Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Wawmeesh Hamilton discusses the lack of basic upkeep of desperately-needed First Nations homes, as the federal government looks to transfer responsibility without providing funding. Jamie Grierson notes that the UK's lack of resources for supportive housing results in survivors of domestic abuse sleeping rough - or even going back to their abusers. 

- Meanwhile, the Star's editorial board argues that the rest of Canada can learn from Quebec's example in reducing child poverty by investing in child care and income supports:

What was surprising in the study by Campaign 2000, though, is that nine of the 10 ridings in Canada with the lowest child poverty rates were in Quebec. In those ridings the rate ranged from 4.1 to 6.6 per cent. That’s not an anomaly. Last year a Statistics Canada study found that though Quebec has the second-lowest household income in the the country, it also has the second-lowest rate of child poverty.

Why should that be?

According to Statistics Canada it’s because the province has chosen to invest generously in two proven poverty busters: universal day care and the most generous provincial child benefits in the country.

Ottawa has a chance to emulate the Quebec model by making universal day care and increased child benefits part of its Poverty Reduction Strategy, due out in the next few weeks. It should.

The programs would cost a lot of money up-front. But in addition to achieving the laudable goal of reducing child and family poverty, they would generate substantial savings and economic benefits for everyone.

- The CP reports on a new study from the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction showing the cost of substance abuse at a level of over $1,000 per Canadian.

- Finally, Jim Stanford responds to yet another attempt to dress up free money for the wealthiest corporations as having anything to do with what's good for workers. And Tommy Christopher takes note of the report of the U.N.'s special rapporteur on extreme poverty as to the harm done by the Trump tax giveaway to the rich.