Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Charlie Smith highlights how attempts to minimize the ongoing pandemic have reduced the public credibility of both government and public health officials alike in British Columbia (even as they've provided a messaging boost to anti-vaxxers). Nam Kiwanuka laments how parents have been left to fend for themselves, while Dan Sinker notes how the choices have been all the more grim in jurisdictions which sent kids immediately back to school. Bruce Arthur discusses how the misleading spin of a "mild" variant has led both governments and citizens to fail to take a severe threat seriously. And the Globe and Mail's editorial board asks why Canada has so far to go in vaccinating young people when there's ample vaccine supple to get it done. 

- Megan Ogilvie examines how the Omicron wave is devastating Ontario's health care system and the people who rely on it. Josh Rubin reports on the economic losses caused by workers getting sick in the absence of appropriate public health protections. And Angelyn Francis writes about the steps we need to take to protect people with disabilities from the continuing pandemic. 

- Victoria Forster reports on new research suggesting that the Omicron variant reaches peak transmissibility around 3-6 days after symptom onset - meaning that public health rules assuming a 5-day period is sufficient after a positive test may be pushing people back to work when they're most infectious. And Linda Geddes reports on the relatively good news that COVID loses most of its infectiousness within five minutes in the air - though that will only help if we take the steps needed to reduce contacts which raise the potential for short-range infection.

- Bob Weber reports on Alberta's complete failure to deliver on promised environmental monitoring for the tar sands. And David Climenhaga calls out the combination of climate delay and publicly-funded cronyism behind the UCP's attempt to push nuclear power rather than cheaper and readily-available renewable alternatives. 

- Finally, David Hope and Julian Lindberg study the effects of tax cuts for the rich - and unsurprisingly find the result to be worsened inequality without any benefit in total economic activity or productivity.