Search results for “site/human rights”

  • State of play – 3rd party advertising rules and the 2013 provincial election

    BC’s third party election advertising law has been highly controversial since its introduction in 2008. I wrote the following briefing note to help organizations understand if/how the law affects them. BC’s 3rd party election advertising law applies to many many kinds of public communication during a provincial election campaign —…

  • Work Life: 18 Prominent Manitobans Fail the Canada Challenge

    The ancestors of 18 prominent Manitobans would all be turned away if they applied today to immigrate to Canada.  That was the finding of the first Manitobans to take The Canada Challenge, a quiz that all Canadians were invited to take as they walked through Osborne Village on Canada Day…

  • No need to subsidize business by rolling back labour rights

    “No pain, no gain” seems to be the preferred cliché of the new provincial government. While this approach may be well and good for Olympic athletes, it’s not working as an approach to public policy. A case in point is the government’s plan to turn back the clock on employment…

  • New report: Canada isn’t spending what it takes to succeed in the global shift to a clean economy; Budget 2023 must include ambitious climate investment plan

    CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FULL REPORT Unceded Algonquin Anishinaabe Territories [OTTAWA], 9 February 2023 For Canada to compete in the global clean economy, the federal government must adopt an ambitious investment plan to match the scale of the climate and affordability crises, finds a new report released today by…

  • March 2006: Empty Promises, Dashed Hopes

    10 years after Beijing conference, women are still waiting In the plenary session of the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing more than 10 years ago, this proclamation was made by the Tanzanian chairperson, Gertrude Mongella: “A revolution has begun! There is no turning back!” All the delegates from…

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    When the impossible becomes possible: COVID-19, the climate crisis and lessons from the Second World War

    “Canada hasn’t seen this type of civic mobilization since the Second World War. These are the biggest economic measures in our lifetimes, to defeat a threat to our health… We all need to answer the call.”—Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, April 1, 2020, during one of his daily pandemic briefings outside…

  • pn_apr2020_just-recovery-vancouver

    CCPA-BC signs Joint Statement for a Just Recovery

    Today the CCPA-BC added its support to a joint statement led by the Vancouver Just Recovery Coalition calling on the City of Vancouver to prioritize lessening existing inequalities, respecting Indigenous rights, and tackling the climate emergency in their COVID-19 recovery plans. Read the full statement below. You can endorse this…

  • December 2007: The Environmental Keynesian Alternative

    Environmental crisis calls for World-War-II-type collaboration As people become ever-more aware of climate change and ecological crisis, they are worried, anxious, and looking for solutions. Forgive me if I’m a heretic, but I think the time has passed for telling them to change their behaviour and their lightbulbs, claiming that…

  • Skyrocketing rent pushes modest apartments out of reach for lower-income Canadians in 97% of neighbourhoods

    New study maps the rental affordability crisis in Canada’s cities CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FULL REPORT OTTAWA—In nearly every neighbourhood, in all parts of Canada, the hourly wage needed to afford an apartment rental is far above minimum wages and rising quickly, according to a new study released today…

  • Public Interest Research Project (BC)

    Paying our public servants

    The season of public sector bargaining is upon us.  While the teachers’ strike is over, bargaining now starts in earnest for the vast majority of public sector workers, leaving British Columbians to wonder if there are more labour disruptions to come.  The answer will, of course, depend on the negotiating…

  • Managed wind-down of BC’s fossil fuel industries: A just transition to a green economy

    Imagine it’s 2025 and because of the escalating climate crisis, governments in Asia have declared ambitious new climate action plans and an aggressive transition off natural gas. BC’s fossil fuel exports would soon dry up, workers would be laid off and local communities would lose public- and private-sector jobs. This…

  • Fast Facts: Austerity Agendas, COVID and Universities

    An inside view As I write this, the University of Manitoba and all other post-secondary institutions are desperately working to meet the Pallister governments edicts, issued last week, to make plans to reduce their annual budgeted salaries by 10 per cent and to realize those savings within four months.  They…