Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Citizens for Public Justice laments the Libs' and Cons' joint effort to vote down the NDP's push for a national anti-poverty strategy. And Sean Speer and Rob Gillezeau make the case for an improved Working Income Tax Benefit which should be palatable across the political spectrum.

- CBC reports that Saskatchewan students are lagging behind their peers in all Canadian provinces in science, reading and math - and it's worth noting that this represents just another example of an obsession with standardized testing failing even on its own terms.

- Meanwhile, SASKforward is offering citizens a chance to have their voices heard and amplified through a process other than the ones run by the Sask Party government and its corporate benefactors.

- Robert Fife and Steven Chase report that the Libs' cash-for-access fund-raisers have explicitly been pitched as allowing people who can afford a maximum donation to buy the ear of cabinet ministers. And even the Globe and Mail isn't buying the Libs' excuses.

- Finally, Karl Nerenberg discusses how the Libs' most recent survey represents nothing but a poorly-hidden effort to stifle electoral reform, while Fair Vote Canada offers a guide to avoid getting pushed toward the Libs' preference for non-proportional outcomes. And Rank and File interviews Charles Smith about labour's role in pushing for a more fair electoral system.