Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Jane McArthur and Filipe Duarte discuss how the response to the coronavirus pandemic is confirming the importance of collective responsibilities. Amanda Harvey-Sánchez writes about the need to shift toward a more caring social model. And Andrew Longhurst and Kendra Strauss point out the need to take the profit motive out of our model for seniors' housing, while Matt Gurney notes that the current catastrophic outbreaks are the result of decades of systemic neglect.

- Emily Pasiuk highlights the Moe government's refusal to address the safety of essential workers - which of course continues in today's push to reopen which places mandatory obligations on workers but not employers. Noam Scheiber reports on the Trump administration's choice to put employees entirely at the mercy of their bosses rather than enforcing health and safety standards. Dahlia Lithwick discusses the problem with treating essential workers as heroic martyrs rather than people who deserve protection, while Karlie Frisbie Brogan notes that grocery store workers (and others) can see through the insincerity of the attempt. And Michelle Paquette and Doug Yearwood write about the need for improved ages and working conditions which last long after the end of the immediate crisis.

- Bill Bostock reports on France's move to join the group of companies ensuring that bailout funds aren't siphoned off into tax havens. But Marco Chown Oved takes note that the Trudeau Libs refuse to provide similar reassurances about Canadian relief funding.

- Josh Taylor reports on Australia's move to ensure that online multinationals are required to share advertising revenue with local media, rather than taking windfall profits from their content. And John Ivison makes the case for Canada to finally do the same.

- Emily Flitter and Stacy Cowley discuss how the U.S.' business support program was set up to allow banks to offer "concierge service" for their wealthier clients, rather than actually ensuring that funds flowed based on need.

- Finally, David Macdonald highlights the growing number of jobless Canadians excluded from income support benefits as the COVID-19 epidemic continues. Toby Sanger makes the case to extend tax filing deadlines to ensure people with lower incomes actually receive the benefits that have been set up. And Zoe Christmas argues that we'd be far better off with a universal CERB than with the Libs' partial, separate program since set up for students and graduates.