Thirty-five years after Canada’s parliament promised to end child poverty it still hasn’t happened. In 1989, a unanimous all-party House of Commons resolution was passed vowing to end child poverty in Canada by the year 2000. Yet child poverty in British Columbia and across the country is on the rise again. The evidence of the... View Article ..read more

In the absence of mandate letters, let’s take a look at what the new cabinet picks and the reorganization of some key ministries tell us, in light of NDP and Green election promises.... View Article ..read more

When BC first introduced a carbon tax in 2008 the point was to apply it to all emissions causing climate change, but start at a low rate and increase it over time. Yet, as the carbon tax has increased for households at the gas pump and to heat homes, large industrial players—including the oil and... View Article ..read more

The 2024 living wage for Metro Vancouver has risen to $27.05 per hour, a 5.3% increase from last year. This significant increase highlights the region’s deepening affordability crisis fuelled by sky-high housing costs. Living wages are also going up across the province as our new report shows. While inflation has eased from record highs, essential... View Article ..read more

In the BC election, significant tax cuts were put on the table by both the BC Conservatives and BC NDP in their policy platforms. While they were framed as a way of easing pressures on the cost of living, tax cuts would do little to address the structural problems underlying those cost pressures. Now that... View Article ..read more

Today, the election debate is dominated by competing tax cut proposals that risk eroding our collective capacity to invest in one another, thereby widening health inequalities that make us sicker and will further stretch an overburdened health care system.... View Article ..read more

CCPA–BC articles casting light on issues of most importance to voters and evaluated solutions being floated on the campaign trail by the major parties... View Article ..read more

In this lecture, Dr. Pistor discusses themes from her latest book, The Code of Capital: How the Law Creates Wealth and Inequality, which explores how the public institutions of the legal system—like property law or taxation—are used to create private wealth.... View Article ..read more

Ever since the economy started to slow down, the political discourse in BC has shifted dramatically. Immigrants and international students are blamed for the housing crisis and for driving down wages; people experiencing homelessness, addiction or mental health crises are blamed for making public spaces “unsafe” and engaging in crime; and basic steps towards meaningful reconciliation with First Nations are framed as threats to our economic prosperity. ... View Article ..read more

Since 2017, the vast majority of BC households are paying a smaller share of their income in provincial taxes, while the top 1% is paying more.... View Article ..read more