Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Umair Haque discusses how the UK is headed for yet another avoidable wave of COVID-19 disaster. Sarah Rieger reports on the rising spread of COVID-19 in Alberta, while James Keller reports that Jason Kenney's declaration of surrender has predictably convinced people not to bother getting vaccinated. Martin Finucane reports on the dozens of COVID deaths and hundreds of hospitalizations even among fully vaccinated people in Massachusetts. 

- David Tynar and Matthew Johnson study how actual methane emissions from fossil fuel facilities are far higher than assumed in British Columbia's regulations and climate plans. 

- Dharna Noor discusses how extreme temperatures have a disproportionate effect on poorer communities and populations. But lest anybody take that as a basis to think Western Canada won't be affected, Olivia Condon reports on warnings from climatologists that extreme heat and desertification are coming Alberta's way, while Kevin Ma writes about the crops already scorched by the recent heat dome (to say nothing of the high temperatures yet to come). And Tez Dhalizal reports on the dangers posed by exceptionally high temperatures and numerous wildfires in Saskatchewan, while Kathryn Blaze Baum and Ivan Semeniuk point out the damage caused by wildfires goes far beyond what actually gets burned. 

- All of which is to say that there's plenty of force behind a new call for Canada to invest in protecting people from pandemics, the climate crisis and other real problems, rather than burning tens of billions of dollars on fighter jets which serve little practical purpose. 

- John Michael McGrath calls out the misguided push against rooming houses in Toronto which only figures to make housing availability even worse. Marc Lee discusses both the positive ideas and the limited scope of options presented by the Canada-British Columbia Expert Panel on the Future of Housing Supply and Affordability. And Charlotte Dalwood makes the case for a more ambitious plan to provide universal public housing. 

- Finally, Anne Levesque highlights how Indigenous children still facing systemic discrimination need action rather than another round of empty thoughts and prayers. And PressProgress takes note of the failure of the prairie provinces to address systemic racism in the criminal justice system.