Today CCPA released a new Climate Justice Project report, Fighting Energy Poverty in the Transition to Zero-Emission Housing: A Framework for BC, by yours truly, Eugene Kung (a lawyer with the BC Public Interest Advocacy Centre and a steering committee member of the CJP) and Jason Owen (who worked on this project as a student at UBC, now with the […]
Continue readingTag: Poverty
The Progressive Economics Forum: The Ontario NDP Platform
Pollsters tell us that Ontario’s New Democrats may double their seat total in next month’s provincial election. It’s also entirely conceivable that they could be part of a coalition government at Queen’s Park. But what’s actually in the party’s election platform? One central feature of the NDP’s proposals is to implement a tax credit for companies that hire new workers. The tax […]
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: 2011 Ontario Election: Parkdale-Highpark All Candidates Forum Response
The following is my observations and reflections from attending an All Candidates Forum for the riding of Parkdale-Highpark. Click here for an overview on the candidates for this riding. While this post will obviously be specific to this particular On…
Continue readingLarry Hubich's Blog: We have a choice – SFL Issues Campaign
Check out the newest SFL Labour Issues Campaign Booklet on the economy and the environment. (pdf): We have a choice
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Ontario Student Debt
Last week, the CCPA released a paper by David Macdonald and Erika Shaker entitled Under Pressure: The Impact of Rising Tuition Fees on Ontario Families. The paper does a good job of explaining which households have been most impacted by rising tuition fees in Ontario. Points made in the paper include the following: -In light […]
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: So the BC HST Was Defeated. Now What?
Earlier today, Elections BC announced the much anticipated HST referendum results. British Columbians have voted to scrap the HST. The best part about having the results is that now we can move on from the narrow issue of what type of sales tax is better and focus our energies on some of the bigger issues […]
Continue readingArt Threat: The deserted but beautiful homes of Detroit – A look at Kevin Bauman’s "100 Abandoned Houses" collection
Detroit has been the poster child of the American recession for number of years. While many Detroit organizations and residents are taking a “do-it-yourself” approach to rebuilding their city, their work is cut out for them, particularly when it comes to fixing up abandoned buildings. Yards need to be mowed, debris collected, seeds planted and […]
Continue readingWhere Have We Seen This Before
When I look at Canada today I see many disturbing issues,among them I see high unemployment, massive income inequity,increasing poverty,hunger and homelessness. I also see higher education being priced out of the range of most.We have seen these condit…
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Tuition Has Increased 41% Since 1998
A recent cbc.ca article reports on plans by Quebec student groups to protest planned tuition hikes by the Charest government. Over a five-year period, Quebec’s Liberal government plans to increase tuition by roughly 75 percent. The article notes that tuition levels in Quebec are currently among the lowest in Canada. But as I’ve blogged about […]
Continue readingcultural sn:afu: Little Victor Update | Repetitive cacophony
A few years ago there was an episode of Family Guy called “Stewie Loves Lois”, where Stewie — the family baby who has spent most of his life trying to kill his mother — suddenly starts to appreciate everything his … Contin…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.
– Marc Lee tears into the “unfunded liabilities” spin on public benefits which is now making an appearance in Canada:
(W)hat’s missing from this horror movie is that this is an artifact of CPP being …
Accidental Deliberations: Unequal interest
In my column this week, I pointed out the need to combat poverty and inequality in order to achieve better outcomes in all kinds of areas even if we’re not prepared to deal with them for their own sake. But let’s follow up with a quick look at the choi…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: New column day
Here, on how new evidence on the effects of poverty and inequality gives us all the more reason to fight them.For further reading…- Of course, the Equality Trust is the for more about the effects of inequality. – And for some of the new research on t…
Continue readingShould We Just Up And Close Food Banks ?
That’s what Elaine Power, an associate professor at Queen’s and some one who has spent more than a decade researching hunger and volunteering at food banks, recommended in her column that appeared in Monday’s Globe and she is not alone in that belief…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material to end your weekend.- Nick Falvo discusses the unfortunate theory that any talk of improving standards of living for the neediest Canadians is either fruitless or extreme politically:In reference to the Put Food In The Budget cam…
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Is Social Assistance a “Poverty Pariah?”
An article in the current edition of NOW Magazine looks at social assistance in Ontario. The article is aptly entitled “Poverty Pariah,” in light of how apparently unpopular Ontario’s welfare system has become over the past 20 years. As can be seen at the National Council of Welfare’s Interactive Welfare Incomes Map, a single adult […]
Continue readingI have seen the future of Canada’s working class
It is Vancouver’s East Hastings street.I left Salmon Arm, over a month ago, and arrived here, in rags and tatters.How can I describe Skid Row? Take an average man, get him drunk and high, and then smash in his face, again and again until he’s on the gr…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Jeffrey Simpson laments the Cons’ evidence-averse crime policies. But it’s worth noting that Simpson is off base on one point: much as he assumes that years of spin from the Cons and the media alike have pus…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.- Jeffrey Simpson has a bit of trouble recognizing that inequality applies at all rungs of the income ladder, not merely as a matter of resolving poverty. But otherwise his latest is well worth a read:Th…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Afternoon Links
Assorted content for your review.- Iglika Ivanova calculates the cost of poverty in British Columbia:My findings confirm what we’ve already suspected: poverty comes with a very high price tag. The cost of poverty to government alone is estimated to b…
Continue reading