Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Wallis Snowdon reports on what critical-care triage caused by a combination of COVID-19 and mismanagement will mean in Alberta's ICUs (at a time when Saskatchewan is facing the same). Jason Warick highlights how Saskatchewan's Chief Medical Health Officer has far more power to protect public health than has been exercised in the course of the COVID pandemic. And Murray Mandryk discusses Scott Moe's embarrassingly delayed and weak reaction to the building fourth wave - though as always it's worth pointing out how Moe has been coddled in his reckless endangerment of the public.

- Meanwhile, Tim Harford offers his take that a key next step in encouraging vaccine uptake is to present a positive view of the number of people already vaccinated. But it's also worth noting that the prospect of a vaccine passport looks to have done far more to boost vaccinations than any amount of mere imploring. 

- Phil Tank writes that Saskatoon is far past the point of being able to humour COVID conspiracy theorists. And Nam Kiwanuka points out how only some, particularly privileged people are granted space to be angry, even as people with genuine complaints face systemic state repression in trying to be heard. 

- Finally, Shawn Gude discusses different conceptions of freedom, and notes that a system designed to allow a few people to amass sickening amounts of wealth inevitably limits the freedom of "non-domination" of many people who would have a larger range of options if they enjoyed greater material equality.