On December 13, 2023, Vancouver City Council passed a motion seeking provincial endorsement for the elimination of the Park Board. The ruling ABC majority has given strong indications that they are seeking the privatization of parks assets and operations as a short-term attempt to balance the municipal budget, embedded within a wider project of neoliberal restructuring.
In this essay Maria Wallstam and Nathan Crompton provide an overview of the historical evolution of government subsidies provided to Canada’s real-estate sector. State-backed financing and mortgage insurance for the big banks have cost the public billions over the course of several decades – but it’s not the only way to do housing.
We are writing to request an immediate investigation into the transfer of millions of public dollars from the provincial government to private recovery programs with little or no government oversight. On behalf of all concerned BC residents, we demand a forensic audit into these abusive treatment programs and recovery houses which continue to be allowed to operate using public funds. Enough is enough.
We are healthcare workers in so-called British Columbia, Canada who stand in solidarity and in grief with Palestinians and our medical colleagues in Gaza.