Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Blayne Haggart and Eric Duchesne point out that Mark Carney's idea of nation-building reflects little more than barely warmed-over 1980s neoliberalism - making for a particularly inapt response to a reality in which the corporations who stand to dominate us are themselves under the thumb of the Trump regime. Jim Stanford discusses how Canada is far better off avoiding a new trade deal with the U.S. rather than signing over our sovereignty to a bad-faith actor who will never respect any theoretical gains. 

- Janelle Lapointe writes that the "fast-track" laws pushed by Carney and conservative premiers are designed primarily to bulldoze Indigenous rights for corporate benefit. Abigail Jackson, Rachel Samson, and Ricardo Chejfec note that rural and remote communities and local workers stand to lose out if the push for major projects doesn't include a plan to build a local workforce. And Angella MacEwen discusses how workers stand to lose out from Carney's austerity. 

- Carol Schwartz writes that there's no excuse not to be setting - and reaching - net-zero carbon emission targets. Kate Aronoff discusses how climate neglect is driving up grocery prices among other costs of living. 

- Meanwhile, Saul Griffith highlights the ready availability of affordable electricity - particular if we focus on cheap solar and improved storage and distribution rather than allowing fossil fuel interests to dictate that we keep lining their pockets. And Arthur Zhang discusses how a zero-emission vehicle target is still well within reach (and worth pursuing). 

- Finally, Cathy Bussewitz reports on the Trump regime's declaration that protections for workers are obsolete, with Trump's supposed concern for the masses now resulting in attacks on minimum wages, overtime pay and protection from hazardous substances. And George Monbiot rightly calls out the Starmer government for facilitating the importation and use of toxic chemicals without meaningful controls or assessments based solely on the say-so of a single other jurisdiction.