Sunday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your Sunday reading.

- It's undoubtedly an embarrassment for John Baird to have leapt at a thoroughly implausible bit of anti-UN spin. But I'd think there's more reason for hope than concern in the long run: if a year into their majority mandate the Cons are still operating based on the minority-government mindset that they can do nothing better than to spin first and verify later (and then refuse to admit they were wrong), then surely that doesn't speak well of their ability to plan for the longer time frame leading up to the next federal election.

- Meanwhile, some commentators have bought into the claim that Peter Kent's response to climate change deniers in his own party sets him up as something less than the worst possible environment minister. But it's worth pointing out how his response frames what he sees as the acceptable range of debate: according to Kent the paranoid and/or polluter-funded ravings of anti-science denialists are "fair discussions", but anybody with the nerve to suggest that environmental considerations (including climate change) should actually be reflected in policy can only be classified as a traitor to Canada to be attacked by every means available.

- And on a related point, Dr. Dawg points out another bit of partisan absurdity, as Cons within the Senate are refusing a motion to apply their own overheated rhetoric about foreign involvement in Canadian charities when it comes to anybody other than the environmental movement the oil industry wants to silence.

- Finally, Brian Topp's Policy Options retrospective (PDF) on Allan Blakeney's tenure as premier of Saskatchewan is well worth a read.

Sunday Morning Links

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- No wonder the Cons have fought so hard to suppress their Statement of Operational Requirements for F-35 fighter jets. After all, who would want to have to justify leaving out the part about engines?

- For more on the passing of Allan Blakeney, you'll find Malcolm's take here.

- Memo to Jessica Earle and anybody else buying the spin that a cap-and-trade system is political poison in Quebec: you'll want to check whether your sources said the same about the Cons' promise of the exact same thing in 2008. And if not, then you're peddling partisan spin rather than meaningful analysis.

[Update: See Kate Heartfield for an example of how it's done. Though the words "blatant lie" might be necessary for a truly descriptive story.]

- Finally, Armine Yalnizyan rightly criticizes the cult of zero when it comes to corporate taxes:

Corporations benefit from public policy, public institutions and public services, without which profits would be far, far lower.

If the argument is that corporations should pay nothing for these privileges and benefits, it’s like saying they have rights but no responsibilities. And that flies against every principle of justice society holds dear.

A revolutionary war was fought and a nation was formed on the principle of “no taxation without representation”.

You can try, but any theory that suggests it is in the public interest for the most powerful entities in society to have representation without taxation is unlikely to pass the sniff test of democracy.

But while it's worth pointing out the extremes being demanding by the tax-slashing brigade, I'd think it's even more important to highlight the need for a real alternative.

After all, the main argument for perpetual corporate tax cuts is apparently that higher corporate tax rates in one jurisdiction might lead big businesses to shift their profits elsewhere to avoid it. But that does indeed lead to perpetually diminishing returns for every single jurisdiction competing for businesses.

That makes for a classic prisoner's dilemma which can only be solved through collective trust and action. So let's start pushing back with a call for to establish uniform corporate tax rates among the world's developed economies which eliminate the incentive to shift paper money around - lest the cult of zero otherwise make that the default rate.

[Edit: fixed wording.]

Saturday Morning Links

Some reading material for your weekend...

- Gerald Caplan goes somewhat further than I would in cheekily calling for asbestos exports to be considered a crime against humanity. But he's absolutely right to keep highlighting the embarrassment of being the lone developed country fighting to keep producing and exporting a product that's been long since deemed too dangerous for use at home.

- Longtime Saskatchewan Premier Allen Blakeney weighs in with his suggestion as to how to handle the province's potash reserves:

It is not easy to formulate a rule that would prevent consumers of potash from buying PCS shares but it would be relatively easy to formulate a rule under the Investment Canada Act that says 60 per cent of all shares of the corporation shall be owned by Canadian citizens who are resident in Canada.

It's hard to imagine any group or groups of Canadian citizens living in Canada who could own 60 per cent of PCS shares and also represent potash consumers.

The more likely owners would turn out to be the Ontario municipal employees pension plan, the Ontario Teachers' pension plan, the Quebec Caisse de Depot, the Canada Pension Plan and pension plans in other provinces.

Ownership by these groups and by a wide number of Canadians would be a good deal more comfortable for the Saskatchewan government to deal with than ownership by massive potash consumers' groups or the largest mining company in the world, BHP Billiton.

- Dr. Dawg and pogge point out the latest appalling development in Alex Hundert's treatment following his arrest for speaking on a public panel:

On the night of Wednesday October 14th, Alex was told by the security manager at the Toronto East Detention Centre that he had to sign the bail conditions or face solitary confinement in “the hole”, without access to phone calls or writing paper. He was put in solitary confinement after an initial confrontation with correction staff where he resisted initial attempts to make him sign. He was denied the right to call his lawyer, and told that if he didn’t sign now, they would revoke the bail offer and he would be held in solitary confinement until his eventual release from prison.

Coerced into signing these conditions, Alex was thrown out of Toronto East and left to find his own way home to his sureties’ house. The prison authorities forced him into a position where he could potentially be accused of further breaching his bail. Alex is now back on house arrest with an enforced curfew, with non-associations with co-accused and members of SOAR, AWOL, NOII and other community organizers. He also has the additionally imposed restrictions of no direct or indirect posting to the internet, no assisting, planning, or attending any public meeting or march, and no expressing of views on a political issue.

- Needless to say, Hundert would be a leading current candidate for a present-day internment list. And just think, it may only take 50 years for you too to find out whether you're mentioned on one!

- Finally, Michael Geist offers a partial rebuttal to Malcolm Gladwell's much-circulated piece on social media and activism. But I'd think the argument can be relatively easily boiled down to a distinction between what social media does well (particularly disseminating information which might not otherwise be shared across the weak ties brought into contact), and what it doesn't do at all on its own (the hierarchical organizing discussed by Gladwell, which may be facilitated and promoted over social media but still requires the development of closer ties).

On turnout

One final point of interest from Allen Blakeney's appearance last night.

While I haven't heard any final crowd estimates, Blakeney's book launch more than packed the 190-seat RPL film theatre.

Dwain Lingenfelter's campaign launch attracted roughly half that much attendance.

One can explain the difference away at least in part based on the location, time of day, or potentially more broad interest of a book launch. But it still seems noteworthy that a premier who left office two and a half decades ago can outdraw the apparent top contender for the NDP's leadership - and that may hint at some latent public interest which could be tapped into by any contender who takes up Blakeney's call for participatory politics.

Idle musings

As expected, Allan Blakeney's book launch contained plenty of food for thought - including a strong focus on the value of internal party democracy from a public figure who isn't lacking for major policy successes to his name. But perhaps the most interesting element of it from my standpoint was what might otherwise have been seen as a relatively minor autobiographical detail - namely, how Blakeney arrived in Saskatchewan initially.

Rather than finding his way to the province based on family or educational ties, Blakeney arrived precisely because of the the CCF's time in office. As he described it, Blakeney and other key figures were attracted to the province by the prospect of working within a truly innovative civil service which was able to push the boundaries of public policy.

Which leads me to wonder: is there anywhere in Canada which currently enjoys the same status as a magnet for the best and brightest public-sector minds? Or has the idea of civil service been painted as being mundane enough through several decades of attacks on the idea of bureaucracy that a substantial number of today's potential successors to Blakeney have been pushed elsewhere?

Worth a look

While the Saskatchewan NDP's current leadership race hasn't yet led to much discussion about the party, those looking for some insight into the future of the party and the province will be able to get that tonight from one of the NDP's past leaders. Allan Blakeney is launching his memoir, An Honourable Calling, at the Regina Public Library Film Theatre tonight at 7.

See the RPL's Events Page for more details. And stay tuned to see if a Draft Allen Blakeney movement has launched by the end of the evening.