Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Duncan Cameron discusses how right-wing nationalism is contributing to the destruction of our planet and the exploitation of people. Don Braid highlights how right-wing fringe politics and governance are damaging Alberta. And Murray Mandryk notes that Scott Moe's reliance on an anti-science and anti-social base is the only explanation for his refusal to call out white nationalists.  

- Meanwhile, Meghan Grant reports on the choice by the Kenney and Moe governments to make it more difficult to enforce federal quarantine rules. And David Pugliese reports that instead of protecting against the actual threats posed by public health objectors and violent racists, Canada's security apparatus has used the coronavirus pandemic as an excuse to put Black Lives Matter organizers under surveillance.

- Kim Mackrael discusses how British Columbia's action to control the spread of COVID-19 variants is being looked at as a model around the globe. Gary Mason contrasts that against Alberta's newfound status as North America's COVID hotspot (as well as the home of Canada's highest concentration of anti-vaxxers), while Melanee Thomas points out that it's not fair to treat the anti-science movement as a matter of urban vs. rural populations. And Alison Durkee reports on a study showing how school reopenings (absent needed precautions) increased the spread of the coronavirus even in the fall before the variants of concern emerged.

- Sarath Peiris rightly argues that if Moe were remotely reasonable, he'd happily sign on to the federal child care plan - though the next evidence that the Saskatchewan Party values benefits for the public over picking fights with Ottawa will be the first.

- Rebecca Solnit makes a cautious case for optimism in averting the worst of a climate breakdown. Joanna Partridge reports on new research suggesting that electric vehicles will be less expensive to manufacture than combustion vehicles within a matter of years. And Emma Graney reports on the IEA's observation that renewable energy is growing at a historic rate.

- Finally, Charles Smith calls out the Libs' contempt for the Charter right to strike reflected in their legislation (supported and eagerly waved through by the Cons) to allow employers at the Port of Montreal to impose longer hours without any collective bargaining recourse.