Weeks stretch to months, months to years as BC government clamps down on information When debate on the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Amendment Act began last fall Stephanie Cadieux, then Liberal MLA for Surrey-Cloverdale, was among many to note how British Columbians are waiting longer and longer…
Province of BC/ Flickr” style=”border-radius:0px;–objectFit:cover;–imagePosX:50%;–imagePosY:50%” decoding=”async” srcset=”https://www.policyalternatives.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/food-secure-BC_policynote_may2016_1280x600-300×141.jpg 300w, https://www.policyalternatives.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/food-secure-BC_policynote_may2016_1280x600-1024×480.jpg 1024w, https://www.policyalternatives.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/food-secure-BC_policynote_may2016_1280x600-768×360.jpg 768w, https://www.policyalternatives.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/food-secure-BC_policynote_may2016_1280x600.jpg 1280w” sizes=”(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px” />If California’s farmers ever run out of the water needed to irrigate their crops, we’ll be in for a rude awakening. With 70 per cent of British Columbia’s imported fruits and vegetables coming from the sunny US state, any climatic disaster there would almost certainly result in dramatic run-ups in food…
Province of BC / Flickr” style=”border-radius:0px;–objectFit:cover;–imagePosX:50%;–imagePosY:50%” decoding=”async” srcset=”https://www.policyalternatives.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/pn_jun2022_opening-the-floodgates-300×133.jpg 300w, https://www.policyalternatives.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/pn_jun2022_opening-the-floodgates-768×341.jpg 768w, https://www.policyalternatives.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/pn_jun2022_opening-the-floodgates.jpg 900w” sizes=”(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px” />More than climate crisis behind last November’s rising waters, death and destruction; experts urge province to make course correction First of Two Parts When Premier John Horgan declared a provincial state of emergency in the wake of last November’s horrific floods, landslides and deaths, he was quick to name the…
If anything is clear in this pandemic, Canada needs a wealth tax on the super rich to rein in extreme inequality and contribute to crucial public investments in the wake of COVID-19. A wealth tax is economically and technically feasible, but it requires breaking with a status quo that often…
The Province newspaper recently published an op-ed of mine that looked at one of the unintended consequences of our provincial government’s fixation on building the exceedingly expensive Site C hydroelectric dam. Even though actual construction of the dam has yet to begin, BC Hydro customers are already paying far more for electricity…
Premier Christy Clark’s vow to push work at the $9-billion Site C dam “past the point of no return” may be music to the ears of some construction contractors, but not to all pulp and paper firms. In a great irony, as the costs soar into the billions to build…
Early last spring, provincial civil servants cut off virtually all communication about what the government knew about a sprawling network of potentially dangerous and unregulated dams in northeast BC on the pretext they could not comment because of the impending election. The coordinated effort meant there was virtually no comment…
The number of unlicensed and potentially dangerous dams built in recent years in northeast British Columbia is nearly double what has been reported, according to one of the province’s top water officials. At least 92 unauthorized dams have been built in the region where natural gas industry fracking operations consume…
The COVID-19 pandemic has in less than four months spread throughout the globe and altered both the daily lives of citizens and the economy of many countries, including Canada. Media reports through all platforms cover COVID-19 extensively, in fact there is not much else in the news these days. While…
Province of BC / Flickr.” style=”border-radius:0px;–objectFit:cover;–imagePosX:50%;–imagePosY:50%” decoding=”async” srcset=”https://www.policyalternatives.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/pn_mar2020_BC-Action-Plan1-300×133.jpg 300w, https://www.policyalternatives.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/pn_mar2020_BC-Action-Plan1-768×341.jpg 768w, https://www.policyalternatives.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/pn_mar2020_BC-Action-Plan1.jpg 900w” sizes=”(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px” />Less than two weeks have passed since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic and the fast-spreading virus has already led to large-scale economic disruptions and layoffs. Hundreds of thousands of workers, families, businesses and non-profits across Canada are reeling from the tremendous pressures on their lives and finances…
Abandoned mines, oil and gas wells pollute our boreal forest A mid-March report — A Forest of Blue: Canada’s Boreal Forest, the World’s Waterkeeper — focuses on the health of our vast northern forest ecosystem, which covers 60% of Canada’s land mass. Issued by the Pew Environment Group (a U.S.…
TORONTO—Selon un nouveau rapport du Centre canadien de politiques alternatives (CCPA), les travailleurs autochtones et racialisés ont été plus nombreux, tout au long de la pandémie, à occuper des emplois les mettant en contact étroit avec d’autres personnes, ce qui a augmenté leur risque d’infection par la COVID-19. Intitulé Un…