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Manitoba Health Coalition on Budget 2022
Premier Heather Stefanson began her tenure with a promise to listen to Manitobans. Her predecessor, Brian Pallister, had become identified with the chaos in Manitoba’s healthcare system and its often contradictory, and at times confrontational, pandemic messaging and policy. As premier, Pallister led these initiatives from the front. When he…
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Glacial pace of governments out of sync with fentanyl crisis
British Columbia is experiencing the worst opioid overdose crisis in its history. By October 31st, the BC Coroners Service reported that 1208 people had died from overdose: higher than the next three causes of unnatural deaths combined—suicides, motor vehicle incidents and homicides. The numbers for November and December will be…
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A Misdirected Response to a Self-Inflicted Problem
The essence of BC Hydro’s Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) is straightforward. Maintain aggressive conservation targets and plan to build Site C as soon as possible in order to meet the forecast growth in British Columbia’s basic electricity requirements. As for LNG, the energy needed for the liquefaction process is expected…
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Democratic Media Reform in Canada
Campaigns, coalitions aim to democratize media system Faced with a corporate-dominated mediascape and perceived editorial indifference or hostility, trade unions and other progressive Canadian organizations have responded pragmatically when they need to influence public opinion. They have adopted media relations strategies, often run by specialized staff, to gain whatever space…
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Neo-Con Economics and Canadian Well-Being
Neoliberalism cause of the worst recession since the 1930s… “The ideas of economists and political philosophers, both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than is commonly supposed. Indeed, the world is ruled by little else.” –John Maynard Keynes * * * Ideas matter greatly…
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October 2008: Horrendous Health and Environmental Toll
Downstream from the tar sands, people are sick, dying There’s deformed pickerel in Lake Athabasca… Pushed-in faces, bulging eyes, humped back, crooked tails… never used to see that. Great big lumps on them… you poke that, it sprays water… A friend caught a jackfish recently with two lower jaws… He…
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Communities impacted by resource development are fighting back: government should take notice
Whether it’s mining, logging, dams or pipelines, the people living closest to resource industry developments typically face the highest health, economic and environmental risks. Such inequities will only deepen if liquefied natural gas plants materialize on BC’s coast. Sadly, the provincial government often behaves as though northern British Columbians are…
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The Latin American Revolution (Part XII)
Uruguay makes great social gains under left-wing government Uruguay, a small South American nation located between Argentina and Brazil, has been carrying forth the Latin American Revolution for the last eight years, with impressive social gains. Two left-wing governments, both of the Frente Amplio political party (Broad Front—FA), have been…
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Half of BC workers lack access to “standard jobs” and 37% are in precarious employment, groundbreaking survey finds
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FULL REPORT VANCOUVER – A study released today by the Understanding Precarity in BC partnership reveals a polarized labour market in which precarious work is far more pervasive than many assume and includes much more than “gig work.” The pilot BC Precarity Survey is the…
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Proposed forest policy leaves First Nations bereft
Ten years ago, the provincial government made the welcome decision to provide greater opportunities for First Nations to participate in and benefit from forestry operations in British Columbia. The result was a flurry of new resource and revenue sharing agreements between the government and numerous First Nations that underscored the…
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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” />Reality Check: Progress on child care in BC, 2012-2020
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…
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Temporary foreign workers need more rights, not better enforcement of flawed policy
On June 20, Minister of Employment and Social Development Jason Kenney announced a raft of changes to the federal Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP), including a moratorium (now lifted) on the hiring of temporary foreign workers (TFWs) in the food services sector. The TFWP program has attracted controversy since at…
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