Sunday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Tarique Niazi discusses some of the geopolitical implications of the intensifying climate crisis. Aaron Whetty offers a reminder that the joint effort by the Libs and Cons to treat a consumer carbon tax as the sole point of climate policy worth discussing missed the much bigger picture. And Nick Hedley notes that a rapid and successful transition to renewable energy in China stands to reduce global demand for fossil fuels far faster than previously projected.

- John Lavis and Mathieu Ouimet highlight how decision-makers would be expected to apply scientific knowledge to deal with a global polycrisis if they had any interest in acknowledging and responding to it. And the University of Plymouth takes note of the scientific consensus on the need to tackle the dispersion of microplastics.

- Kiran Stacey reports on a new study showing that a corporate tax giveaway in the UK is costing three times as much in revenue as it stands to produce in investment. And Sharon Graham asks what a Labour party is for if the UK's version is bent on starving the public while serving the interests of the corporate class.

- Wing Li rightly argues that the UCP shouldn't be using Alberta's public money to build private schools - particularly when it's responsible for failing to maintain public educational infrastructure. 

- Finally, Richard Murphy discusses the need to re-re-brand private equity with its previous title of "asset stripping" - and match that more accurate description with public policy aimed at limiting the harm it can do to functional economic vehicles.

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Ajit Niranjan reports on the extreme flooding in numerous cities in central Europe as a harbinger of the effect of a climate breakdown in progress. Shannon Sims reports on the similar example of Lake Charles, Louisiana, which has been battered by increasingly severe storms over the past two decades. And Chris Hatch discusses how another summer of extreme weather hasn't resulted in public engagement on the importance of climate change as an issue. 

- Syed Shams and Sudipta Bose discuss how business investment in climate policy produces superior economic performance and reduced risk. But Justin Villamil reports on BlackRock's cynical choice (in common with much of the financial sector) to feign climate concern while planning to keep shoveling funding toward dirty energy.  

- Xiaoli Li reports on the recognition by environmental groups that a narrow focus on consumer carbon pricing falls far short of the mark in developing a meaningful climate change policy - particularly when it's paired with approvals or even subsidies for fossil fuel expansion. Thomas Pedersen discusses how the Libs have undermined public support for a rebated carbon tax on a national scale, while Shannon Waters notes that what was once a multi-party consensus in B.C. has been caught in the federal crossfire. And Carl Meyer reports on the Moe government's methane policy which continues to be based on wishful thinking and non-reporting rather than actual measurements. 

- Isabel O'Brien reports on the immense gap between the carbon pollution reported by large AI data centres, and the 662% higher amount actually emitted. And Sean Patrick Cooper reports on the additional harms frequently inflicted by data centres on surrounding communities. 

- Adam King discusses how the Libs are finding new ways to undermine the right to strike - using administrative powers rather than legislation to avoid having to answer for a back-to-work bill. 

- Finally, Rose LeMay observes that "sanewashing" is as much an element of Canada's political media as the U.S.' - and that the public is ill-served when journalists try to make the likes of Pierre Poilievre sound more reasonable than they are. 

Monday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to start your week.

- The Climate Change Performance Update's latest update shows Canada tumbling to the bottom of the world's development countries in climate performance - even as right-wing petropoliticians demand that we make matters worse. Justin Ling discusses how we've ended up with that painful gap between any reasonable response to the climate crisis and what's seen as politically possible, while Colin Bruce Anthes makes the case for a sharp shift toward direct government intervention as a carbon tax put in place to appease free-market zealots faces imminent execution at the hands of Canada's corporate party. And Bill McKibben rightly opines that the business sector's antipathy toward protecting our living environment can only be seen as suicidal. 

- Meanwhile, Aliénor Rougeot and Anna McIntosh note that beyond their feeble climate policy, the Libs have also failed to address water pollution from the tar sands. And Rachel Uda reports on new research showing that the microplastics shed by the oil industry's backup plan to continue production can produce increased risks of heart attacks and stroke beyond their other harmful environmental effects. 

- George Monbiot laments the reality that we've allowed our politics and societies to be dominated by bullies. And John Harris discusses how a new political movement rooted in nature is beginning to build up strength in the UK. 

- Rosa Marchitelli and Jenn Blair report on the poisoning of multiple teenaged Co-op employees with carbon monoxide - and the Sask Party government's choice not to hold the employer responsible for repeatedly exposing young workers to severe risks.  

- Finally, Jason Markusoff discusses the UCP's plans to subject all university research in Alberta to alt-right ideological screening. 

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Dave Hansen et al. discuss the attempt in progress by publishers to attack the Internet Archive in order to restrict access to materials. And Walled Culture examines the problem of trying to preserve any "public domain" at all when the profit motive militates toward turning everything into a limited-access profit centre. 

- In a similar vein, Taylor Noakes implores Doug Ford to learn from the success of Montreal's Parc Jean-Drapeau as a model for land use, rather than turning public park land into a developer's plaything. But Elizabeth Payne reports that Ford's determination to monetize his stay in power extends to limiting hospitals' ability to operate in order to divert staff to for-profit surgical businesses.  

- Nicholas Hune-Brown writes that the housing crisis (and the lack of an effective response) can be traced largely to the fact that artificial scarcity represents a windfall for a lucky few. 

- Arielle Samuelsson discusses the IPCC's latest climate report, including its recognition that oil and gas use has to be reduced for us to have any hope of limiting the damage to our planet. Oxford University Press points out new research confirming that tax policy alone can't be expected to get carbon pollution down to a liveable level. And Brian Kahn reports on an emerging academic view that fossil fuel companies can and should be held criminally responsible for knowingly causing deaths. 

- Finally, Scientific Frontline takes note of research into new water treatment to remove "forever chemicals" from the water we drink. 

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Katherine Scott and David Macdonald take a look at the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on Canada's labour force survey data - confirming that employment dominated by women has seen the most severe losses, and figures to take the longest to recover. Joel Dryden and Sarah Rieger offer a look at the large number of people with "co-morbidities" which are being cited by the likes of the Kenney UCP as reason not to worry about COVID-19 deaths. And Zak Vescera reports on the acute effect of the coronavirus on First Nations and their residents.

- Stephen Buranyi writes that we shouldn't be fooled by the spin of pharmaceutical companies seeking credit for COVID-19 vaccines developed with public support.

- Martin Lukacs highlights how the Libs' insistence on putting a carbon tax at the core of their climate change policy - rather than a Green New Deal which would include tangible benefits for most people - only figures to make the Cons' job easier in obstructing any progress. And Beth Gardiner notes that the best we can say about climate action globally in 2020 is that we didn't quite extinguish any hope of the transition we need.

- Jolson Lim reports on new research by the CRA showing that individuals pay their taxes far more quickly than corporations. And PressProgress highlights a new poll showing how Manitobans are rightly skeptical of for-profit care home operators.

- Finally, Nick Wells reports on the push for a safe national drug supply as the prospect of an even more deadly year looms. And Heidi Atter reports on the work being done by the Nēwo Yōtina Friendship Centre to set up a community-based supervised consumption site in Regina as the provincial government continues to drag its heels.

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.

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Heather Scoffield writes that a genuine commitment to fighting climate change could resolve multiple major issues facing Canada - while delay serves only to exacerbate them:

At the core of today’s western alienation and of today’s search for prosperity is a much larger issue: the future of energy in a warming climate.

It wasn’t on the agenda for the ministers and was only mentioned in passing in the prime minister’s mandate letter of marching orders for federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau. And that’s a missed opportunity to tackle the challenges of a carbon-based economy head-on and amplify what so many other key players in Canada are leapfrogging each other to act upon.
...
In an economy that depends so deeply on resource extraction, energy production and the financing and services around those sectors, climate change is primordial. In a recent paper from the Bank of Canada that sets out where central bank researchers need to assess the impact, the author points to oil and gas of course, but also real estate, agriculture and transportation. Electricity generation, infrastructure and any industry that uses a lot of energy are also on the front lines. Insurers, banks, pension funds, investment funds and real estate trusts are also in flux.

And from a consumer point of view, climate is affecting the price of everything, as well as the way we heat and cool our houses, drive our cars, clothe our children and prepare our food.

Global warming, and its fix — decarbonization — touches almost every corner of what we do, and the risks to the economy are enormous, starting now. At stake are our profits, our businesses, our governments’ tax revenues and our very quality of life

- But Marieke Walsh points out the gap between Canada's actions and its already-insufficient emission reduction commitments. And Keith Gerein discusses the utter lack of substance behind the anti-carbon-tax bleatings of the UCP and their right-wing allies.

- Jaskiran Dhillon and Will Parrish exposes the lethal violence authorized by the RCMP against peaceful land defenders in the interest of pushing through pipelines.

- Stuart Thompson and Charlie Warzel examine the information that can be gleaned - and the risks that can be created - from a single set of cell phone location data.

- Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood writes about the Libs' extension of EI sick leave benefits, while noting the need to go much further in filling in the gaps in our social safety net.

- And finally, Erica West comments on the multiple meanings of the term "emotional labour" - and the reality that all of them reflect the perpetuation of gender imbalances.

Saturday Morning Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Leslie Hook offers a reminder of the dangers of methane as a particularly damaging type of carbon emission which is both associated largely with fossil fuel production, and poorly tracked when it is emitted. And the Edmonton Journal makes the case for Jason Kenney to abandon his campaign rhetoric about scrapping any carbon tax (along with so much of the simplistic talking points which propelled him to power). 

- Merran Smith highlights the transition toward clean energy which is already taking place. And Tabatha Southey points out the glaring gap between the media's minimal recognition of existing clean energy, and its ostentatious cheerleading for the oil sector the face of economic and environmental reality.

- J. David Hughes examines the real reasons for increasing gas prices in British Columbia (contrary to the spin of fossil politicians trying to pretend it has anything to do with the TransMountain pipeline). And PressProgress points out that residents are well aware that it's big business that's making fuel unaffordable - which is exactly why renewables which aren't subject to the same scarcity represent a superior option for everybody but the privileged few accustomed to leveraging their closely-controlled resources into windfall profits.

- Kelly Crowe points out the Trudeau Libs' international position of trying to suppress information about the causes of exorbitant prescription drug prices. And NPR takes note of the continued pattern of exploitation by big pharma, as a new gene therapy treatment is being priced at a record $2.1 million per dose.

- Finally, Julia Conley writes about the growing income gap between CEOs and other workers. Joe Neel discusses new polling on the financial insecurity and lack of access to health care in the rural U.S. And John Cairns reports on Ryan Meili's rightful criticism that Scott Moe is utterly failing to address the root causes of crime and other social illnesses, while Kevin Doherty's return as a lobbyist offers a reminder as to how immediate profits for donors and insiders have always been the Saskatchewan Party's only focus.

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Jerry Taylor writes that any reasonable evaluation of the risks associated with a climate breakdown demands that we transition away from carbon pollution as quickly as possible. Aria Bendix points out that multiple major U.S. cities stand to become uninhabitable over the next few decades due to the consequences of climate change. Moira Welsh notes that Toronto is unprepared for the frequency and intensity of floods which are hitting it on a regular basis. And Sarah Rieger writes that Calgary's drinking water is at risk of contamination from wildfires upstream. 

- Atiya Jaffar discusses the growing movement for a Green New Deal in Canada, while Yanis Varoufakis is hopeful that a similar plan can united Europe's progressive forces. And Andrew Nikiforuk sets out a few of the most damaging myths about pipelines which have distorted any discussion of climate policy and fossil fuels in Alberta (and beyond).

- Eric Doherty points out how a transformation of transportation infrastructure needs to be part of any viable climate plan, while Cat Hobbs notes that common ownership will be a crucial feature of a transit system that better serves users while reducing carbon emissions. And Matthew Taylor points out how a reduction in work hours may play an important role in answering the climate crisis.

- David Hagmann, Emily Ho and George Loewenstein study the harmful effects of small "nudges" which lead people toward greater opposition against carbon taxes. But Neil Macdonald (for all the issues elsewhere in his reasoning) argues that a similar effect applies to carbon taxes themselves in distracting from, and undermining public support for, any more thorough transition to a clean society. 

- Finally, Lisa Xing discusses OpenMedia's push for a right to repair linked to electronics sold and used in Canada.

Saturday Morning Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Lana Payne highlights how the fight over carbon taxes fits into a broader framework of class warfare - and how the right's climate nihilism needs to be met with solutions which will include workers in the benefits of an economic transition. 

- Elise Stolte discusses how Edmonton has benefited from a carbon price which has reduced pollution from coal-generated power. And Lindsey Kines reports on the push by Victoria's city council for free public transit.

- Meanwhile, Steve Rukavina reports that Montreal is moving toward a ban on single-use plastic and styrofoam containers. And Ivan Watson, Jo Shelley, Sugam Pokharel and Ushar Daniele point out that we may not have a choice in the need to reduce our waste as Malaysia has become the latest dumping ground to decide it's not going to accept it anymore.

- Mathew Lawrence writes about Common Wealth's push to democratize the UK's economy as an important step in ensuring we recognize (and benefit from) our shared interests. And Tom Sandborn's review of Leigh Phillips and Michal Rozworski's The People’s Republic of Walmart reminds us that planning can serve public ends as well as profit motives.

- Finally, Hanna Rosin discusses how reduced empathy breaks the interpersonal bonds necessary for a functional society.

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- James Whittingham argues that the time for climate action measured in small household tweaks has long since passed. And Yanis Varoufakis and David Adler discuss the need for an International Green New Deal, while Stephen Buhler writes that oil industry workers recognize the importance of a Canadian version while worrying about being left behind in a transition process.

- Meanwhile, Kori Sidaway highlights how refineries are capitalizing on the right-wing carbon tax hysteria by taking far more in windfall profits than any increase attributable to new taxes (including in provinces where the federal carbon tax doesn't apply).

- Global Witness points out how trillions of dollars are being dumped into developing new fossil fuel projects which are entirely incompatible with averting climate breakdown. And Phil Willon reports that California may be joining Norway and other forward-thinking jurisdictions by defying Justin Trudeau's blinkered spin and taking action to limit any additional dirty energy development.

- The Canadian Press reports on Canada's painfully slow progress in catching up to the developed world on combating corporate corruption. And Ed Finn offers a reminder that our financial system has been set up to ensure that public projects are funded so as to produce private bank profits.

- Finally, Robert Benzie reports on the billion-dollar public price tag attached to Doug Ford's belief that beer is the only thing that matters. And Randy Robinson notes that Ford is slashing funding for flood protection just as rising waters threaten numerous Ontario communities.

On full considerations

Max Fawcett is right to a point in discussing the need to acknowledge the political problems with carbon taxes as matters stand now. But there's a serious problem with the conclusion he tries to draw.

It's true that carbon taxes were originally - and understandably - pitched as the form of greenhouse gas emission reduction which fit best with laissez-faire economic theory. And there are still a few lingering aftereffects of that outlook, including the British Columbia tax which remains on the books after being implemented by the right-wing Campbell Liberals. 

But if the opportunity for a consensus has been lost, we shouldn't pretend that has anything to do with carbon taxation as a theory.

Surely we're past the point where anybody will pretend for a second that the oil lobby and its servants on the right will engage in good faith with any type of proposal which might cut back on the profits linked to dirty energy.

For the most egregious example, remember that it took approximately two minutes for the Liberals to abandon a carbon tax after the 2008 federal election. And as soon as that happened, Stephen Harper's Cons in turn started slamming a cap-and-trade system of the type included in their own election platform as being a carbon tax in order to try to capitalize on their existing line of messaging.

Likewise, Doug Ford's PC government in Ontario scrapped a cap-and-trade regime which served as a substitute for the federal carbon tax - only to go to court to challenge the federal system it volunteered to join.

Moreover, even as the political environment for all types of climate policy has worsened, so too has our global climate outlook.

Policies which might have been sufficient to rein in climate change on their own if implemented twenty years ago will be insufficient to turn matters around in the next decade from a far worse starting point. And even a strict regulatory crackdown on industries alone would leave a dangerous amount of carbon pollution untouched, as households have historically represented a substantial percentage of Canada's greenhouse gas emissions.

In sum, the effort to avoid climate breakdown needs to include all available tools. And we can't afford to let a group of manipulative arsonists-for-hire dictate how we're supposed to avert a future conflagration.

[Edit: fixed wording.]

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Frank Clemente is the latest to point out how the Trump Republicans' tax cut scheme served only to further enrich the already-wealthy. And Bess Levin discusses the average one-cent bonus to workers that resulted from billions poured into corporate coffers.

- George Monbiot writes about the need for mass mobilization to push to avert an impending climate breakdown. Mark Cameron and Michael Bernstein point out that a strong majority of Ontarians are opposed to Doug Ford's high-cost, zero-evidence attacks on carbon pricing. And Richard Partington reports on Mark Carney's call for the financial sector to account for the costs and risks of environmental damage in making lending decisions. But Geoff Dembicki rightly notes that Canada as a whole has nothing to brag about in light of our continued fossil fuel subsidies and lack of progress reducing carbon emissions.

- Meanwhile, Joe Romm reports on the imminent inflection point where electric cars will be cheaper than combustion vehicles.

- Florence Stratton calls on the City of Regina to finally start funding Housing First to end homelessness, rather than offering only empty words. 

- Finally, Neil MacDonald discusses why white supremacy fits so neatly into Canada's right-wing political parties.

[Edit: fixed typo.]

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.


- Simon Enoch examines Scott Moe's bait-and-switch when it comes to carbon taxes, including his utter refusal to offer any other plan for province-wide emission reductions as a substitute for consumer-based carbon pricing. And Aaron Wherry points out how any carbon tax falls far short of the actual social cost of carbon. 

- Alissa Quart offers a reminder that the perceived necessity of second jobs and side gigs is a sign of a broken economic system which makes unfair demands of workers. And the Economist charts the pessimism many Americans have about the course of the next few decades when it comes to their standard of living, their health and their environment.

- Fay Faraday argues that Canada needs to stop exploiting migrant workers. But Bill Curry writes that the Libs are instead following the Trump/Scheer plan to strip rights and protections away from immigrants, including by slipping a blanket denial of refugee claims into an omnibus budget bill.

- Finally, Geoff Dembicki discusses Jason Kenney's choice to make his UCP into a breeding ground for bigotry. And Hugh MacKenzie studies the effect of the UCP's platform (or Kenney's even more austerian promises), concluding that its anti-social cuts would lead to the loss of tens of thousands of jobs.

Saturday Morning Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Crawford Kilian writes that Canada's Changing Climate Report should be a loud wakeup call about the need to avert climate breakdown, even as far too many people try to deny there's a problem or refuse to discuss meaningful solutions. Graham Thomson calls out Jason Kenney for lacking any plan other than an outdated attempt to hype carbon capture and sequestration as a substitute for practical emission reductions and industrial transitions. David Climenhaga notes that Preston Manning's conservative vision included "green capitalism" rather than the tar-coloured version currently favoured by Canada's right. Brendan Frank reviews the wide range of options available to governments in using carbon pricing revenue. And Mark Cameron offers a reminder that the federal carbon tax system - insufficient though it is as a climate policy - will actually result in a net financial benefit for households.

- Bob Weber reports on Environmental Commissioner Julie Gelfand's findings that the federal government doesn't even properly track - let alone follow up on - damage done to waterways due to pollution or site conversion. And Trevor Harrison and David Cooper rightly note that a remediation plan for abandoned oil and gas wells should be a major issue in Alberta's provincial election.

- Meanwhile, Teresa Wright reports on Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux' reminder that his office isn't receiving enough information to assess the "tax gap" between what the federal government should collect in revenue and what is actually received.

- Sharon Batt exposes the corporate money lobbying against a universal pharmacare plan in Canada (and apparently winning the Libs' ear in the process). And Danny Hakim, Roni Caryn Rabin and William K. Rashbaum discuss the Sackler family's scheme to simultaneously profit from deadly opioids and the treatment needed to try to free patients from their addictions.

- Finally, CBC News reports on Saskatchewan's latest Fight for 15 rally this week pushing for a liveable minimum wage. And Kati Pohjanpalo discusses the psychological and social benefits found in Finland's basic income trial when people can count on at least some secure income rather than relying on social programs designed to cut them loose at the first opportunity.

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- The Courage Coalition makes the case for Canada to pursue a Green New Deal of its own. And Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood points out the intergenerational harm of leaving climate breakdown to continue unabated, while Alastair Sharp reports on a new paper as to the problem with oil companies rewarding executives for unsustainable fossil fuel dependence.

- Meanwhile, James MacLean sees the Saskatchewan Party's just-concluded carbon tax reference as a prime example of the problems with trying to use posturing in court as a substitute for reasonable policy-making.

- Laura Stampler reports that in the midst of its attempt to turn a new corporate headquarters into a reality TV show, Amazon is paying precisely zero in U.S. federal taxes. And Bryce Covert argues that other cities should follow New York's lead in rejecting corporate giveaways at the expense of the common good.

- But sadly, Tom Parkin writes that the Libs' willingness to sell out the rule of law for the benefit of SNC-Lavalin shows Canada is far from the mark. And Andrew Coyne comments on how Lib backbenchers used their committee votes to prevent any meaningful investigation.

- Finally, Hillary Hoffower and Andy Kiersz report on the yawning gap between the U.S.' minimum wage and the cost of housing. And PressProgress documents how Jason Kenney plans to make it even more difficult for Alberta workers to make a living, while Ariel Fournier reports on the particularly pernicious effects of artificially low minimum wages for young workers.

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Arno Kopecky points out that new highs in nominal standards of living around the globe are being paired with unprecedented environmental damage which puts our future at risk. And Laila Yuile responds to John Horgan's version of the line that any smaller jurisdiction can avoid responsibility for the planet by minimizing its contribution to a collective action problem.

- Don Lenihan asks whether "polarizing" political developments are doomed to fail - though the example of a carbon tax seems like an odd one, as it drew support from across the political spectrum (including being implemented by B.C.'s right-wing Libs) before attacks became incorporated into the core message of the Cons and their provincial cousins.

- Arif Jetha discusses how precarity is harmful to workers’ health. And Michael Mendelson offers a reminder that complex rules and stringent requirements around social benefits lead to worse outcomes for both recipients and governments.

- Tom Parkin notes that the Libs are trying to paper over a failure to keep their infrastructure promises by repackaging planned projects through the high-cost privatized infrastructure bank. And Mairin Prentiss reports on the Libs’ outsourcing of military cleaning work.

- Finally, Owen Jones comments on how the UK’s oligarch-controlled media has distorted public impressions and stacked the political deck in favour of the right.

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Karl Russell and Peter Goodman note that lower unemployment rates in the U.S aren't translating into higher wages. Alena Semuels points out the barriers preventing people from moving in order to pursue a higher income. And Kevin Brice-Lall interviews Jonathan Rosenblum about the need for activism to push beyond the initial fight for a $15 minimum wage:

What can you tell us about the business backlash in Seattle — how did they fight the movement for a $15 minimum wage? Given the Ontario Liberal Party’s promise of a $15 minimum, what advice do you have for activists currently fighting against business lobby?
...
It’s critical for us to recognize what produces concessions in the first place. In my experience bargaining union contracts and negotiating with politicians, I’ve found that it’s easy to overestimate the importance of what happens at the bargaining table. When I’ve led union negotiations I’ve emphasized to bargaining team members that what we win in the end depends 90 percent on what we do outside of bargaining, and only 10 percent on what takes place inside the room.

There are three related principles that constitute the bedrock of effective movement work in politics. First, a clear recognition that anything and everything we win in the political arena isn’t the product of political enlightenment by the establishment; it’s a concession to our power.

Second, a recognition that power — the ability to shape and influence things — is what we get when we band together and take action, whether in the streets, workplace, in halls of parliament, or through political campaigns. Our power is a function of our demonstrated ability to harm, punish, or embarrass our adversaries, to disrupt their agenda. There are no gimmicks or shortcuts to building collective worker power. And third, an understanding that the balance of power is not static, and we have to keep organizing or we’ll lose whatever gains we’ve achieved.

- Meanwhile, Susan Delacourt discusses how the decline of retail sales (at least through many familiar businesses such as Sears) figures to affect political dynamics in Canada.

- Joe Gunn highlights how Canadians are still waiting for a federal government to start fulfilling the promise of reducing poverty.

- Sara Mojtehedzadeh reports on Ontario's new guidelines for mental health claims which (like those of too many other provinces) establish an unfair double standard. And Benoit Denizet-Lewis points out the alarming increase in anxiety among teens.  

- Finally, Alex MacPherson reports on a legal opinion from Manitoba showing (to nobody's surprise) that Brad Wall's posturing against federal climate change policy has no basis in reality.

Saturday Morning Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Jim Stanford writes about the obvious problems with globalization as it's currently structured - and the need to meaningfully take into account the public interest before anybody other than the investor class can be expected to participate in the process:

The reality is that hundreds of millions of people across the developed world (and in many developing countries, too) have been hurt by globalization as presently practised: whereby mobile private companies decide what to produce and where, and every jurisdiction can only bow down to business in hopes of capturing a slice of scarce investment and jobs.

We must remember that the economic theory underpinning free trade assumes that all resources (including all workers) will be productively employed, that trade flows will be balanced and mutually beneficial, and that the efficiency gains from trade will be shared throughout society. In the quantitative economic models routinely trotted out to “sell” each new trade deal, these assumptions are embodied in mathematical equations imposing full employment, balanced trade and the existence of a “representative household” (portraying each country as one big family, happily sharing all its wealth). None of these assumptions has any connection to reality; they are all imposed for the mathematical (and ideological) convenience of the economists.

...

Going to those devastated communities, the fodder for Brexit and Mr. Trump, and telling them they aren’t really unemployed, and are in fact better off than they think they are, will hardly turn the tide of this debate. If we want to avoid the isolationism, xenophobia and worse that Mr. Trump and his ilk portend, we must start by recognizing that there is indeed a downside to free trade.

Acknowledging that modern free trade produces losers as well as winners allows us to start developing and implementing policies to moderate those downsides – and purposely share the upsides. This means actively managing trade flows, limiting beggar-thy-neighbour trade surpluses, supporting incomes for all workers, ensuring sensible and fair exchange rates, and actively fostering domestic investment in desirable, trade-intensive industries.

All this implies a much bigger role for government in managing globalization than free-traders imagine. But it would be an infinitely more effective response to the gathering backlash, than trying to convince suffering people that they have nothing to complain about.

- Owen Jones highlights the need for Labour (like other progressive parties) to offer a voice to the working class - particularly given the dangers of allowing real insecurity to provide an opening for false populists. And Chris Kahn identifies a contrast in views about avoiding taxes as a key fault line between the likes of Donald Trump and the people whose votes could bring them to power.

- Richard Kozul-Wright weighs in on the problems with an economy built to enrich executives and shareholders at the expense of society at large. And Sara Mojtehedzadeh discusses the importance of workers' rights in the face of employer efforts to make employees' lives more precarious. 

- Brendan Haley points out that Nova Scotia's knee-jerk resistance to a federal carbon price was utterly misguided. Bruce Johnstone informs Brad Wall that a climate obstructionist has no credibility when it comes to criticizing any attempt to solve a global problem. Andrew Coyne observes that the Libs' actual announcement was a modest one. And Toby Sanger offers plenty of suggestions as to how to address any complaints about the effect of a carbon price.

- Finally, Cory Doctorow writes that the Libs' supposed consultation on security policy has turned into little more than a sales pitch for total surveillance. And Alison Crawford notes that a roundtable on the community effects of security policy has been left behind even as the state has become more intrusive over the past couple of years.

New column day

Here, on how the Libs' carbon price rollout managed to maximize the resulting sound and fury while signifying little actual progress.

For further reading...
- Marc Lee offered a reality check on the minimal effect of Justin Trudeau's price announcement, with reference to Marc Jaccard's study here (PDF). And Karri Munn-Venn also pointed out how a small carbon price falls short of what we need to rein in Canada's contribution to catastrophic climate change.
- Meanwhile, Bruce Cheadle reported on the disruption Trudeau caused to the meeting of Canada's environment ministers - even if Murray Mandryk was right to note that Brad Wall is utterly without credibility in complaining that his own obstruction isn't stopping all progress. And Aaron Wherry commented on the political fallout from the timing of Trudeau's announcement.
- Finally, Bill McKibben wrote about the current state of the climate, while George Monbiot commented here on the need to stop developing new fossil fuel projects.