Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Joyce Green sees the Saskatchewan NDP's proposal for First Nations revenue sharing as a desperately-needed starting point in remedying what should be out greatest shame as a province and country:

Saskatchewan is one of the wealthiest jurisdictions in Canada, itself one of the wealthiest states in the world.

That wealth is based primarily on expropriation of aboriginal lands and exploitation of its resources.
...
The wealth has not been "shared" with First Nations and Metis peoples, and quality of life indices demonstrate the disparities.

The Third World poverty and social immiseration in aboriginal communities has been noted by several United Nations committees as constituting violation of Canada's obligations under international law, and of the human rights of aboriginal peoples.

Meanwhile, provincial governments hide behind the fig leaf of constitutional jurisdictional arguments to avoid spending on status Indians.

Lingenfelter's proposal is a welcome initiative, much in need of detail and budgetary commitment.

- And speaking of improving standards of living, the unveiling of the Canadian Index of Wellbeing looks to offer the prospect of a far more comprehensive means of evaluating policy choices - as well as a more realistic assessment of how we've fared over the past couple of decades than a GDP-only evaluation.

- Peggy Nash's apparent entry into the NDP's leadership race should fill in the largest gaps in the current field. But I'd think there's probably room for one more upper-tier candidate to build on a prairie base - particularly since Nathan Cullen's proposal for electoral cooperation with the Libs (which Steve discusses here) may make it tougher for him to win over populists who see the Libs more as part of the problem than part of any solution.

- Finally, it's great to see Carolyn Bennett recognize that voter suppression is a serious problem in Canada. But it would be all the better if she'd explain why her party backed one of the very forms of suppression she's now criticizing.