In 2010 the British Columbia Teachers’ Federation declared its opposition to the HST because it was a regressive tax, affecting the poor and families more than the wealthy and corporations. Yesterday the BCTF went on strike and while the cost for childcare and sports programs is easily covered by rich
Continue readingTag: bc
The Progressive Economics Forum: BC isn’t broke: putting teacher bargaining in perspective
Last Monday, BC teachers held a Day of Action in communities across the province to protest the BC government’s decision to legislate a contract and put an end to their collective bargaining process. I was invited to speak to teachers at the Surrey rally, where I had the opportunity to
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: NDP & the Decline of Labour
The NDP is certainly not asking whether it should abandon organized labour, but maybe organized labour should ask whether it abandon the NDP. What does it say about the New Democratic Party when it is the only political organization of unions, for unions and organized labour over the last thirty
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: We All Lose In BC Teacher Labour Dispute
Who will win in the latest labour dispute between BC teachers and the provincial government? It doesn’t matter, we are already losing. Now a politician isn’t going to tell a province this, a union representative isn’t going to hold a press conference to point it out, and people aren’t going
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Why Actions Today Matter
“We’re destroying future generations for now, and forever.” – Jitesh, an Indian oilman. You won’t regret watching this video, the guy’s a very good storyteller.
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Comparing two carbon bombs: LNG vs Enbridge pipeline
With the spotlight on the federal government’s aggressive push to export tar sands bitumen via the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline to Kitimat, and from there by tanker on to China, the BC government reclaimed some attention on the energy file when it released its Natural Gas Strategy last week. With
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Odious profits and the Enbridge pipeline
Two obvious but generally unstated details about the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline are climate change and that oil and gas companies stand to make mega-profits. An honest appraisal of the project would be something like, “yes, putting in the pipeline will facilitate even more greenhouse gas emissions from the Alberta
Continue readingTerahertz: Updates from the BC Humanists
I just thought I’d give a quick update of how things are going with the BC Humanists here in Vancouver. First, we’ve finalized the date and location of our new book club. We’ll be meeting the first Tuesday of each month at Our Town Cafe at Broadway and Kingsway in
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: A prescription for health care reform: think integration & collaboration
This morning the CCPA released a new report (co-authored by yours truly) that looks at the thorny issue of health care reform in BC (and Canada) and identifies some practical, evidence-based strategies that have been successful in improving quality of care and controlling costs in other jurisdictions. The papers comes
Continue readingeaves.ca: Open Data in BC – Good & Bad Examples from Bikes to Libraries
Some small examples of open data use and public servants who do and don’t understand open data from the Province of British Columbia to the City of Vancouver. Open Libraries? For the past several years – ever since the open motion was passed in Vancouver – the city has been
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Are Enbridge’s job numbers credible?
Putting aside the impact of the proposed Enbridge pipeline on GHG emissions or spills on land and at sea, the case in favour of the pipeline rests on creating jobs. Personally, I think industry and government use “jobs” as a euphemism for “profits” as that is where the lion’s share
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: Liberals & Conservatives, Two Halves of One Party
Are the BC Liberals a coalition of federal Conservatives and Liberals or are the Conservatives and Liberals just a federal party not yet united? There’s an answer to that question and though it relies on perspective, it doesn’t rely on your own. The BC Liberal Party is sometimes cited as
Continue readingRed Tory v.3.0.3: Faking Poverty
Jagrup Brar, NDP MLA for the Vancouver-area riding of Surrey Fleetwood today embarked on his vow to spend one month living on the paltry $610 that single (ostensibly “employable”) people currently receive from the province on welfare, responding to a challenge by a coalition of social groups that wants the
Continue readingTerahertz: Christy Clark’s staff respond to homophobic bullying
5 days ago I sent a form letter to Christy Clark, as my MLA, asking her to address homophobic bullying in BC schools. Dear Christy Clark, Premier and MLA, I am writing this message in the interest of protecting the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth in the province of
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Inequality and Climate Injustice: A Durban Post-Mortem
The United Nations climate change talks in Durban, South Africa, ended 2011 with a whimper. After a year in which climate disasters rolled across the globe, major polluting nations like Canada chose to ignore them, seeking instead to disrupt the Durban negotiations, then blew the world a raspberry, by officially
Continue readingTerahertz: Thoughts on the BC NDP 50th Anniversary Convention #bcndp50
This weekend was the first time I’ve ever attended a political convention, so I was quite happy that I was able to represent my riding as the youth representative (which came with a discounted admission). I wasn’t the first convention-virgin there, although a couple people in attendance had attended the
Continue readingTerahertz: John Horgan on Smart Meters
I wrote this morning’s post last night and scheduled it, assuming in part that it would be a few weeks to never when I received a reply (as if often the case with many politicians). It was to my surprise then that one of the first emails I read this
Continue readingTerahertz: Putting conspiracy theories to the vote
Inspired by the success of the No HST campaign that saw British Columbians of all stripes push back against a government bent on implementing policies against the popular will of the people an with no mandate, some fear mongers are hoping to repeat that success in the hopes of banning
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: BC Tap Water Alliance Calls for Resignation of Energy Minister Coleman Over Fracking
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The B.C. Tap Water Alliance (BCTWA) called today for the resignation of British Columbia’s Energy Minister Rich Coleman. The demand comes on the hee…
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Federal Post-Secondary Education Act
Last month, the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) released a document entitled Public Education for the Public Good: A National Vision for Canada’s Post-Secondary Education System. I found the document to be quite informative, filled with a lot of useful statistics. For example: -Enrolment is rising in colleges and universities across Canada. Since the late 1990s, full-time enrolment has […]
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