Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- John Woodside reports on the pitiful excuse for climate finance advanced by developed countries at COP29. Kate Dooley highlights how the carbon trading scheme set up at COP29 falls far short of both actually reducing carbon pollution, and accounting for other environmental and social harms caused by credit-generating activities. Patrick Greenfield notes the absurdity of governments and businesses claiming credit for natural carbon sinks as somehow offsetting new carbon pollution. And Nancy Stauffer discusses how existing emission promises rely in particular on implausible assumptions about the viability and impact of carbon removal.

- Trevor Tombe and Jennifer Winter study the price impact of carbon pricing on Canadian food, and find that it's a fraction of the added cost imposed on consumers by corporate profiteering. And Andre Picard writes that the recent cluster of cases of scurvy in La Ronge reflects a far broader issue of poverty and food insecurity in northern regions. 

- Meanwhile, Cheryl Jahn interviews Alex Hemingway about the immense opportunity cost of offering boutique tax cuts rather than investing in underresourced public services. And Wency Leung reports on the dire state of Ontario's public education system as a result of decades of austerity. 

- Simon Spichak points out that recommendations being supported by the Public Health Agency of Canada may actually worsen the effects of long COVID, including by recommending exercise when it's strongly inadvisable. 

- Finally, Ricardo Tranjan discusses how to make rent regulation effective to ensure that housing is both available and affordable. 

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Michael Harris offers some lessons about the U.S.' values based on this week's election results. Rebecca Solnit opines that the largest failing of American progressives was to presume that the U.S. is a better country than it actually is, while Geoffrey Deihl writes that Donald Trump's election represents a descent into madness. Harrison Mooney discusses what it means about the dangers of majority rule - though it's worth a reminder that the U.S.' political system is warped so as to allow his party to exercise unchecked power even with minority levels of support. And Michael Mann notes that the U.S. figures to become even more of a petrostate under Trump.

- Meanwhile, Martin Lukacs, Lucy Uprichard, Tannara Yelland and Amanda Siino highlight some of the threats that Trump's ascent will pose to progressive politics in Canada. 

- Gabriela Calugay-Casuga discusses how the Bank of Canada's undue obsession with inflation resulted in an increasingly glaring wealth gap. And Alex Hemingway warns that tax giveaways are just as corrosive to public services when they originate with the NDP as when they're offered by the right. 

- Carl Meyer offers some takeaways from the long-delayed proposal for a federal oil and gas emission cap - with the predictable result being that a modest policy is being met with shrieks of contrived outrage by those who believe the only purpose of government is to ensure fossil fuel giants can rake in profits with no regard for our planet. And the Canadian Press reports on the Parliamentary Budget Office's finding that the Trans Mountain pipeline (which was bought and completed by the Trudeau Libs while emission regulations were held not to be a priority) isn't worth its cost of construction, leaving the public to take a loss on it. 

- Finally, Meyer parallels the current spin from the oil sector against its precedent from tobacco companies who likewise denied and buried their own scientific knowledge in order to maximize the harm their products inflicted on the public. 

Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Avery Lotz reports on Al Gore's latest reminder that the fossil fuel sector is far better at capturing politicians than carbon pollution. And Max Fawcett discusses how the UCP continues to make polluter-paid its primary operating principle in dealing with the oil and gas sector. 

- Marietje Scheeka points out the dangers of treating "innovation" (defined as corporate impunity) as the sole end to be pursued through economic policy. And Pauline Gerrard writes about the need to keep plastics out of our fresh water.  

- Alex Hemingway rightly questions why municipalities are banning small, liveable apartment buildings while complaining about a housing crisis. 

- Kendal David and Hannah Owczar note that Leah Gazan's basic income bill offers an immediate chance to move toward eradicating poverty in Canada. 

- Finally, Randy Robinson points out how the Ford PCs use big headline numbers to paper over real cuts to public services - and it's well worth noting the similar pattern of the Moe government as it pretends not to have starved Saskatchewan's health and education systems. 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett lament that inequality continues to get worse fifteen years after they warned of its myriad harms. And George Monbiot writes about the deadening effect of extreme wealth, as the people with the most achieve no particular benefit from hoarding and spending ever-more-unconscionable fortunes. 

- Alex Cosh examines new Statistics Canada data showing that the gap between the rich and poor is only widening, while Katia Lo Innes and Martin Lukacs offer a look at just ten of the mansions Pierre Poilievre has used to extract donations from the uber-wealthy to spend on ads pretending to care about the working class. 

- Meanwhile, Alex Hemingway notes that the replacement of right-wing Liberals with an NDP government in British Columbia has at least resulted in some level of tax fairness. And Kim Siever discusses how the proliferation of consumer debt suppresses workers' wages. 

- Adam King offers a reminder that Doug Ford (like other right-wing politicians) is refusing to allow migrant workers any protection against lethal heat in the workplace in order to protect corporate profits. And Allessandro Massazza discusses how extreme heat affects mental as well as physical health. 

- Finally, Jess Cockerill notes that the symptoms of our planetary climate breakdown include the rapid depletion of dissolver oxygen in water.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Joe Vipond and Steve Bentley write about the need to treat the climate breakdown in progress as a serious problem requiring immediate action rather than a game. David Thurton reports on the Libs' inexplicable choice to eliminate the federal government's ability to carry out environmental assessments based on carbon pollution with multi-jurisdictional impacts. And Steve Hanley points out that the fossil fuel sector's response to the development of satellites capable of tracking methane releases has been to direct its "innovation" toward new steps to conceal its continued emissions. 

- Mark Olaide and Nick Bowlin expose how Oklahoma courts and regulators alike went out of their way to prevent the oil industry from paying the cost of its contamination of a family farm. And Drew Anderson reports on the UCP's choice to ban new renewable energy for threatening the hegemony of the fossil fuel sector. 

- Meanwhile, Justine Calma discusses how environmental journalists face disproportionate and increasing threats of violence for daring to expose the reality of corporate malfeasance. 

- Adam King discusses how Canada's latest income survey shows a deteriorating standard of living for the working class - driven largely by the withdrawal of supports in the midst of an ongoing pandemic. 

- Finally, Alex Hemingway points out that it will be impossible to meaningfully alleviate Canada's housing crisis without massive investment in public and not-for-profit homes. 

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Michael Klare writes about the growing indications that the climate breakdown is pushing us toward a civilizational collapse. Jeff Renaud discusses new research showing that climate change could cause over a billion deaths over the next century, while William Skipworth reports on research confirming the link between global warming and the deaths of polar bears. And Parker MacKenzie reports on a new study showing that Australia (like most other jurisdictions) is completely unprepared for the impacts of climate change. 

- Meanwhile, Climate & Capital Media offers a list of the false "solutions" which serve only to obfuscate and delay against action which could actually reduce the harm we're inflicting on our living environment. And Emiko Newman and Erin Blondeau make the case for a Youth Climate Corps.

- Alex Hemingway points out how British Columbia could turn soaring property values into revenue to improve human welfare, rather than merely allowing it to collect in the hands of the wealthiest few. And Leyland Cecco reports on new research confirming that money provided to the people who need it most tends to be applied to basic needs. 

- Finally, Jason Stanley writes about the fascist ideology underlying Florida's latest mass shooting - and the lengths much of the U.S. establishment has gone to in normalizing it. 

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Alex Hemingway offers a reminder of the urgent need for a wealth tax - and the opportunity to fund important social priorities by implementing one. But Cory Doctorow points out how our economic system is structured to favour people seeking to get rich off of avoiding responsibility - including through the same firms being responsible for performing audits as for advising corporations on how to beat them. 

- Gwynne Dyer writes about the threat to our living environment posed by warming oceans, while Isla Myers-Smith notes that the release of greenhouse gases from permafrost stands to accelerate the cycle of warming and extreme weather. 

- But while the world burns, Carl Meyer reports on how the UCP has allowed oil lobbyists to take any discussion of even distant and loophole-riddled net-zero emission targets off of their policy agenda. And Trina Moyles reports on the direct connection between the UCP's cuts to firefighting and the calamitous wildfires which struck last week.

- Meanwhile, Jason Markusoff discusses how the UCP under Danielle Smith is now controlled by Take Back Alberta, which is pushing the limits of anti-science and authoritarianism even compared to both the UCP and the past Wildrose party. 

- Finally, Emma Bowman comments on how the dehumanization of homeless people results in many avoidable deaths - even if few receive as much publicity as Jordan Neely's.

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Andrew Nikiforuk writes about immunologist Chris Goodnow's belated recognition that COVID isn't over only after he was hit with acute myocarditis, while Korin Miller discusses new research showing an elevated risk of blood clots for a year after a COVID infection. And Jessica Wildfire discusses how businesses making money off of COVID are all too motivated to keep the pandemic going - though it's worth noting that even the theory about commercializing prevention and treatment is falling apart as far too many people choose to do nothing from what they've been told is no longer a problem, rather than paying to protect themselves.

- Amal Abdulrahman points out that the availability of medication is a necessary element of any plan for mental health. And Dan Darrah writes about some of the open questions still to be answered about dental care under the NDP/Lib confidence agreement.

- Alex Hemingway highlights why supply issues are a crucial part of the housing crisis - while recognizing that leaving the supply of a human need to for-profit developers alone only ensures that new housing isn't affordable. And Dennis Gruending writes that Saskatchewan is slipping toward a new system of serfdom as farmland falls into fewer and wealthier hands.

- Meanwhile, Christian Paas-Lang discusses how product inflation also needs to be met with a rethinking of how essential goods and services are produced and distributed. 

- Finally, Mark Rendell and Vanmala Subranamiam report on the call from Canada's labour movement to stop interest rate hikes intended to suppress wages. And Umair Haque writes about the perils of a new economic era defined by the throttling of any development which could possibly share prosperity with the working class.

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Aekkachai Tuekprakhon et al. study how the Omicron COVID-19 subvariants are evading both previous immunity and existing treatments. And Zak Vescera reports on Dr. Saqib Shahab's recognition that misinformation and apathy are key factors keeping Saskatchewan's vaccination rates low - though both government policy and messaging have played a substantial role in their development. 

- Meanwhile, Dr. Kevin Wasko discusses the five key areas where Saskatchewan's health care system is in the most need of improvement.

- Isaac Callan reports on the Ford PCs' refusal to make any effort to even discuss accessibility improvements for people with disabilities. And as Vanmala Subramaniam reports, that contrasts thoroughly against their choice to grant virtually every item on the wish list of Uber and other exploiters of precarious workers seeking to avoid normal employment responsibilities. Luke Lebrun exposes the PC's approval of a candidate whose background involves scamming students through an unaccredited career college. And Randy Robinson discusses the state of the Ontario election campaign - including the strong demand for change among women.  

- Alex Hemingway highlights how an investment in public housing can be self-financing while meeting people's essential needs. 

- Barry Saxifrage examines how Canada (like other countries) fell far short of its Copenhagen climate change commitments, while AFP reports on InfluenceMap's research showing how the fossil fuel sector is trying to use Russia's attack on Ukraine as an excuse to keep ignoring any climate responsibilities. And Damian Carrington reports on Antonio Gutteres' call for young people to refuse to pursue work with climate wreckers. 

- Finally, Clint Smith rightly opines that nobody should have to live through the losses caused by the U.S.' refusal to avoid readily-preventable mass shootings. 

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Eric Topol describes how COVID-19's infectiousness has been steadily increasing with time even as so many governments have gone out of their way to declare it to be over, while Reuters reports on new research showing that the Omicron variant is no less severe than its predecessors. Anna Edney writes about the children fighting the long-term effects of long COVID after being falsely reassured that they wouldn't be affected. And Eric Luellen discusses the prospect of a pan-coronavirus vaccine - which, like any other future possibility for prevention and treatment, seems rather hollow in light of current policy to encourage mass infection.  

- Alex Himelfarb writes that austerity is no cure for inflation - and that the proper answer to rising prices is to make sure people can weather them, not to abandon them to the whims of the market. And Heather Scoffield calls out the deliberate policy choice to let the corporate sector gorge itself on windfall profits while seeking to suppress wages the moment they had any prospect of catching up to price increases. 

- Alan Broadbent and Elizabeth McIsaac highlight how reliance on private-sector developers is a fatally flawed strategy to deal with the housing crisis. And Shaina Luck reports that one result of the NDP-Lib confidence and supply agreement is to ensure that funding intended for affordable housing actually provides it. 

- Leanna First-Arai discusses how the fossil fuel sector is trying to hold the U.S.' education system hostage. Geoff Dembicki points out that Canada's big banks are a major obstacle to an energy transition due to the money they've already sunk into dirty tar sands projects. And the Canadian Climate Institute studies how a rapid transition to renewable energy is both the most affordable and most environmentally responsible path forward in our power sector.  

- Matthew Cunningham-Cook writes about the systematic funneling of workers' pension funds into the hands of a few well-connected financial firms, turning the retirements of a large portion of the working class into a cash cow for a lucky few. 

- Finally, Alex Hemingway discusses the much-needed restoration of card check union certification in British Columbia in order to reduce the effect of employer interference and intimidation. 

Saturday Morning Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Renee Graham writes that the elimination of masking protections as a matter of privileged people's comfort in the midst of a pandemic that endangers everybody shows how painfully cruel and selfish much of the U.S. (like Canada) has become. 

- Phil Tank is rightly unnerved by the Moe government's propensity for catering to conspiracy theorists rather than making decisions with any grounding in reality. And Stefan Labbe writes about the first steps in tracking climate anxiety and distress among Canadian youth, while Simon Appolloni offers some suggestions to help ameliorate matters. 

- Al Jazeera reports on the imminent danger that tens of millions of people in Africa may starve as a result of extreme drought. 

- Ivan Semeniuk reports on a new study showing how a reduction in pollution from traffic could substantially help Canadians' health, while CBC News reports on the federal government's plans for an expanded electric vehicle tax credit which may at least reduce the proportion of vehicles on the road which are needlessly spewing carbon pollution. And Brett Tryon discusses how to transition away from using natural gas in one's home. 

- Alex Hemingway discusses how a public investment in rental housing to make sure everybody has a home can pay for itself (while drastically improving people's lives). 

- Finally, Brynn Bourke points out that the underground economy is costing both public revenues and labour and employment rights for workers. And DT Cochrane writes that it's long past time to start requiring corporations to pay their fair share in order to fund the social infrastructure we desperately need. 

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Arundhati Roy writes that pandemics may herald new political directions - though that reality makes the exploitation of compassion fatigue by corporate extractive forces all the more alarming. Gregg Gonsalves discusses the risks of declaring a premature end to a pandemic, while Dan Lett highlights how Manitoba's declaration of a "new normal" is only courting disaster. Adam Taylor reports that Africa may have already seen widespread infection which wasn't documented due to a lack of testing. Ed Stannard reports on new research showing the long-term symptoms of COVID include limited absorption of oxygen from blood. Laura Spinney notes that long-term disabilities are an entirely foreseeable outcome of a pandemic which is allowed to run out of control. And Brenda Goodman reports on the growing evidence of the increased severity of the BA.2 Omicron variant. 

- Meanwhile, Zak Vescera reports on the tuberculosis outbreak in northern Saskatchewan which the Moe government is treating with the same strategy of denial as the COVID pandemic. 

- Joyce Green and Gina Starblanket discuss how police deference to the #FluTruxKlan highlights a grossly unequal view as to whose interests matter, while Anya Zoledziowski writes that the effect of the convoy has been to make BIPOC people all the less safe in their own cities. And Justin Ling reports that authorities allowed the occupation to take hold despite having received ample warning that it was serving as a cover for violent extremists.  

- Finally, Abdul Al-Sayed discusses how corporate greed is the main driver of the inflation currently being used as an excuse to suppress wages and social supports. And Alex Hemingway reminds us about the importance of public planning and investment to ensure outcomes that benefit everybody - not only the few with the wealth and power to dictate decision-making behind closed doors. 

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Umair Haque is rightly frustrated that we haven't learned and applied obvious lessons about how to fight COVID after two years, while also warning against any assumptions that the Omicron variant will go easy on us. Ian Bogost writes about the realization that due in large part to reckless government choices, we may never make it to a post-COVID future. But Nesrine Malik pushes us to keep fighting to limit the damage we do to the people around us. And CBC News interviews David Fisman about the role of improved masking in stopping the spread of a more contagious variant. 

- Bobbi-Jean MacKinnon talks to Colin Furness about the need to finally acknowledge - and act on - the reality that ventilation systems need to be upgraded to respond to an airborne pathogen. And Kathryn May reports that the federal government has delayed plans to push public employees back into common office spaces. 

- Matt Stoller discusses how the factors causing the U.S.' supply chain disruptions include warped corporate incentives which make it profitable for some companies to cause a cargo traffic jam.

- Paul Mason writes that the fall of Boris Johnson is the result of a toxic party ideology which is incapable of acting in the public interest.

- Brandon Doucet argues that it's long past time for Canadians to have truly universal health care, including public coverage for prescription drugs and dental care. And Alex Hemingway writes that fiscal responsibility means making positive investments in people's health and well-being - not imposing punitive austerity. 

- Finally, Patricia Callahan, James Bandler, Justin Elliott, Doris Burke and Jeff Ernsthausen trace how wealth concentrated in the Scripps, Mellon and Mars families in the early 20th century has turned into a twelve-figure pile of assets steered away from any tax responsibilities.

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Karl Nerenberg notes that taxes on the wealthy represent an excellent starting point in ensuring that it's possible to pass progressive policy in a minority Parliament. And Katrina Miller, Toby Sanger and Alex Hemingway point out the role the provinces can play in developing a more progressive tax system while funding the services and social investments we need.

- But Michael Roberts warns that there's little indication yet that we'll change course from an economy dangerously reliant on dying resource industries and zombie corporations. 

- Meanwhile David Roberts, points out that Illinois is setting new standards in developing an equitable transition plan to a clean economy.

- Kandist Mallitt calls out the increasing use of violent police force to displace homeless people based on the view they have no place in a commercialized housing market. And Jesse Jenkinson and Stephen Hwang write that we should be making tent encampments unnecessary rather than illegal.

- Finally, Umair Haque discusses Britain's continuing failure to realize that it's shot itself in the foot by pushing through Brexit in the absence of any coherent reason or rational plan.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Alexander Quon reports on Alexander Wong's call for far more public health measures to alleviate COVID's unmanageable strain on Saskatchewan's health care system. And Libby Giesbrecht reports on the conditions in emergency rooms which are seeing patients wait for days (requiring the attention of paramedics the entire time) before being admitted.  

- Meanwhile, Andrea Germanos writes that the failure of rich countries to provide vaccines to less-wealthy ones is resulting both in gross inequality in vaccine access, and far more dangerous outcomes for everybody. 

- Alex Hemingway discusses the need for progress on sick leave in British Columbia, as well as the danger that corporate influence will once again leave workers to fend for themselves. And Charles Smith discusses what the Co-op refinery lockout means for the wider labour movement. 

- Finally, Peter McCartney offers some important suggestions as to what the next federal government can do to step up the fight against a climate breakdown - though there's little reason for optimism given the Libs' smug determination to avoid doing anything that doesn't fit into immediate economic models. 

#Elxn44 Roundup

News and notes from Canada's federal election campaign.

- Alex Hemingway writes about the need to tax the rich far beyond even the "unlimited zeal" reflected in the NDP's modest plans to secure additional revenue. And David Moscrop makes the case for far more discussion of systemic change in who owns and makes decisions about the forces that shape our lives. 

- Martin Olzynski and Sharon Mascher examine the environmental policies on offer. Ali Raza points out the need for more detailed and ambitious plans to wind down fossil fuel production in the wake of the global recognition that oil and gas will need to stay in the ground. But Brian Hill reports on the declaration by the Lib Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson's declaration that the TransMountain pipeline his government plans to build could keep shipping exported oil until 2060 or later. And Bob Weber reports that the Cons are going so far as to refuse to rule out the UCP's plans for new coal mining in the Rocky Mountains. 

- Meanwhile, Anjali Appadurai discusses the importance of electing climate champions. And Libby Davies interviews Tria Donaldson about her plans to ensure that climate change and other crucial issues are dealt with immediately rather than being kicked down the road. 

- PressProgress offers introductions to Con candidates who have labeled Black Lives Matter a terrorist group and tried to force conservative beliefs on elementary-school children.  

- Finally, Raisa Patel reports on the NDP's efforts to reach new voters and ridings based on the belief that people can be persuaded to vote for something better. 

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Apoora Mandavilli warns about the looming prospect that the U.S. will be unable to reach herd immunity through vaccination due to right-wing cultural resistance to public health. Andrew Nikiforuk writes that Alberta's place as the COVID hotspot of North America is the result of the choices made by Jason Kenney and the UCP - both in stoking distrust of science generally, and refusing to protect the public as coronavirus variants have run amok. Dave Cournoyer contrasts Kenney's bluster against his utter ineffectiveness as he shuts down the Legislature while insisting that other workers in far less safe environments continue to put themselves at risk. And CBC reports on the call from Alberta's previous chief medical officer of health James Talbot for a province-wide lockdown to get the current outbreak under control.

- Alex Hemingway observes that the lack of public policy action on sick leave is all about the desire of the corporate sector to hold power over vulnerable employees. But James Dunne discusses how employers are better off ensuring their employees can take paid sick leave. 

- Jamie Swift and Elaine Power note that the supports developed in response to COVID-19 offer at least a hint of what a basic income could accomplish. And Michele Girash points out how our social safety net still has unacceptable holes, including for people suffering from long COVID. 

- Ellen Hoen argues that the arguments to privilege intellectual property monopolies over public health in the face of a pandemic simply don't add up. 

- Andre Picard laments the fact that even a myriad of preventable deaths doesn't seem to be enough for Ontario to fix its long-term care system.

- Finally, Adolph Reed Jr. writes that decades of concerted attacks on government have left far too little understanding of the importance of the public good.

Friday Afternoon Links

 Assorted content to end your week.

- Alex Hemingway writes about the massive concentration of wealth among the richest few Canadians while most people have struggled through the pandemic. And Derrick O'Keefe follows up by pointing out how that accumulation highlights the need for a wealth tax, while Linda McQuaig and Neil Brooks comment on the strong public support for ensuring the wealthy pay their fair share. 

- Mark Rendell wonders whether the federal government will take up a long-awaited opportunity to develop real industrial policy. And David Macdonald notes that instead of obsessing over deficits, we should be locking in future investments at record-low interest rates.

- David Climenhaga writes about the film-flammery behind the small nuclear reactor road show regularly presented by right-wing premiers as an excuse for negligent climate policy. And Arthur White-Crummey reports on Saskatchewan's continued place as the worst offender in Canada when it comes to emitting carbon pollution, while Sarath Peiris points out the silliness of the Moe government's decision to make cleaner vehicles more expensive.

- Finally, Scott Schmidt calls out the Kenney UCP's curriculum cheating as an indicator of the need to demand better from the province's leaders.

Friday Evening Links

 Assorted content to end your week.

- Alex Hemingway examines how a wealth tax could raise substantially more money than assumed by the PBO. And Caterina Lindman writes about the benefits of a basic income guarantee funded by progressive taxes.

- Stefan Nikola discusses how shortened work weeks are at long last - if still gradually - becoming more common. And Kaitlyn Matulewicz and Iglika Ivanova highlight how paid sick leave can help to close the gender gap (among other important benefits).

- Simon Enoch weighs in on the Saskatchewan Party's belated recognition that obsessing over balanced budgets is foolhardy in the midst of a health crisis. And Trish Hennessy offers a few reasons for hope as a path out of the coronavirus pandemic comes into sight.

- But lest there be any doubt about the consequences of relaxing public health measures too soon, Kate Kelland reports on research showing that the B.1.1.7 variant is more deadly as well as more susceptible to transmission - which makes it alarming that Regina is seeing that variant become the dominant strain of COVID-19, with dozens of cases confirmed and even more presumed. And James Keller and Ivan Semeniuk report on Jason Kenney's preposterous plan to prioritize social conservatives' vaccine choice over effective distribution to as many people as possible.

- Finally, Yvonne Hii and Henny Yeung discuss how COVID-19 has only confirmed the importance ensuring parents have access to child care.

Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Owen Jones writes that the oft-repeated message that the public is responsible for the control (or spread) of COVID-19 serves mostly to deflect from gross failures of government. Grant Robertson reports on the deterioration of Canada's capacity to respond to a pandemic. Roberto Rocha, Inayat Singh and Julianna Perkins point out that provinces which acted sooner have had far more success in limiting case loads. And Michael Baker, Nick Wilson and Tony Blakely examine the superior outcomes from plans which eliminate viral spread, rather than assuming that some level of community transmission is acceptable and controllable.

- Elayne Hyshka and Hakique Verani note that contrary to Jason Kenney's deflections, the rise of drug overdoses in Alberta is the result of precisely the harm exacerbation strategy his government is determined to inflict on the province. And Danny Kerslake reports on the spread of COVID-19 through the Saskatchewan Penitentiary at a rate even worse than that of other federal penitentiaries.

- Pamela Cowan writes that the tragic loss of life which marked 2020 should push us to take far better care of senior citizens. And Brigitte Pellerin similarly argues that we should use what we've learned to ensure we never again ignore marginalized people.

- Terry Gross discusses how the COVID-19 pandemic has turned into a windfall for the people who already had far more than they could possibly need. Noah Smith points out that the growth of inequality isn't limited to the rise of the uber-rich, but also includes increased disparities within the middle class. And Alex Hemingway studies how the underrepresentation of people outside the upper classes in political leadership leads to distorted policy outcomes.

- Finally, Heather McGregor points out how Ontario's most recent anti-poverty plan falls short of offering any useful plans to lift people out of poverty.