Thursday, May 13, 2021

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Matt Gurney discusses the need for public health planning to reflect the predictable reactions of people whose compliance affects the viability of any rules. Guy Quenneville reports on the federal government's justified skepticism of Scott Moe's plan to focus on vaccinations alone, rather than actual viral spread. Kenyon Wallace notes that a euphemistic focus on geographic "hot spots" misses the social inequity which has resulted in disadvantaged groups bearing the brunt of COVID-19. And Robert Nam writes about Ontario's freeze on cancer care as one of the side effects of a mismanaged pandemic.

- Amber Cortes and Carl Nelson offer a graphic portrayal as to how COVID-19 has only further exposed and exacerbated the U.S.' homelessness crisis. And Doug Nesbitt discusses how the pandemic has strengthened the case to put an end to profiteering long-term care. 

- Robert Hiltz calls out Jason Kenney and the UCP for prioritizing corporate revenue over people's lives. And in a stark example of that calculus, Wallis Snowdon reports on the massive outbreak at CNRL's Horizon oilsands mine - accompanied by the argument that the public should be entirely satisfied with protocols argued to have met minimum standards even if thousands of people were infected at CNRL sites.

- Meanwhile, Kim Siever points out that record oil production in Alberta isn't translating into a return to past employment levels. And Sarah Anderson weighs in on the gap between soaring CEO pay and stagnating wages even at a time when workers are being praised for being essential. 

- Finally, Paul Krugman offers a reminder that while Republicans may occasionally try to use worker-friendly rhetoric, their actions are aimed at nothing but fighting a brutal class war on behalf of the rich.

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