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Topic

The Political Economy of British Columbia’s Fiscal Transition under Decarbonization: Public Revenue, Staples, and Institutional Path Dependency

School of Public Administration

Date & location

• Wednesday, March 11, 2026
• 1:00 P.M.
• Human & Social Development Building, Room A302

Examining Committee

Supervisory Committee

• Dr. Tamara Krawchenko, School of Public Administration, ̽��ϵ�� (Supervisor)
• Dr. Christopher Kennedy, Department of Civil Engineering, UVic (Co-Supervisor)
• Dr. Sarah Wiebe, School of Public Administration, UVic (Member)

External Examiner

• Dr. Karena Shaw, School of Environmental Studies, UVic

Chair of Oral Examination

• Dr. John Lutz, Department of History, UVic

Abstract

This thesis examines how British Columbia’s public revenue sources—particularly those linked to carbon emissions and energy—have shifted between 1990 and 2024, and what these changes imply for the province’s future climate policy and public finance. Drawing on a mixed-methods approach, the study examines BC Public Accounts documents spanning from 1990 to 2024 alongside relevant secondary sources that provide additional economic, political, and social context. The public accounts analysis primarily traces revenue from natural resources, the carbon tax, and BC Hydro. This analysis is complemented by ten semi-structured interviews conducted over May and June 2025 with senior public servants, consultants, and academics working in climate and fiscal policy related areas. 

The findings reveal a revenue system in transition, with a slow diversification away from direct resource dependence, the sudden loss of carbon tax revenue, and the growing importance of BC Hydro. Interviews contextualize the current period as a critical juncture for BC’s political economy, shaped by fiscal pressure, cost-of-living concerns, and geopolitical uncertainty. Guided by staples theory and historical institutionalism, this thesis examines how long-standing resource-based development pathways remain powerful as revenue generation tools, and how they persist because governments and citizens continue to view them as clear and dependable ways for the economy to produce public revenue.

By situating BC within an underexplored sub-national fiscal literature, this study contributes to emerging debates about how governments can generate revenue from sources that are aligned with or neutral towards decarbonization objectives within the contemporary political economy.