpson, Member of the Legislative Assembly for Cariboo North and one of two Independent MLAs, spoke about why he and fellow Independent…

  • Foreign trade issues playing out in BC

    Last week Premier Christy Clark took the unprecedented step of promising there would be public consultation regarding the Province’s position on the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between Canada and the European Union. If this really happens it would be an important opportunity.  The current government has never allowed…

  • Oil sent through new pipeline likely to end up in China

    By year’s end, the U.S. State Department (or possibly, President Obama himself) will decide whether TransCanada Corp.’s Keystone XL pipeline is in the American national interest. The proposed 2,673-kilometre pipeline would bring tar-sands diluted bitumen (or “dilbit”) from Hardisty, Alberta, to Gulf Coast refineries in Texas and Louisiana, crossing through…

  • Platform Costing and the Politics of Fiscal Policy in Ontario

    Download 319.02 KB 15 pages Fiscal policy issues — issues related to the balance between government revenue and expenditure — have come to play a curious role in the electoral cycle in Ontario. In advance of an election, debates over fiscal issues play prominently in the political discourse. The opposition…

  • On Labour Day, think about unions as an equalizing force

    By raising the living standards of millions, labor miraculously created a market for industry and lifted the whole nation to undreamed levels of production. Those who today attack labor forget these simple truths, but history remembers them. Martin Luther King speaking in 1961 On Labour Day 2011 unions in North…