Thursday Evening Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Thomas Powell makes the case for ensuring that families are able to maintain connections to loved ones in long-term care as part of our rules governing the COVID-19 pandemic. And Karen Wang argues that we need a national mask requirement in place immediately to make school opening as safe as possible this fall, while Zak Vescera reports on the Saskatchewan NDP's plan for schools (in response to the Moe government's complete lack of effort).

- David Macdonald writes that the mobilization of public resources in response to the coronavirus pandemic shows that there's no excuse for refusing to fund a just transition to a clean economy. And in case there was any doubt whether investors have any appetite for a dirty fossil fuel economic strategy, Patrick Collinson and Jillian Ambrose report on the UK National Employment Savings Trust's move toward divestment, while Dan Healing reports on Total's writedown of its tar sands assets (and disaffiliation from CAPP).

- But lest anybody hoped the fossil fuel sector would be replaced without a fight, Dana Drugmand exposes how natural gas operators are attacking the electrification of buildings.

- Finally, Jason Markusoff highlights why whataboutism isn't a legitimate response to the Libs' WE scandal. And Paul Wells writes about the jarring refusal to listen to the public which resulted in the Libs trying to substitute a vaguely-defined review for an full inquiry into the Portapique shooting spree.