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VANCOUVER – In the seven years since the NDP came to power in British Columbia, food prices have jumped by almost 30 per cent.

Rent and transport costs are up by about a quarter, while the cost of filling up with gasoline has risen by almost half.

It’s been a painful process that has made the cost of living a major battleground ahead of the Oct. 19 provincial election. But experts say that while some provincial policy strategies can have an impact, much of the inflationary pressure has global origins.

University of British Columbia Sauder School of Business associate Prof. Werner Antweiler said interest rate and fiscal policy can effect change in housing prices, but the pressures that have forced up grocery prices cannot be easily influenced at a local political level.

In a note published through the research agency C.D. Howe Institute, Antweiler said Russia’s war on Ukraine was a fundamental reason why grain, fertilizer and energy costs had cascaded into food costs.

“The blame for high food prices falls neither on greedy retail chain CEOs nor on Canada’s carbon tax,” Antweiler said in the note. “Most contributing factors can be attributed to global sources.”

Nevertheless, the issue of costs has been a key driver of political debate in B.C.

On Sept. 12, before the campaign period officially began, B.C. NDP Leader David Eby announced that his party would end the provincial carbon tax on consumers if the federal mandate requiring such a tax was removed by the party that wins the next federal election.

Eby cited “rising interest rates” and “high global inflation” as cost pressures that had eroded political consensus on the carbon tax, which Antweiler said had been used as a “scapegoat.”

B.C. Conservatives Leader John Rustad described the move as a “desperate attempt” to boost support and called the carbon levy a “disastrous tax that punishes families and businesses.”

B.C’s consumer price index jumped by more than three per cent for each of the last three years — including a 6.8 per cent spike in 2022 — and is about 56 per cent higher than it was 2002. That’s about one-tenth lower than all of Canada at 62 per cent.

“Two, three per cent is no problem,” said Simon Fraser University finance Prof. Andrey Pavlov of the price of inflation.

“The moment it becomes six or seven, people notice that right away. And when it’s not just one item, but it’s everything you consume, people who are living on a tight budget to begin with absolutely notice it.”

The B.C. Conservatives list cost-of-living at the top of the party’s policy plan on its website, calling for the privatization of auto insurance, supporting parents directly with daycare costs, and removal of the carbon tax.

The heavy focus on daily costs doesn’t surprise Pavlov, who said Canada’s inflation rate had reached a level in 2022 that was difficult to ignore.

“Inflation has tapered off, but at some point it was up to six per cent, seven per cent in Canada,” Pavlov said, adding the prices are not coming down. “And when it’s that high, people feel that immediately, because every single item you’re shopping for is certainly more expensive.”

The issue isn’t restricted to personal living costs. Business groups say higher costs in B.C. have translated to labour shortages as people seek more affordable destinations.

BC Chamber of Commerce president Fiona Famulak said while some cost factors are beyond provincial control, the government was able to lower taxes and provide other measures granting some relief.

“We have a sign on our provincial storefront that says to the world, British Columbia is closed for business,” Famulak said of the high costs and their knock-on effects. “It’s time to flip that sign.”

Pavlov said there are adjustments B.C. can make locally, even given the global forces at play on items such as groceries.

The province could boost local goods and services to insulate B.C. more from global inflationary pressures, he said.

“That will help British Columbians manage that inflation much better,” he said. “Unfortunately, I don’t see that. I haven’t seen that from our current government. On the contrary, one measure after another imposes additional risk and costs on doing really any business in British Columbia, and as a result, it’s very difficult to provide goods and services in British Columbia locally.

“That really depends a lot on what happens with the election. If whichever government comes in takes this seriously and actually helps businesses operate in British Columbia … then it will make it much easier for people to manage those higher prices.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 26, 2024.

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B.C., N.B. leaders seem to agree on drug treatment

As they both campaign for re-election, the premiers of British Columbia and New Brunswick appear to agree on one controversial issue: involuntary care for those with severe drug addictions.

Earlier this month, B.C. NDP Leader David Eby committed to providing involuntary care to those struggling with overlapping addictions, mental illness and brain injury concerns. He said the new approach would “provide clarity and ensure that people, including youth, can and should receive care when they are unable to seek it themselves.”

Eby has promised to build low-security facilities for individuals who pose a risk to themselves or others to ensure they receive treatment in a safe environment. His decision came after a report released by Dr. Daniel Vigo, B.C.’s first chief scientific adviser for psychiatry, toxic drugs and concurrent disorders, which made the recommendation.

In New Brunswick, Eby’s promise caught the attention of Progressive Conservative Leader Blaine Higgs, who last week called an election for Oct. 21. Higgs has suggested that he and Eby are on the same page, despite their political pedigrees.

Higgs has said that if his party is re-elected to govern for a third term, the Tories will introduce the Compassionate Intervention Act, which would allow the government to place people with severe drug addiction in treatment without their consent, but not before consulting with their relatives, medical professionals and police.

Prices pressure B.C. households, and parties too

In the seven years since the NDP came to power in British Columbia, food prices have jumped by almost 30 per cent.

Rent and transport costs are up by about a quarter, while the cost of filling up with gasoline has risen by almost half.

It’s been a painful process that has made the cost of living a major battleground ahead of the Oct. 19 provincial election. But experts say that while some provincial policy strategies can have an impact, much of the inflationary pressure has global origins.

University of British Columbia Sauder School of Business associate Prof. Werner Antweiler said interest rate and fiscal policy can effect change in housing prices, but the pressures that have forced up grocery prices cannot be easily influenced at a local political level.

Life under a 29-year boil-water advisory

Every other day, Derek Moonias drives 15 minutes to the airport in Neskantaga First Nation and fills his pickup truck with cases of bottled water flown in on the dime of the federal government.

The community some 450 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, Ont. – accessible only by air and a winter ice road – has the longest boil-water advisory in the country at 29 years and growing. Many in the community have never lived at a time when the water coming out of the taps was declared suitable to drink.

On this morning, Moonias, the water distribution co-ordinator, is tired. A young mother called him overnight looking for clean water to make a bottle for her baby. He dug some up from his secret cache kept just for such occasions and rushed it over.

Franklin expedition descendant proud of ancestor

Nigel Gambier has always been proud of his ancestor, who captained one of the ill-starred ships on Sir John Franklin’s disastrous expedition in search of the Northwest Passage.

Now, after DNA analysis has identified the remains of Gambier’s predecessor and confirmed his relationship with James Fitzjames, there’s sorrow mixed in with the pride.

“He’s a kinsman and I’m very proud of him,” said Gambier, a retired furniture importer from Bury St. Edmunds, England, and Fitzjames’ paternal second cousin five times removed. “I’m sorry he met such a tough ending.”

Whistleblower suggests social media scorecard

Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen feels “extremely hopeful” about society’s ability to push social media platforms into being safer but for change to come, she says these companies need to be motivated in a new way.

“We are not powerless,” said Haugen in an interview during a visit to Toronto, where she was due to speak at a conference aimed at online safety for kids.

“These systems are not impossible to fix. It’s just we lack the incentives today to have these platforms act in a positive way.”

Haugen’s criticism of social media platforms and the broader societal systems that have fostered them has mounted over the course of her more than 20 years in tech, including stops at Google, Hinge, Yelp and Pinterest.

Visual effects, animation studios want new deal

Visual effects and animation companies are uniting to strike a better deal with the Quebec government after it implemented tax changes that some firms say will cost them nearly two-thirds of their revenues next year.

Last spring, the provincial government added in the budget a 65 per cent cap on tax credits that international film studios can claim when they subcontract work to VFX and animation companies operating in Quebec. The original subsidy, which had no cap, was introduced in 1998, and the government says it has become too expensive.

The tax change entered into effect May 31, and as a result VFX and animation studios say the big film companies are less incentivized to put Quebec talent to work.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 26, 2024