VIPIRG | Vancouver Island Public Interest Research Group

About our publications

VIPIRG has been doing research in the public interest since 1983. This research has become an indelible part of the public policy landscape in BC, Canada and beyond. We publish the results of our research here on our website. You can browse by topics or search with whatever terms you are interested in.

VIPIRG: promotions image for Victoria Coalition Against Poverty

People’s Plan for Pandora research report

Victoria Coalition Against Poverty is happy to release the research report for the Peoples’ Plan for Pandora. The Peoples’ Plan for Pandora Research Report [PDF] summarizes our conversations with 99 street-involved people about their visions, hopes and …

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TASC Survey Report 2009

The Temporary Autonomous Shelter Collective (TASC) is a group of homeless, unstably housed and housed individuals who are determined to take collective action on homelessness by ensuring that all residents on Coast Salish can live with dignity, autonomy and respect. TASC was formed to explore the possibility of creating user‐run communities of temporary shelters, often called “tent cities”.

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Burnside Gorge Health Assessment (BGHA) Survey

The purpose of the report was to capture a “snapshot” of the overall health and wellbeing of individuals visiting the Burnside Family Medical Clinic. The information gathered can be used to develop a deeper understanding of health and well-being in the neighbourhood, while serving as baseline data to analyze changes as the community grows. The findings will be disseminated to community groups, agencies, service providers and policymakers in order to enrich their efforts to meet the needs of the diverse populations they serve.

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The rise and fall of welfare time limits in BC

When the newly elected Liberal government of British Columbia announced in 2001 that it was developing policies to impose time limits to welfare, they were announcing changes that were unprecedented in Canada. In September of 2002, these changes became law and beginning in April 2004 certain classes of recipients would have their monthly benefits reduced or eliminated if they remained on income assistance for more than 24 months in a 60 month period. This legislation was the first of its kind in Canadian history and was part of a wider program of punitive welfare reforms aimed at reducing the welfare budget and welfare caseloads by thirty percent…

Hall packed for forum on Canadian peace/security

Stacy Chappel, VIPIRG Executive Director June 2004 Just over 80 people braved the summer heat Monday night in Victoria to hear from federal election candidates on peace and security issues at a forum organized by VIPIRG and the Council of Canadians. The NDP, Green Party and Canada Action Party sent candidates to the forum, while [...]

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Resistance and alternatives to the GATS in Canada

GATS, privatization, health and education in Canada – Notes for presentation to Conference in Cologne, Germany, May 9-11,2003: by Theresa Wolfwood, Barnard-Boecker Centre Foundation, Victoria, BC, CANADA Resistance and Alternatives – notes for presentation to conference in Cologne, Germany, May 9-11, 2003.: by Theresa Wolfwood, Barnard-Boecker Centre Foundation, Victoria, BC (British Columbia), CANADA and VIPIRG [...]

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Address to Student Walk Out for Peace

Stacy Chappel – VIPIRG Executive Director It’s an amazing time to be part of the peace movement. You can feel that this moment is historic. You can feel it in the buzz about the demonstrations, and you can see it in the faces of the people you march with today. In this moment of history-making, [...]

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Expanding the War Into the World and Into Our Minds

The War on Terrorism is expanding, not just in terms of territory that is subject to bombing, but the war is expanding in terms of setting up US bases, ideology and propaganda. It is expanding what is considered acceptable in our communities, and in the world. Today I hope to look at this expansion and [...]