A lot of AI discourse masks the fact that it is the result of a series of policy choices. Despite the government evoking Margaret Thatcher’s infamous “there is no alternative,” we do have a choice. And we should be serious about what that choice is.
A guide to standing up to book bans and beyond, and how to protect and strengthen public education in Canada
After many years of “serial disappointment” and concerns about secular stagnation, Canada’s economy is finally growing at a solid pace, as Finance Minister Morneau and the Bank of Canada Governor Poloz underlined in the recent Fall Economic Statement and Monetary Policy Report. This has led to higher revenues, lower deficits,…
In October 1999, I wrote the report Ten Tax Myths. Any retrospective on this issue must examine the relationship between research and analysis and the question of political agency. We know that no matter how good the research and analysis, unless there is a change agent to use it, the…
Caring for Profit: How corporations are taking over Canada’s health care system was published by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) and New Star Books nearly 20 years ago, shortly after the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) General Agreement on Trade in…
I’ll be attending the Consumers 150 conference in Ottawa this week, which is co-organized by the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, Option consommateurs, Consumers Council of Canada and Union des consommateurs. The event is billed as a chance to analyze today’s high-profile consumer rights issues—national pharmacare, the sharing economy, climate change…
VANCOUVER—The BC government made some needed investments in its 2021 budget for COVID-19 recovery, but there is scarce new funding for major priorities like child care, housing and climate action says the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. “Aside from time-limited spending on the COVID-19 pandemic, the BC government tabled a…
Author’s note: The latest BC government throne speech promised “to help solve big challenges – like inequality and climate change – with growth that is inclusive and sustainable.” CCPA-BC will closely analyze the upcoming BC Budget to determine whether the government’s intention is backed by the increased levels of public…
Costs include thousands of potential jobs, sharply higher CO2 emissions: report CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FULL REPORT (Vancouver) A new report on BC’s forest industry finds that startling numbers of usable logs are being left to rot or burn at logging sites, at a potential cost of thousands of…
It didn’t take very much time at the joint federal-provincial environmental hearing into Site C, which started this week in Fort St. John, to realize that it is not the best forum to address the central issue underlying BC Hydro’s proposal to develop the $8 to $9 billion hydro project.…
In the spring of 2016, the CCPA’s Terra Poirier and photographer Caelie Frampton met with three local seniors to document their lived experience of poverty and inequality. The images and stories of these women paint a sobering picture of what life is like when the hardships of living with a…
Days after the 2015 federal election, a Globe and Mail opinion piece pointed out something many anti-poverty advocates already knew: “Every province and territory but British Columbia has a poverty reduction strategy in place or in development. Many cities and towns do, too. Until now, the big missing piece has…
The Nova Scotia Department of Finance recently launched an interactive “Back to Balance” website, giving community members an opportunity to try their hands at government budgeting. The site is technically sophisticated and informative. Users can move sliders to adjust the levels of various taxes and expenditures, and pop-up bubbles provide…
Previously published in the Winnipeg Free Press June 23, 2023 After winning the 2016 provincial election, then-premier Brian Pallister moved Manitoba’s department of Indigenous and northern affairs under the municipal relations banner — suggesting a radical change in how the government viewed treaty rights, Indigenous rights, and working with First…