In BC, in spite of climate action planning going back to 2007, the idea of a managed wind-down of fossil fuel industries remains a taboo topic. Given the late hour in confronting the climate emergency, it is time our governments stopped trying to appease these fossil fuel companies. Our official climate plans should not seek to win the support or endorsement of these companies (as is currently the case). Rather, if our climate plans are not making the oil and gas companies deeply anxious, they are not plans worth having. Given this, the article asks, what would a managed wind-down look like?
Read MoreThe oil and gas royalty regime in British Columbia needs a major overhaul. The re-elected NDP promised during the election campaign to review oil and gas royalties and credits. In the context of a climate emergency the need for a managed wind-down is urgent. Despite “natural” gas being a finite greenhouse-gas-generating fossil fuel, the royalty regime BC applies for the extraction of natural gas is aimed at encouraging and ramping up production, not winding the industry down.
Read MoreSince releasing my book, I have frequently been asked, “How do you know when a government gets the emergency?” Here are my four markers for when you know that a government has shifted into emergency mode:
1) It spends what it takes to win;
2) It creates new economic institutions to get the job done;
3) It shifts from voluntary and incentive-based policies to mandatory measures;
4) It tells the truth about the severity of the crisis and communicates a sense of urgency about the measures necessary to combat it.
Read MoreRemembrance Day is an occasion to reflect on the lessons and sacrifices of past struggles. Today, as we prepare to tackle our generation’s greatest threat – the climate emergency – Canada’s mobilization to confront fascism 80 years ago has valuable lessons to offer. For all of us who wrestle with the enormity of the climate crisis, our Second World War experience offers a helpful — and indeed hopeful — reminder that we have done this before.
Read MoreClean BC is, quite likely, the most aggressive and comprehensive provincial or federal climate plan in Canada. And yet, sadly, it does not constitute a real climate emergency plan. This piece outlines what one would expect to see in a true climate emergency plan. If our current leaders believe we face a climate emergency, then they need to act and speak like it’s a damn emergency. We need them to name it, speak continually about it, and rally us at every turn. Because that’s what you do in a crisis.
Read MoreThe more a bold and transformative climate plan is seen as linked to an ambitious plan to tackle inequality, economic insecurity, poverty and job creation, the more likely people are to support it.
Read MoreAs the young people in our society come to the end of a school year unlike any before, and those in their teens and early 20s in particular wrestle with what the coming year or two will look like, Canada’s Second World War story has some useful guidance to offer. In the Second World War, over one million Canadians enlisted for military service, a remarkable level of participation, particularly given what those who signed up were prepared to sacrifice. Of the hundreds of thousands of Canadians who went to fight overseas, from all corners of the country and many ethnic backgrounds, the overriding characteristic most had in common was their youth. The good news for today is that the crises we must confront call upon us to help and to heal – both society and the planet – rather than to fight and kill.
Read MorePremiers Jason Kenney and Scott Moe want to re-open equalization. It’s one of the prairie premiers’ core demands for a “new deal” with Canada. But that’s super messy. And besides, the equalization formula isn’t the problem; it’s more or less operating as intended, helping to ensure all provinces have equivalent capacity to fund similar levels of public services. Alberta has plenty of revenue capacity to fund its public programs. As the latest Alberta budget itself boasts, if Alberta taxed individuals and corporations at rates comparable to other provinces, it would have “at least $13.4 billion more in taxes.”
Read MoreHey, small-c conservative voter, can we talk? You, who take pride in your country and are committed to protecting your children and grandchildren. You, who have faith in our innovative capacity. You, who treasure good governance and care about national security. Yeah, you.
Read MoreLast month, as part of the research for a book I am writing on mobilizing Canada for the climate emergency, I commissioned an extensive national public opinion poll from Abacus Data.* The full results of the poll can be found on the Abacus website here. I share highlights and my analysis below. Big picture: the results are hopeful and indicate a high level of support for bold and ambitious climate action. Canadians support systemic solutions that go well beyond what our governments have so far been willing to undertake.
Read MoreAfter ten years of community calls for action, BC has at long last joined the ranks of provinces with a comprehensive poverty reduction plan. BC’s new strategy, TogetherBC, was unveiled yesterday. It sets out a framework to achieve the government’s legislated targets to reduce child poverty by at least 50 per cent and overall poverty by at least 25 per cent within five years.
Read MoreOver the last few months, I’ve spent quite a lot of time debating and following the No side in the electoral reform referendum. For the most part, they are waging a highly negative campaign based on fear-mongering about extremists and falsehoods about what might happen to local representation (which I have debunked here and here).
Read MoreAmong the fear-mongering claims of the ‘No’ side in BC’s electoral reform debate, a favorite trope is that proportional representation (pro rep) will result in unstable minority governments that can’t get anything done. The claim is unsubstantiated nonsense.
Read MoreThe BC government’s public consultations into the development of a poverty reduction plan have ended. Now the ideas and recommendations from hundreds of British Columbians are in the hands of the government as they turn all that input into the official plan. We’ve been told to expect enabling legislation—including legislated targets and timelines—for the fall session of the BC Legislature and a comprehensive plan by the end of 2018.
Read MoreHere’s a different take on Kinder Morgan’s ultimatum and the so-called “constitutional crisis” it has sparked. I’m speculating, of course, as we all seek to understand what Kinder Morgan is really up to. But allow me to posit a minority theory: We’re getting played!
Read MoreIn a particularly jerk move, the Fraser Institute chose National Aboriginal Day (June 21) to release a report by Tom Flanagan claiming that a sharp increase in people with Registered Indian status will drive up government costs.
Read MoreWhat an interesting and exciting moment in BC politics! For a bunch of policy nerds like us at the CCPA, it doesn’t get much better than this. On Tuesday, May 30, the BC NDP and BC Green Party released the terms of their agreement to cooperate and grant legislative confidence to a minority NDP government. The full text of the agreement is impressive and hopeful. It is well-crafted, aimed at producing governmental stability, and encourages good faith cooperation (there is even a dispute resolution process).
Read MoreIt’s been a little over a week since we were jolted by the profoundly disturbing reality of a Donald Trump US presidency. We’ve all found ourselves in many discussions about how such an abhorrent and blatantly racist and misogynist candidate could have won the most powerful political office in the world, and about how to respond.
Read MoreBC needs a revitalized jobs plan. The provincial government’s narrow focus on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) hasn’t worked. The government hitched BC’s economic wagon to the elusive investment decisions of foreign transnational corporations, and to the ups and downs of international commodity prices, and the hoped-for investment simply didn’t materialize. And for all the talk about innovation, BC’s current economic strategy is rooted in old-style extraction and exporting of minimally-processed natural resources. We can do better.
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