Monday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to start your week.

- Bartley Kives discusses the Pallister PC's failure to respond to warnings about a new COVID wave (which of course reflects a pattern among conservative provincial governments). Julia Wong exposes the Kenney UPC's utter failure to organize the contact tracing needed to avoid additional waves in Alberta. 

- Meanwhile, Damien Gayle reports that the UK is looking at reversing its plans to relax public health restrictions based on the dangers of new variants - even as Luke Savage notes that its conservative elites too were perfectly happy to sacrifice large numbers of lives for their own convenience. 

- David Climenhaga writes that the the mass gravesite revealed at the Kamloops Indian Residential School is the latest evidence of the crimes against humanity at the heart of Canada's policy toward Indigenous peoples, while Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond reminds us that it represents just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the disappearance of Indigenous children. The Canadian Press reports on FSIN's call for immediate steps to investigate undocumented deaths and burials at Saskatchewan residential school sites. And CBC News reports on Cowessess First Nation's plans to use radar to begin the work. 

- Finally, Duncan Cameron discusses the need to work on constant organizing to counter the forces of corporate control - particularly among people now disaffected from political and activist involvement. And the Economist discusses Thomas Piketty's work examining the striking drift in education levels between political orientations over the past half century. 

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Robert Reich offers some lessons we need to draw from the coronavirus pandemic - including the recognition that while billionaires won't save us from collective action problems, effective government can.

- Renju Jose reports on Melbourne's instant reaction to community spread of the particularly dangerous B.1.6172 variant. And Matt Elliott rightly praises young Ontarians for wasting no time in getting vaccinated. 

- But Bartley Kives calls out Brian Pallister for being more interested in casting shade than doing anything to ameliorate Manitoba's ugly third wave. Paige Parsons reports on a call from Alberta doctors to avoid reckless reopening, while Andre Picard makes a similar plea more generally. And Justin McCurry reports on the International Olympics Committee's appalling call for people to make public health sacrifices in order to ensure that a sports exhibition can proceed.

- Kenyon Wallace reports on the abuse and neglect of residents of Ontario's long-term care homes. And Tamara Daly, Ivy Lynn Bourgeault and Katie Aubrecht call for a shift toward a virtuous cycle of care - rather than the current vicious cycle squeezing any ethic of care out in order to maximize short-term profits.

- Finally, Jordan Barab and David Michaels note that we shouldn't take the CDC's vague phrasing about lifting masking requirements as an excuse to put workers in further danger. Hayes Brown points out that what corporate lobbyists are attempting to spin as a "labour shortage" amounts to nothing more than employers' refusal to offer acceptable wages and working conditions. And Alex Press writes about the increased exploitation of workers into taking intolerable hours for insufficient pay - and the need to reshape the balance of power to reverse course.

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Tenille Bonogoure writes about the human costs of Canada's choice to respond to a deadly infectious disease with polite deference rather than a determined effort to stamp it out. Matt Rivers notes that Brazil's outright denial has led to even worse, including the emergence of a variant which threatens people around the globe. And Sumathi Reddy points out that while access to a vaccine may slightly alter the calculus involved in personal decision-making, it doesn't affect the ultimate need for people to keep COVID-19 locked down to the greatest extent possible.

- The Globe and Mail's editorial board discusses the growing case for capital gains taxes on real estate based on wildly inflated housing prices in Canada's largest cities. 

- The Manitoba Organization of Faculty Associations calls out Brian Pallister's utter obeisance to the U.S. conservative group American Legislative Exchange Council in preparing his hidden legislation, while Lucas Edmond calls out Pallister's authoritarian neoliberal education plan in particular. And Jeremy Klaszus and Jeremy Appel uncover the secretive, big-money campaign to reject any housing in Calgary other than developer-friendly suburban sprawl. 

- But lest anybody think it's only the corporate sector looking to rally voters toward alternative choices, Alexander Kaufman notes that municipalities are serving as a focal point for climate organizing in the U.S. And Robert Reich writes that the unionization push at Amazon may represent the start of a new progressive era.

- Finally, Guy Quenneville reports on the findings of the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission  on the RCMP's racism and neglect in response to the killing of Colten Boushie. And Joe Friesen reports that even that damning report was based on incomplete information as the RCMP destroyed evidence about its actions.

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Paul Krugman notes that hostility toward basic public health protection such as masks represents a stark example of conservatives sacrificing human lives to identity politics - though it's far from the first or the last one. And James Downie writes that the Republicans governments reversing mask mandates know perfectly well that the credence given to anti-social actors makes it impossible for people to take precautions for themselves.

- Colleen Barry reports on the new wave of COVID-19 in Europe due to increasingly dangerous variants. Camelia Dewan contrasts Norway's relative success in requiring everybody to contribute to limiting the spread of the coronavirus against the disastrous results of  Sweden's herd immunity strategy (complete with willingness to endanger the lives of elderly people along the way). And Lynn Desjardins reports that Canadians are understandably wary about our long-term care system now that its weaknesses have been exposed.

- Srinivas Murthy writes that the most effective strategy to contain COVID-19 involves making sure vaccines get where they're needed around the globe, rather than being systematically diverted to the wealthiest countries first. 

- Joseph Hall observes that economists don't share the right's insistence on putting selective deficit phobia ahead of relief and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

- Finally, PressProgress follows up on the Pallister PCs' secret legislative agenda.

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Kenyon Wallace reports on new modelling showing a real risk of yet another wave of COVID spread in Ontario - even as widespread immunity just a few months of remotely responsible government away. Julie Steenhuysen and Kate Kelland point out how an increasing number of variants is complicating the fight against COVID-19. And Marieke Walsh and Greg McArthur discuss how Canada's vaccination process has been set back due to our reliance on global supply chains.

- Chris Hedges writes about the multiple prominent examples of social murder in progress - with COVID-19 serving only as a particularly immediate and vivid example of the phenomenon which also defines the climate crisis and other avoidable crises of public health and welfare. And John Calvert discusses the people killed by Texas' reckless deregulation of vital infrastructure - along with the propensity of Canadian conservatives to push us in the same direction.  

- Meanwhile, the Globe and Mail's editorial board calls out Doug Ford for choosing to try to renormalize cash-for-access politics. And Darren Bernhardt reports on the Manitoba PCs' unprecedented power grab in seeking to ram a large number of dubious bills through the legislative process while keeping their contents secret from opposition parties and the public.

- Emmanuel Fulgence Drabo, Grace Eckel, Samuel Ross, Michael Brozic et al. are the latest to demonstrate that a Housing First system which provides residents with a secure home produces a substantial return on investment in social and economic terms.

- Finally, Richard Denniss writes that Australia's regulation of tech giants - which was met with an initial attempt at resistance followed by ultimate acceptance - demonstrates that we're not helpless in the face of the power of large corporations. And Adam Smith discusses the EU's latest move to empower the public by ensuring that consumer electronics are reasonably durable and can be repaired - rather than being part of a cycle of rapid planned obsolescence.

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Steven Lewis examines how Canada can and should learn from Australia's success in controlling the coronavirus, while Robert Danich writes that conservative governments need to learn that they have responsibility for social health and well-being rather than pointing the finger at individuals. And Richard Matern observes that COVID-19 represents one of many dangers where none of us are truly safe unless everybody is protected.

- Derek Thompson takes note of the amount of effort being wasted on "hygiene theatre" rather than steps which meaningfully reduce COVID transmission. Martin Regg Cohn offers a reminder that masks rather than vaccines are the key new measure available to reduce individual exposure to COVID-19 (though of course social distancing remains the most important factor in reducing community spread). Cory Stieg examines the California jobs which are facing the greatest increase in mortality risk as a result of COVID-19 - with line workers and labourers bearing the brunt of the virus. And Wallis Snowden reports on what doctors were able to learn from the Edmonton curling bonspiel which turned into a superspreader event.

- Meanwhile, Peter Zimonjic and Vassy Kapelos report on the millions of rapid tests which are being wasted by provinces who demanded them in the first place (with Saskatchewan standing out as not even bothering to report on their use). And Stephanie Taylor reports on modeling showing nearly 19,000 asymptomatic COVID cases in Saskatchewan.

- Linda McQuaig highlights the unfairness that results when publicly-funded vaccine research turns into production and distribution designed to maximize corporate profits. And Joel Lexchin offers a historical reminder as to why Canada has been scrambling to find private vaccine supplies, rather than having meaningful public capacity available. 

- Kate Korte points out that free post-secondary education would be particularly valuable in the wake of the pandemic. But Ian Froese reports on the Pallister government's plans to instead force Manitoba students to systematically pay tuition in order to perform work for private employers. 

- Finally, Bruce Campbell writes about the prospect that 2021 could be a decisive turning point on climate action - but that it's still far from certain whether we'll end up shifting in the right direction. And PA Media points out how many lives strong climate action would save in terms of other factors including healthier lifestyles and reduced air pollution.

Monday Afternoon Links

 Assorted content to start your week.

- Scott Gilmore discusses how our elected leaders have failed us in responding to COVID-19. Shannon Devine offers a warning to the Ford PCs about their insistence in putting workers' lives and health at risk in the midst of a pandemic. And Christy Somos reports on a new survey showing that over two-thirds of Canadians support the ability to bar unvaccinated people from business premises.

- The Globe and Mail's editorial board highlights how the Atlantic provinces were able to contain the spread of COVID-19. And Caitjan Gainty and Agnes Arnold-Forster note that vaccines alone don't generally eradicate a disease in the absence of exactly the types of public health measures which have done the most to limit the spread of the coronavirus before a vaccine was available.

- Falice Chin examines Canada's worrisome literacy gaps - with one in six adults lacking even basic literacy skills, and fully half having difficulty processing complex texts in a world governed by them.  

- Lucas Edmond writes about the need for direct action to confront the attacks on labour by Brian Pallister (a point which of course applies to his ideological soulmates elsewhere as well).

- Finally, Noah Smith discusses how the vast majority of the economic profession has come to reject the corporatist dogma that higher minimum wages lead to meaningful job losses.

Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Emma Ladds, Alex Rushforth, Sietse Wieringa, Sharon Taylor, Clare Rayner, Laiba Husain and Trisha Greenhalgh study the wade-ranging and severe symptoms resulting from "long COVID", while Jennifer Lutz and Richard Carmona point out how a health care system dependent on individual funding is ill-equipped to respond. Andre Picard writes about the absurdity of Ontario taking a holiday from distributing COVID-19 vaccines.

- Meanwhile, Mitchell Anderson discusses the lives lost in Western Canada to decades of propaganda which have built deep antipathy and distrust toward both science and the federal government. And Lee Berthiaume reports on another poll showing that the vast majority of respondents in the prairie provinces have had enough of failed leadership in responding to the coronavirus.

- CBC News points out how we've wasted two decades in the fight to salvage a liveable planet in the face of a climate breakdown. 

- John Harris points out that the UK's current set of self-inflicted crises is nothing new, but instead reflects a history of hubris and poor judgment by the country's ruling class. And Dani Alexis Ryskamp discusses how the U.S. has eliminated the prospect of the modest but secure middle-class lifestyle depicted in the Simpsons and other cultural touchstones.

- Finally, Michael Laxer highlights how COVID-19 has been used as an excuse for class warfare in Canada, with the richest few individuals and largest corporations claiming massive handouts and taking the opportunity to exploit their advantages in wealth and power while people generally are shamed for trying to survive.

Saturday Morning Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Tracy Fuller talks to Emily Oster about the process people can follow in minimizing COVID risks in the absence of full information. And Sarah Zhang writes about the impending period of vaccine purgatory as a limited number of people begin to be protected.

- Mickey Djuric compares the current coronavirus response plans of the prairie provinces - though none offers an overall plan and result deserving of much credit. Nicholas Frew reports on the spread of the virus in Saskatchewan through multiple hockey and curling events. And Joel Dryden reports on the importance of regular testing to protect residents of long-term care homes.

- J. Edward Les points out the social and health implications of COVID-19 patients who need to rely on an already-strained health care system for treatment. 

- Achal Prabhala, Arjun Jayadev and Dean Baker discuss how relaxed intellectual property rules would facilitate the development and distribution of vaccines. And Ronald Labonte and Mira Johri call out Canada's role in prioritizing intellectual property barriers over the control and treatment of COVID-19 - particularly in less-wealthy countries.

- Jane Lytvynenko discusses how decades of misinformation have destroyed the U.S.' ability to respond to COVID-19 and other crises by undermining both institutions and social trust.

- Finally, Claire Porter Robbins writes about Jason Kenney's selective interest in Charter rights as he seeks to protect anti-maskers and COVID cranks while attacking activists seeking to protect our planet and the people who inhabit it.

Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Adam Miller writes that it's more important than ever to protect frontline workers as the prospect of a COVID-19 vaccine approaches. Pat Armstrong and Marcy Cohen discuss what the pandemic has exposed about the need for improved standards in long-term care facilities. And Keenan Sorokan reports on the growing calls to release people from incarceration rather than confining them in outbreak zones.

- Bruce Campbell discusses how the Libs' fiscal update falls far short of what we should expect in responding to inequality and climate change. And David McKie, Declan Keogh, Charlie Buckley and Robert Cribb write about the effect a climate breakdown in progress is having on the mental health of young people.

- Anne Casselman and Michelle Theodore make the case for a universal affordable child care system - particularly as a pandemic has exposed the consequences of failing to ensure care is available.

- James Wilt interviews Mike Bagamery about Brian Pallister's attack on Indigenous sovereignty by suppressing peaceful public action.

- And finally, Anna Silman points out that the defeat of Donald Trump can't be expected to produce a return to normalcy when countless Americans have become radicalized to hate their fellow citizens.

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Steven Lewis writes about the Sask Party government's catastrophic refusal to act on the evidence that Saskatchewan needs to sharply curb the spread of COVID-19. Julia Peterson reports on the Saskatchewan doctors making it clear that we can't afford to let up over the holiday season. And Murray Mandryk notes that a throne speech focused on platform baubles and outdated talking points fell far short of meeting an increasingly dire current reality - though it should hardly come as a surprise that someone anointed by the media for re-election while campaigning on a theme of "no lockdowns!" has concluded he can get away with trading lives for corporate favour.

- Thiemo Fetzer and Thomas Graeber study (PDF) the damage done by a lack of contact tracing - even as any effort to test and trace falls apart across the prairie provinces. And Lucas Edmond discusses how Brian Pallister's austerity and corporatism in the midst of a pandemic is killing Manitobans. 

- Andre Picard rightly asks why we're seeing another wave of outbreaks in long-term care homes after having the opportunity to learn from the mistakes of the spring. And Madeleine Ritts writes about the crisis of privatized, for-profit health care in Ontario.

- Finally, David Wastell reports on a push by economists to stop the media from reporting on the economy in terms of false analogies to household finances and credit card debts. And Alex Himelfarb highlights how spending during a pandemic and recovery period is absolutely necessary to build for what comes next:

For several months, as Canada’s governments were first taking on the pandemic and the economic shocks emanating from it, we witnessed something of a fiscal truce. Gone were the calls for restrained spending, small government, balanced budgets. Across the political spectrum governments were spending borrowed money. And across the political spectrum, observers of government—including many who had been lambasting the federal government for its pre-pandemic deficits and its lack of plan to get to balance—were for this brief moment welcoming or at least tolerating active government, deficit spending and increases to the public debt. 

...

Predictably, the deficit hawks have started to hover. Most headlines following the fiscal snapshot asked just how worried we should be about deficits and debt—and many pundits concluded plenty worried. “No way to put a shine on this,” said one; “Dire” said others; “Time to start winding down” said a few. And, following the age-old principles of “Misery loves company” and “What’s better than a race to the bottom?” some are calling for cuts to the public service and public service wages. Let the market do its thing as soon as possible, they’re saying, and start scaling government back down again. 

...

Disagreements about deficits and debt reflect more than differences among economists (of which there are aplenty); they highlight deeper ideological disagreements about what kind of country we want and the role of government in getting there. It’s important, then, to sort through the politics of deficits and debt. We need to explode the myths that have for decades stunted our political imagination, making us doubt whether we can afford what needs doing and convincing us that austerity, cutting spending and reining in government, is our only option. Austerity means squeezing essential services such as healthcare, education and welfare and foregoing or delaying public investment when all the evidence tells us that this is exactly the wrong way to go. 

...

We can expect—in fact we ought to have—serious debates about the shape of the post-pandemic recovery, about the future we want, about the role of government in building that future. We have an opportunity to learn from this pandemic, to address the inequities and cracks it revealed, to better prepare for the next crises. Important proposals for a feminist response, a “green new deal” and renewal consistent with reconciliation and Indigenous rights and racial justice show us what our future could be. We cannot afford to have those debates short-circuited by paranoia over deficits and debt. 

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Michael Smithson examines data from 45 countries confirming that any attempt to play off COVID-19 suppression against economic activity is based on a false assumption, as the former is a must to allow the latter.

- Leyland Cecco reports on the surge in COVID-19 cases on the Prairies - showing that the fecklessness of the conservative governments of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba is remarkable enough to win notice internationally. Duane Bratt and Lisa Young discuss the politics behind Jason Kenney's failures - though it's worth highlighting how Kenney and his party have legitimized and boosted exactly the extreme-right positions which are now being presented as an excuse for poor government. And Zak Vescera reports on Saskatchewan's doctors who are bracing for the worst.

- Davide Mastracci takes the time to Fisk the anti-CERB propaganda put out by Postmedia last week, while Lindsay Tedds details exactly what it gets wrong.

- The Associated Press reports on Purdue's guilty pleas arising out of the manipulative marketing of opioids. And Walt Mogdanich and Michael Forsythe dig into the appalling thinking behind the opioid epidemic - including McKinsey's plan to pay pharmacies for causing overdoses. 

- Finally, Brendan Kennedy reports on the Centre for Future Work's research confirming that universal child care would far more than pay for itself.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Jason Warick reports on Steven Lewis' blunt conclusion that Scott Moe and his government have been "really stupid" in taking "half-assed" steps in response to the fall wave of COVID-19. And Adam Hunter contrasts Moe's refusal to consider any meaningful steps to control the spread of COVID-19 in the name of the economy against the recognition by actual economists that nobody benefits from uncontrolled outbreaks.

- Patricia Treble points out the consequences of Alberta's failure to accept the advice of doctors that the province needed a "circuit breaker" to avert what's now the worst outbreak in Canada. Susan Wright takes note of Jason Kenney's choice to hide as case loads explode under his failed leadership. And Taylor Lambert discusses why Kenney is fixated on a provincial contact tracing app which has produced virtually no results at a cost of a million dollars and counting, rather than the federal one which is fully functional and free for his province to use. 

- Michael Laxer writes that while Doug Ford is using the language of a "lockdown" to try to claim credit for action, he's actually doing little more than allowing big business to keep operating while shutting down anything smaller and locally owned. And PressProgress documents Brian Pallister's apparent belief that the media should do his job in developing a pandemic plan.

- And with conservative premiers showing their utter inability to deal with problems which require effective government action, Tom Parkin makes the case for the federal government to step into the breach.

- Finally, Ian Welsh discusses the crucial difference between enemies and friends in the political sphere. And that distinction maps closely onto Luke Savage's warning that the Biden administration can't repeat Barack Obama's errors in primarily serving and appeasing the corporate class, rather than fighting for the people whose interests have long been neglected in the halls of power.

On jurisdictional barriers

Scott Gilmore rightly points out the need for a far more clear national response to COVID-19. But I'd think we can expand on the point with reference to a couple of other familiar jurisdictional disputes - even as those also highlight which provincial governments need to be called out as obstructing effective federalism.

First, we can treat the pandemic as reflecting a Canada-wide version of the type of jurisdictional finger-pointing which finally gave rise to Jordan's principle. 

In the case of First Nations children, the federal government eventually (if far too late) recognized that the appropriate sequence of action was to ensure that necessary services weren't denied to children simply because provincial and federal governments disagreed as to who might be responsible to pay for them. And there shouldn't be any doubt that's the fairest way to approach individual requests for service.

But the need is all the more compelling when the dispute involves measures to control the spread of a highly contagious virus. In the case of COVID-19, the entire country stands to lose out from insufficient public protection. And as Gilmore notes, the proper response from the federal government should be to ensure standards are in place, not to step aside and let irresponsible premiers choose death for their provinces.

That said, I'd think there is room for a bit more flexibility than would be required in Gilmore's preference to simply impose national standards. And that's where we can draw an analogy to climate change policy - both in what can be done, and what we should avoid.

In principle, the federal government could establish national standards while allowing provinces to apply their own plans - as long as those are equally effective in controlling COVID-19, and compatible with the national system. In that respect, if there are legitimate differences between provinces as to the restrictions which are seen as appropriate or necessary, those can be considered and given effect through an evidence-based review process.

Of course, the problem is that the petroprovinces have spent years blustering against exactly that type of system when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions; they've shrieked endlessly about the federal carbon tax, while refusing to implement equivalent reductions through any other means when that option has always been available to avoid the application of the federal tax.

COVID-19 might then serve as a immediate and vivid example of the problems with the denialist argument against the carbon tax. The melodramatic pushback against even minimal climate action with a readily-available opt-out provision may well have shaped the federal government's choices in response to what seems to be incontrovertibly considered an emergency beyond the scope of a single jurisdiction. 

But if that's the case, we should be looking to the federal government to push back even harder when the risk of inaction is so immediate, not to accept the argument as applied to a fast-moving calamity. And if the federal government can succeed in controlling the spread of COVID-19 where Jason Kenney, Scott Moe, Brian Pallister and Doug Ford are obviously failing, that should lay the groundwork for more effective national action elsewhere as well.

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- The Economist examines how much of Europe has been put into a renewed lockdown due to the second wave of COVID-19. But PressProgress points out how Brian Pallister's rush to reopen has resulted in Manitoba seeing soaring infection rates rather than a limited fall wave. Michael Laxer examines how Doug Ford has similarly prioritized short-term business income over long-term economic and public health, while Jennifer Yang and Kate Allen expose how Ontario ignored the recommendations of public health experts, allowing for cases to balloon four times as much before setting a target for countermeasures. And a large and growing group of Saskatchewan doctors is calling for far stronger steps to control the coronavirus, while Laura Sciarpelletti reports on the precarious state of Saskatchewan care homes.  

- Katelyn Wilson and Roberta Bell report that at least one of Scott Moe's clawbacks of federal income supports - this one for a student with a disability - has been found to be invalid by the Social Services Appeal Board. 

- Ben Phillips discusses the need for popular organizing to push back against the inequality exacerbated by the pandemic. And Ethan Winter examines the widespread public support in the U.S. both for a $15 minimum wage, and for public investments in the communities and people who need the support most.

- Bob Weber reports on new research showing that current estimates of oilpatch methane emissions - which are used as the basis for emission targets - represent barely half of what's actually being spewed into the atmosphere.

- Finally, David Hughes fires back against the misleading attack launched against him by Jason Kenney's fossil fuel war room. And Max Fawcett points out that much of the anti-Canadian sentiment stoked in the name of Western Canadian oil relies on false claims about the effects of the National Energy Program - and particularly blaming it for low oil prices when it would in fact have relieved against their effects.

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Edward Lempinen reports on new research showing that the response to COVID-19 in just six countries has prevented 500 million infections and millions of deaths. And Amanda Follett Hosgood writes that stopping the spread of the coronavirus is especially important in remote areas whose limited resources make them particularly vulnerable to infectious diseases. 

- David Macdonald notes that Canada's job losses from the coronavirus are reaching Great Depression levels, and reflecting a shift from temporary to permanent unemployment. And Beatrice Britneff reports on the open questions as to how Canadians are expected to make ends meet when CERB benefits expire this summer.

- Pete Hudson discusses Brian Pallister's determination to use the coronavirus as an excuse for austerity at a time when it's even more damaging than usual. 

- Andrew MacLeod reports on MiningWatch's findings as to how mining corporations have worsened the spread of COVID-19. And Nicole Hong, Barry Meier and Ronen Bergman report that the intimidation tactics of the dirty fossil fuel sector now include paying mercenaries to attempt to hack activists and journalists. 

- Finally, Gary Mason highlights why we should be outraged at the RCMP's treatment of Chief Allan Adam. Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor emphasizes the need to move beyond questioning specific acts of police violence when it reflects longstanding - and police-enforced - racial and social inequality. Canadians for Tax Fairness points out the role a more just tax policy can play in eliminating systemic racism. And Sandra Hudson sets out some options for defunding police across Canada, while Hadeel Abdel-Nabi makes the case to pursue that possibility in Calgary.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Sheila Block highlights how the COVID-19 pandemic has only amplified the profits accruing to the wealthy few while putting added pressure on everybody else. Chris Brooks notes that the corporate push for "reopening" is occurring with full knowledge that it represents a sacrifice of workers' lives. And Guy Ryder writes about the need for a new and better normal when it comes to protecting workers.

- Sara Mojtehedzadeh reports on the failure of Ontario's Ministry of Labour to uphold a single complaint about work safety in the face of COVID-19. And Richard Florida points out that workers have largely been left to themselves to demand change in the system designed to treat them as expendable.

- Meanwhile, Jason Koebler reports on Tim Bray's resignation from Amazon over its firing and smearing of workers trying to ensure the safety of themselves and their colleagues.

- Canadians for Tax Fairness notes that in addition to endangering the lives of employees and then using racial prejudice to blame them for a COVID-19 outbreak, Cargill's billionaire owners have a well-documented history of using tax havens to avoid contributing to the public good. 

- Finally, Lucas Edmonds discusses Brian Pallister's disaster capitalism as he uses a crisis to try to further undermine Manitoba's already-precarious public services. And Colin Mcaullife and Jason Ganz respond to Marc Andreesson by calling out the political barriers to building a better world:

(T)he question remains: why has the US refused to use public resources for the benefit of the public? The answer is again a matter of political power. The ruling class has made the conscious choice that every aspect of life should be a site for profit extraction, and that the public sector exists primarily to create and maintain the conditions that allow extraction to occur. While some refer to this as “unfettered capitalism”, the truth is that capitalism is itself a system of fetters that are placed on society to allow private property owners to accumulate money by taking it from the productive parts of the economy.

This is why we have ostensible social insurance programs that are designed to humiliate people who are struggling and force them to jump through hoops or else be denied their benefit. The government lacks the infrastructure to send checks to individuals, but it possesses the infrastructure to shore up the finances of banks and large corporations at the snap of a finger. State capacity exists in abundance, but it is deployed for the benefit of a small number of private property owners, not for society as a whole. The idea that this state of affairs represents a lack of desire on the part of ordinary people and not an immoral and unjustified set of priorities on the part of the small number of people in the country who are capable of setting policy is manifestly untrue.

...

Acknowledging the role of public investment in innovation leads to two important conclusions. The first is that we should do a lot more of it, perhaps by as much as 3-4% of GDP per year. Contrary to narratives about public spending “crowding out” private investments, there is good reason to believe that public R&D actually “crowds in” private R&D. One paper estimated that a 10% increase in public R&D spending would induce an additional 4.3% in private R&D spending. A large expansion in public R&D would also create millions of jobs, and not just for those who are highly educated. Research facilities can sustain vibrant communities with opportunities available to people from all walks of life.  

The second conclusion is that once we recognize that innovation in modern economies requires that we socialize much of the associated costs and risks, then we also must ensure that the benefits that come from projects that are ultimately successful are broadly shared. This should be accomplished both in financial terms, by using a portion of the profits generated by successful projects on social spending, as well as in nonfinancial terms, by prioritizing development of technology with high societal value.

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Todd Gordon and Geoffrey McCormack write about Canada's crisis of capitalism - which is only being laid bare by a coronavirus pandemic exposing the fragility of a system built on precarity and debt.

- Kim Kelly discusses how service workers will face the worst of the coronavirus in the U.S. And PressProgress calls out the corporate lobby group Restaurants Canada for insisting that sick fast food workers don't need any opportunity to stay home from work when experiencing symptoms.

- Jordan Press reports that the Libs are rightly being told that Canadians are concerned with child care, education and housing as top affordability issues - though there's little reason for optimism that the result will be anything more than the usual set of baubles and half-measures. And a group of writers calls for the UK's next budget to invest in social infrastructure.

- Steve Lambert reports on Brian Pallister's ideological insistence on privatizing social assistance in Manitoba, while Ian Froese points out his appalling refusal to examine a school meal program because he believes children should suffer for their parents' lack of means.

- Finally, Kendall Latimer discusses how a lack of shelters is forcing Saskatchewan survivors of domestic violence to stay in abusive situations.

New column day

Here, on how Scott Moe has been left alone and isolated by the supposed "resistance". (Though I'll admit I underestimated his willingness to declare his unthinking support for anything suggested by Jason Kenney.)

For further reading...
- Jacques Poitras reported that Blaine Higgs' sensible response to the federal election has been to stop fighting carbon pricing and get to work on developing a plan for New Brunswick.  The Canadian Press reported on Brian Pallister's rejection of Western separatism - though he deserves to be called out for misleadingly implying that provinces can't already avoid the federal carbon price by having a climate plan of their own. And Robert Benzie and Rob Ferguson noted that even Doug Ford started toning down his posturing toward the federal government since the election.
- Dave Cournoyer puts Kenney's "autonomy panel" in historical context.
- Joel Dryden discusses what a province forgoing the Canada Pension Plan would actually look like, while David Climenhaga points out that any scheme to take existing money away from the CPP is on shaky ground. And the Canadian Press confirms that Kenney's talk about endangering his province's pension security is purely a matter of spite.
- Finally, Norm Farrell discusses how Alberta has been suffering for its decision to use resource revenue to avoid making rational plans for the future.

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Kate Aronoff asks how much destruction is needed before we'll start taking climate change seriously - though the answer at this point looks to be that no amount of damage will be enough to move a substantial number of politicians off their insistence on putting fossil fuel extraction ahead of human well-being.

- Andrew Leach highlights the contrast between the real problems with Alberta's oil sector, and the Conservative talking points insisting that a dirty and costly industry will boom again if only people clap louder for it.

- David Climenhaga discusses how Jason Kenney has laid the groundwork to slash and privatize Alberta's health and education systems to fund corporate tax giveaways. Ricardo Tranjan maps out the per-student cuts faced by Ontario's schools under Doug Ford. And PressProgress notes that Brian Pallister's self-proclaimed achievements include saddling Manitoba with Canada's second-worst ER wait times even while slashing the number of emergency rooms accessible in the first place.

- Finally, P.E. Moskowitz writes about the far right's attempt to squelch all views other than their own in the name of "free speech".