Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Omar Mosleh discusses the growing damage being caused by repeated wildfires in Canada, while David Wallace-Wells writes that there's no escape from the air pollution being spread across the continent. And Don Pittis points out how public accounts which don't assess the non-pecuniary costs of climate change have resulted in a grossly distorted framework for discussion of climate policy.  

- Meanwhile, Frank Corini discusses Rhode Island's version of secretly-funded fossil fuel lobby groups who are polluting any effort to move to clean energy. 

- Angela Symons reports on a new UN Environmental Programme report showing how an 80% cut in plastic waste is entirely feasible by 2040 - though again getting there will require pushing back against the self-serving spin of the pollution industry. 

- Charles Rusnell offers a reminder that the UCP's history of bullying and dehumanization dates back to its founding and entire time in office. And Joel Dryden reports that even a normally-placid ethics commissioner accepting the UCP's preferred version of events without question has found Danielle Smith to have violated conflict of interest legislation by attempting to interfere in the prosecution of anti-public health extremists. 

- Finally, Cory Doctorow discusses how the U.S. has eventually reached the point of providing a free tax filing service (over the furious objection of the corporate monopolist which was otherwise taking a massive tithe on mandatory tax returns). And Tom Malleson writes that Canada has the ability to ensure that the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes - as long as we don't accept the excuse that it's not worth the political will to make it happen. 

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Zak Vescera reports on the CCPA's new research showing how an increasing number of jobs in British Columbia are precarious - with already-disadvantaged workers especially likely to be affected. Don Pittis points out the Bank of Canada's continued attempts to hold wages below the rate of inflation, while offering much-needed space for Kaylie Tiessen to point out how that focus results in its being a soldier for capital in an ongoing class war. And Nick French writes that the essence of socialism is rooted in justice for workers pursuing what's rightfully theirs.

- Andrew Petter and Jim Rutkowski write about the value of progressive populism as a tool to make the case for an egalitarian society.  And Rowan Burdge, Jen Kostuchuk and Ismail Askin point out the importance of ensuring that social justice is embodied in any climate plan in order to ensure people see the benefits of a clean energy transition. 

- Meanwhile, Roberto Burgos discusses how the latest IPCC report is both alarming in its expectations, and unduly optimistic in its assumption that we'll manage a full transition away from carbon pollution.

- Finally, David Beers discusses the need to value journalism as a public good - particularly as the Cons and their provincial cousins attempt to stifle any reporting or commentary other than from their own side's propagandists.

Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Pratyush Dayal reports on the COVID outbreak which has infected every single resident of a Regina care home. And Dan Scheuerman reports on the effect the drug poisoning crisis is having on people's health generally by further straining already-limited health care resources. 

- Don Pittis writes about the shock treatment being administered to the economy through interest rates hikes - and the explicit goal of suppressing wages so they don't catch up to locked-in increases in prices and profits. And Marc Fawcett-Atkinson points out that Alberta is both Canada's wealthiest province and the one with the most hunger - confirming again that mere GDP numbers don't translate into reasonable standards of living when the spoils of development are funneled to the privileged few. 

- Ben Sichel discusses the need to build organizing unions rather than mere service providers to members. And Eric Blanc interviews Harper McNamara, Sam Smith, and Atulya Dora-Laskey about the factors which enabled them to organize the first successful organizing drive at Chioptle - including workers' desire to have a say in working conditions which are otherwise set by management detached from the realities of the workplace. 

- Erika Shaker discusses what Canada should learn from the U.S.' partial forgiveness of excessive student debt. 

- Finally, Tracey Ferrier discusses the International Cleanup Conference's recognition that chemicals are already affecting food supplies (and stand to do so all the more based on a climate breakdown). And Dorothy Woodend interviews George Monbiot about his book Regenesis and the importance of ensuring that our methods of food production don't destroy the soil and natural environment necessary for our survival.

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Jennifer Hulme discusses how long COVID is causing devastating long-term effects on women in particular, with little apparent prospect of treatment to improve matters. And Linda Gaudino's report on the prevalence of long COVID offers an important reminder that the damage is both economic and physical. 

- Emily Leedham surveys the response of Ontario's major unions to Doug Ford's attempt to claim to have workers' interests in mind. And Adam King argues that Canadian labour law should be changed to enhance the right to strike - particularly by ensuring that non-union workers are able to strike in order to effect change in the workplace. 

- The CCPA examines how Saskatchewan's minimum wage continues to lag far below the cost of living even for a two-income family. And Don Pittis discusses how Canadians generally are seeing a need to cut back on consumer spending.

- Mitchell Beer reports on Caroline Dennett's revelations about Shell's complete disregard for the need for climate action despite a glossy greenwashing campaign. Innovative Research Group examines Canadian public opinion on the need for a just transition - with the phrasing of a particular question having an outsized effect on many respondents' support for change. 

- Sharon Udasin reports on Massachusetts' move to sue manufacturers over the "forever chemicals" used in a fire suppressant. 

- Finally, David Moscrop writes that the planned Rogers-Shaw merger is just the latest indication that private telecoms can't be expected to serve as anything but profit extractors - strengthening the case for public providers to ensure people have access to information. 

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Don Pittis writes about Janet Yellen's work to ensure that corporations pay their fair share, rather than being able to structure and artificially locate operations in order to exploit countries without contributing to them. And David Paddon discusses how Canada would stand to benefit from a global minimum corporate tax.

- Chris Giles reports on the IMF's call for a tax on wealth and windfall profits to ensure the people with the most actually fund relief and recovery efforts.

- Christine Saulnier and Charles Plante study the costs of poverty in Canada's Atlantic provinces, confirming that an investment in a decent standard of living for everybody will benefit the public purse as well as people's well-being. 

- Lawrence Mishel writes about the effect the erosion of collective bargaining has had on wages and economic equality in the U.S. And Paris Marx calls out Uber's attempts to have its workers permanently branded as sub-employees, turning a business model based on evading existing employment standards into a permanent feature of law.

- Finally, Jorge Barrera reports on the Lib government's efforts to prevent the development of an accurate historical record of the atrocities of residential schools. And Doug Cuthand writes about the desperate need to rewrite our received history to properly treat genocide and racism as the outrages they are, rather than minor blemishes on the historic record.

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Daniela Gabor writes that there's no reason to treat the spending needed to allow people to survive a pandemic-induced recession as an excuse for avoidable austerity.

- Seth Klein comments on the need to treat climate change as an emergency rather than a remote possibility. And Fiona Koza, Naolo Charles, Jennifer Beeman, Ingrid Waldron, Dayna Scott, Kristian Ferreira and Peter Wood discuss the opportunity for Canada to finally overcome a history of environmental racism. But Don Pittis points out how our climate breakdown has been pushed out of the centre of our current policy discussions - even as an inclusive Green New Deal represents the most sensible COVID-19 recovery plan. And Emily Atkin writes about the dangers of expecting solutions from the same systems and individuals who have failed to deal with the climate crisis before.

- Aaron Wherry examines the more glaring holes in the Cons' attempt to turn "great reset" into a sinister plot rather than the Libs' latest attempt at spin over substance, while the Star's editorial board highlights how it represents an attempt to normalize far-right conspiracy theories. And Tom Parkin notes that the Cons' failure to offer anything of value to voters looking for empathy and action is being reflected in their standing in the polls.

- Sean Frankling responds somewhat with evidence refuting an ugly attempt to use the need to work from home as an excuse to treat workers as dishonest. And the Economist goes further by charting how people are in fact working more hours during the pandemic.

- Finally, Jill Croteau reports on the glaring lack of action to apply the Westray Bill to hold employers responsible for causing the deaths of their workers.

Monday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to start your week.

- Jim Harding writes about the Saskatchewan Party's politically-driven lack of action to get COVID-19 under control. Gillian Steward discusses how empty any bleating about "freedom!" sounds when it means needlessly exposing people to a deadly virus. And David Climenhaga calls out Jason Kenney for being missing in action. 

- Tyler Dawson notes that health care workers are bearing the brunt of the latest wave of COVID-19 as they're expected to absorb massive new demands while facing increased risks to their own health.

- Doug Saunders argues that the coronavirus pandemic has exposed weaknesses in Canada's federal structure. And Rosa Saba notes that the problems with Employment Insurance which resulted in the temporary creation of the CERB apply equally to the parental leave system administered as part of EI.

- Scott Schmidt calls out the Cons and the National Post for seizing on obviously-false spin to try to attack anybody who dared to receive relief benefits. 

- Finally, Stefanie Davis reports on new research showing that energy efficiency is just one more area where Saskatchewan ranks last among Canada's provinces. And Don Pittis points out that private-sector actors are going ahead with clean energy generation even as the Moe and Kenney governments try to put off any transition.

Wednesday Morning Links

 Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Matt Gurney laments Ontario's utter failure to use months of lead time and information from around the world to make any meaningful preparations for a foreseeable fall wave of the coronavirus, while Bruce Arthur notes that Doug Ford is too busy denying the problem to do anything to ameliorate it. And the editorial boards of the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix and Regina Leader-Post make the point that vigilance in controlling the spread of COVID-19 is the only way to win any freedom as long as it's around.

- Lydia Wheeler and Paige Smith report on the lingering effects of COVID-19 even after people are declared to have recovered. And Shanita Hubbard writes about the realities of COVID-19 for families who don't enjoy Donald Trump's access to top-level, publicly-provided health care. 

- Grant Robertson reports on the federal government's awareness of the risks it created by dismantling its existing pandemic alert system. And Camille Bains points out that a failure to engage with the workers who deal with COVID-19 on the front lines was yet again a source of weakness in government responses.

- Alexander Hertel-Fernandez, William Kimball and Thomas Kochanexamine the preferences of American workers - and find strong support for unionization (under existing and new models) even as public policy is set up to preclude that possibility. And Adam Dean, Atheendar Venkataramani and Simeon Kimmel find that unionized nursing homes have better outcomes for residents than those with no counterweight to corporate control.

- Don Pittis discusses the looming likelihood of a K-shaped recovery, in which any growth in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic will be concentrated at the top of the income pyramid. And Peter Whoriskey, Douglas MacMillan and Jonathan O'Connell  chart how the U.S.' bailout was targeted to hand far more money to the people who needed it least.

- Finally, Chris Alders writes about the Kenney UCP's choice to push Alberta toward authoritarianism. But Scott Payne offers some hope that Kenney's war on women in particular may end his stay in power after a single term.

Thursday Morning Links

 This and that for your Thursday reading.

 - Patrick Brethour discusses houw the effects of the coronavirus pandemic have been anything but fairly or equally distributed. And Katherine Scott highlights how the effect has been to undo decades of already-slow progress in improving the conditions of single mothers.

- Don Pittis discusses how New Jersey's wealth tax provides an example for us to follow. And Andrew Jackson makes the case (PDF) for a wealth tax in Canada:

It is both reasonable and practical to add a wealth tax to our current arsenal of fair taxes, to be levied at a low but rising rate on very large fortunes. The aim would not be just, or even most importantly, to raise extra revenues, though these would add to fiscal capacity, but to prevent the accumulation of huge fortunes which give the ultra rich far too much power and undermine democracy. The ongoing shift of taxes away from labour to the owners of capital which undermines the fiscal base needed to support social programs and public services and exacerbates rising inequality must be reversed. While there are some difficulties in levying an annual wealth tax, it is ultimately a feasible political choice and a matter of political will.

- Stephen Gordon and Christopher Ragan discuss the prospect of updating the Bank of Canada's mandate both to better measure inflation, and to account for additional factors including employment. And Marc Lee points out the folly of obsessing over the federal debt in the midst of a pandemic.

- The Star's editorial board writes that it's time to address homelessness by building long-term housing, not only shelters. And Ashwin Rodrigues notes that any effort to rely on private-sector landlords to provide housing will need to contend with new gig-economy structures designed to facilitate evictions.

- Finally, Russell Smith points out how algorithms shape what we read online - including by directing readers away from anything that doesn't fit an arbitrary conception of a significant topic.

Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Don Pittis discusses how the spread of modern monetary theory is challenging some stale assumptions about government budgeting. And Sarath Peiris highlights how the Saskatchewan Party's plans for severe austerity are utterly unworkable without the federal government riding to the rescue of people who would otherwise be left without needed supports. 

- Ian Waddell points out that Justin Trudeau can easily avoid an unnecessary election by finding some much-needed tolerance for working with willing partners in the public interest. And while he accepts more of the Libs' spin on the relationship between the two parties than he should, Aaron Wherry takes note of the opportunities to work toward what the Libs constantly profess to be common goals. 

- PressProgress examines five of the biggest problems with Scott Moe's underfunded and poorly-thought-out orders for sending students back to school. And Alexandra Mae Jones discusses the importance of ventilation in limiting the spread of COVID-19 in schools. 

- Meanwhile, Nykole King comments on the gendered impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

- David Thurton reports on the Commission for Environmental Cooperation's study showing that tar sands tailing ponds are contaminating Alberta water supplies. And CBC News reports on a diluent pipeline spill near Fort McMurray.

- Finally, Tim Alberta writes about the fallout from a U.S. Republican party which has fully abandoned values and principles in favour of becoming an elite-funded personality cult. And Adnan Khan offers his take on the U.S.' ongoing implosion.

Wednesday Evening Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Nicole Lyn Pesce examines the growing evidence that people with even minor cases of COVID-19 may face neurological symptoms lasting for months. And Lauren Pelley writes about the need to start thinking about how to deal with a full winter of the coronavirus - though I'd argue we need to go further and start planning for the anticipated multi-year period of distancing and protective measures.

- Joseph Magnet discusses the inevitability of COVID-19 outbreaks in schools. John Michael McGrath writes that parents aren't expecting miracles, but have every right to demand effort, competence and compassion from the governments who have children's health and safety in their hands. Alex Soloducha reports on the rightful calls of Saskatchewan parents to have the province ensure an effective plan for any return to school rather than foisting blame (but no resources) on school boards. Amina Zafar surveys some doctors as to how best to check viral spread in schools, while the Alberta Federation of Labour recommends a workplace health and safety approach to minimize the prospects of a Cargill-style calamity.

- Jessica Yun examines why share prices are staying at all-time-high levels in the course of a pandemic which has severely reduced economic activity - with attacks on workers and wages looming large in the equation. And Don Pittis discusses the reality that assets available for fire-sale prices only further enrich the people who have spare wealth to acquire them.

- David Roberts writes about new research showing that the effects of air pollution are so severe as to make a transition to clean energy a clear economic benefit even if we ignore the climate crisis.

- But that makes it particularly depressing that Canada is handing out massive fossil fuel subsidies even compared to our international counterparts, rather than planning for any meaningful move toward renewables. And that goes doubly for Alberta's plan which is based on trying to extract temporary wealth from a greenhouse gas emissions path which will lead to an inevitable climate disaster.

- Finally, David Climenhaga warns us not to be taken in by promises of small nuclear reactors which serve only as a delay tactic rather than a viable part of the transition.

Saturday Morning Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Andrew Nikiforuk writes about the public's lack of familiarity with exponential growth which is proving lethal in its application to both COVID-19 and climate change. Jillian Horton points out the importance of continuing to treat the coronavirus as the emergency that it is rather than letting our guard down. And Sophie Black writes about the fear hanging over Melbourne as a second wave hits what had previously been a relatively lightly-affected country.

- Doyle McManus discusses his experience with Canada's quarantine rules and enforcement to curb the spread of COVID-19.

- Rob Breakenridge writes that universal masking is essential to any hope of avoiding another COVID-19 lockdown. But Don Braid notes that masking is merely necessary, but not sufficient, to avoid the spread of the coronavirus in schools. Megan Ogilvie and Rachel Mendelson report on the school safety recommendations of the Hospital for Sick Children - which include control over class sizes as an essential element. And Leyla Asadi points out that a responsible plan to reopen schools should include careful consideration as to what other means of community transmission can be minimized.

- Pete Evans reports on the effects of the pandemic on large businesses which are seeking creditor protection to try to weather the storm. And Don Pittis writes that we shouldn't mistake consumer spending supported by relief efforts for a full economic recovery - though we should be even more careful about thinking we can afford to turn off the tap.  

- Finally, Rick Smith sets out a path toward recovery which includes a needed transition to a green economy.

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Don Pittis writes about the emptiness of any discussion of energy options which doesn't account for the importance of averting a climate breakdown.

- Somini Sengupta discusses the deadly effects of unprecedented wildfires in the Arctic region, while Nadine Achoui-Lesage and Frank Jordans report that we may be headed to a 1.5 degree temperature increase as soon as 2024. Nita Bhalla reports on new UN research showing how climate change is contributing to the spread of COVID-19 and other diseases. And Eric Roston highlights how a hotter world will include unnecessarily large amounts of inequality and poverty.

- Rachel Adams-Heard and Ellen Gilmer highlight the reality that there's no justification for building new fossil fuel pipelines. And Kyle Bakx reports that the result of Alberta being handed a federal bailout to deal with orphan wells has been an actual slowdown in reclamation work.

- Bruce Campbell discusses the lessons which tragically haven't been learned in the wake of the Lac-Mégantic oil train explosion.

- Finally, Kristy Kirkup reports on polling showing that three-quarters of Canadian recognize the problem with systemic racism in the RCMP. Momtaza Mehri points out that the fight against racism involves far more than merely paying attention to one's own privilege. And Meagan Day comments on the vital role of the labour movement in building solidarity to overcome racism and other forms of prejudice.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Ethan Cox highlights how Canada's wealthiest few are raking in billions in additional wealth through the COVID-19 pandemic, and returning a pitiful amount in the form of charitable donations.

- Karl Nerenberg discusses how people already on the wrong end of social and economic inequality face disproportionate risks from plans to force people back to work while a lethal virus is still in circulation. And James Doubek reports on the "inequality on top of inequality" found in the U.S.' coronavirus death toll.

- Mahli Brindamour and Ayisha Kurji highlight the need to minimize the damage the continuing pandemic does to child development - which is particularly worth contrasting their against the provincial government's emphasis on restoring the normalcy of golf and recreational fishing before taking children's interests into account. Derek Thompson writes about the need to move beyond social distancing alone in minimizing the risk of transmission, while Jaason Geerts writes about some of the changes we'll need to make as a second wave of COVID-19 approaches.

- Don Pittis discusses the potential for economic transformation as we rebuild from COVID-19. And Mike Moffatt and John McNally warn that we need to prepare for a difficult if worthwhile trek toward a new normal, rather than pretending we can merely restart the old economy.

- Finally, Eleanor Ainge Roy reports on Jacinda Ardern's proposal for a four-day work week as one way of rebuilding for the better. And Ryan Stuart points out that a move toward smaller and more diverse agriculture can make us more resilient, in contrast to the potential shortage we're facing from centralized corporate processing.

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Tobias Jones discusses how COVID-19 has emphasized the importance of social interaction to human well-being:

It seems callous to suggest that this tenebrous pandemic is letting the light in, and daft to offer immediate consolations amid so much grief. But there is a sense that, with the world having ground to a halt, our fantasies are finally taking flight.

Much of what we have always been told was impossible is actually happening: the homeless are (in some places) being housed in hotels while prisoners are (in others) being released. Kids are told not to go to school and to forget exams. Massive government spending is ensuring that people are guaranteed an income even if they can’t work. Private hospitals in Spain are being nationalised. A hospital has been built in London under a fortnight. In Portugal, tens of thousands of migrants and asylum seekers have been “regularised” and given full rights. It’s not quite a revolution, but it’s an epic conceptual awakening.
...
The penny has also dropped that wellbeing isn’t individual but social. We are not actually independent at all, but dependent. We can make each other sick and we can try to make each other well. We’ve understood that a healthy community (as Wendell Berry wrote in his essay Health Is Membership) isn’t merely human, but also “its soil, its water, its air”.

It has been fascinating to see the speed at which other attitudes have changed. The indignation expressed towards people not respecting social distancing (from those who would never normally describe themselves as moralists) has been understandably shrill: here too we’ve suddenly realised that the wellbeing of the group is endangered by indifferent individuals, and that community – for which we’ve yearned for so long – means originally simply a pooling of duties.

- Laura Spinney writes that inequality doesn't just exacerbate pandemics, but also plays a role in causing them. Don Pittis writes that the coronavirus pandemic offers an important test of a government's willingness to invest in avoiding impending catastrophe - and that the results so far look worrisome based on the even larger threat of climate breakdown. And Gregory Beatty discusses how the U.S. in particular is seeing greed and political posturing overwhelm even the most basic of responses to COVID-19.

- Robert Reich points out how many of the "philanthropic" announcements made by billionaires in response to COVID-19 represent little but self-aggrandizement on the part of people who are actively exacerbating the crisis through their mistreatment of workers. 

- PressProgress calls out the Fraser Institute's attempt to use a pandemic to justify the long-term use of environmentally-destructive plastic bags. And Regan Boychuk argues that the oil companies who have made billions polluting Alberta shouldn't be allowed to "dine and dash" as part of a recovery effort.

- Finally, Sara Mojtehedzaden reports on the payday lenders exploiting a mass crisis with the explicit encouragement of the Trudeau government. Rupert Neate and Jasper Jolly note that hedge funds are extracting huge amounts of wealth betting on chaotic markets, while Lawrence Delevigne exposes one investment firm's attempt to abuse relief funding to take in windfall profits. And J. David McSwane and Yeganeh Torbati report on the Trump administration's choice to dole out sole-source contracts.

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Don Pittis writes about Thomas Piketty's take that Bernie Sanders may be exactly what the U.S. needs.

- Laurie Penny wonders whether we're yet capable of overcoming the culture of complicity around the powerful men daring the justice system to hold them to account for immoral abuses of others. Laura Bassett questions why Mike Bloomberg expects a pass on dozens of examples of harassment and discrimination. And PressProgress calls out Andrew Wilkinson for minimizing the harm suffered by survivors of domestic and sexual violence.

- Elisha Dacey reports that after seeing the benefits of a strong film industry, Manitoba is making its film tax credit permanent. And Zak Vescera reports on Scott Moe's willingness to forgo federal health care funding in order to leave Saskatchewan on the hook for the privatization of medical services which has led to a doubling of waitlists.

- Charlie Smith points out that liquid natural gas projects too make little sense from a sheer business perspective even if one assigns zero value to both Indigenous rights and environmental protection.

- Finally, Scott Schmidt discusses the importance of speaking out against harmful government choices rather than silently acquiescing in social destruction - and while his focus is on the UCP, the message is one worth applying generally.

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your year.

- Armine Yalnizyan writes about the ongoing struggle for workers' rights a century after the Winnipeg General Strike:

Most workers have no channels for acting, or even talking, collectively. That may be changing. Here in Canada, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers launched a campaign in May to organize Foodora’s bicycle and car couriers in Toronto, in hopes of providing access to basic workers’ rights. In June, 300 Uber drivers in the Greater Toronto Area formed a union with the United Food and Commercial Workers to push back against unfair labour practices. 

Workers are starting to rediscover the role of collective action and unions because there seems to be no bottom to how some employers will exploit them. 

...

One hundred years ago, people rose up against the status quo. Today, people are rising up against attempts to dismantle the status quo, turning back the clock on hard-won rights and freedoms.

- The Economic Policy Institute charts what should be some of the U.S.' top economic priorities for the year to come.

- Don Pittis offers some suggestions as to how to turn the tide to fight the climate crisis in 2020. Doug Cuthand muses as to how we'll remember the coming decade. And Rick Salutin writes that we're out of time to merely hope for the best rather than engaging in immediate action.

- The Victoria Times-Colonist's editorial board recognizes the problems in leaving long-term senior care in the hands of the private sector. And R E Klaber and S Bailey study the importance of including kindness as a governing principle in health care, rather than focusing solely on immediate dollars and cents.

- Finally, Jane Philpott makes the case for the decriminalization of drug possession as the solution to the opioid crisis.

Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Tom Blackburn writes about the UK's rare opportunity to elect a government which is actually committed to empowering workers.

- Don Pittis writes that an effective transition toward a clean energy economy will result in far superior outcomes for workers than an insistence on propping up a dying fossil fuel sector. But Wal van Lierop points out the immense amount of lobbying the oil industry carries out to ensure it receives handouts and policy privileges over sustainable alternatives. 

- Gary Mason discusses the dangers of putting the health and well-being of seniors in care in the hands of distant foreign corporations. 

- Dina Al-Shabeeb highlights the growing number of working people struggling to survive poverty in Vaughan (and elsewhere). And Michael Spratt points out how cuts to Legal Aid systems leave everybody worse off by denying access to justice to the people who need it most.

- Finally, Graham Thomson points out both Jason Kenney's desire to create a political environment of perpetual conflict, and his utter inability to handle any punishment of his own a once he gets his wish.

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Alexandra Zannis discusses the need to treat the end of poverty as a core policy goal. Peter Gilmer highlights how voters motivated by Christian ethics should be particularly focused on improving the condition of marginalized people. And Lynn Giesbrecht reports on Cindy Blackstock's work to call needed attention to the continuing systemic discrimination against Indigenous people in Canada.

- Meanwhile, Toby Sanger comments on the glaring need to crack down on tax havens and the wealthy few who abuse them to avoid contributing to the social good.

- Jason Markusoff examines the glaring flaws in the attempts of tar sands operators to paint themselves as environmentally responsible even by the standards of oil producers. Fiona Harvey, Damian Carrington, Jonathan Watts and Patrick Greenfield offer some suggestions to rein in the fossil fuel industry. Bruce Wilson writes that energy sector workers are well aware of the life-and-death stakes involved in carbon pollution. And Don Pittis rightly questions whether anybody trying to invest for the long term should want to bet on a dying sector.

- Eric Beinhocker writes about the need for a carbon abolition movement. And Polly Toynbee discusses the change in culture already flowing from growing activism against the climate crisis.

- Finally, Derrick O'Keefe writes that a strong turnout among young voters could result in a massive change to Canada's political status quo. And Laird Cronk and Sussanne Skidmore argue that voters should support an NDP government to end economic insecurity and precarity.

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Sarah O'Connor examines how the future of work may echo past practices - including a misleading picture of wages for gig work which is assumed to be more stable than is actually the case. And Astra Taylor discusses how socialism is growing in popular appeal in response to the inequality which has festered under neoliberal capitalism:

(T)he growing popularity of socialism may spring at least in part from the longer-term failures of this negative-branding campaign: Tell enough people struggling to make ends meet that socialism will allow them to consult a doctor without fear of bankruptcy, and perhaps to enjoy a restorative paid vacation now and then, and some are bound to think it sounds like a pretty good idea. That was definitely the gist of a well-traveled social media meme this winter that featured a Fox News segment on Ocasio-Cortez, Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, and the other left-aligned lawmakers sworn in to the 116th Congress; it counterposed sweetly smiling headshots of the alleged socialist insurgents alongside bullet-pointed policy goals, such as free college and Medicare for All, that actually poll quite well in American opinion surveys. The graphic made socialism seem not only appealing, but also au courant, thus inadvertently chipping away at decades of carefully crafted propaganda.


...
(R)esearch shows that many Americans who receive direct federal benefits, including Medicare and Social Security, wrongly report that they have never received government aid—perhaps because these are services they feel they have paid for, like any other product. The challenge for socialists, then, involves bringing what the political scientist Suzanne Mettler has called the “submerged state” above ground and into the light in order to identify and expand its benefits and beneficiaries, democratize its mechanisms, and decommodify more and more areas of life.


Decommodification is a key element of this process—“There should be no profit motive connected to things that human beings cannot survive without,” as Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor put it when we spoke—and not as radical a move as it may seem. Placing things beyond the market purview is hardly an untested or utopian concept. Public schools, for example, are based on the conviction that education is something everyone is entitled to, regardless of their ability to pay. Countries with universal health care have come to a similar determination about medicine, deciding potentially lifesaving medical treatments should not be limited to those who are wealthy enough to afford them. Every minute of every day, we use infrastructure and access information, from public roads to weather forecasts, that are universal and free. This is why democratic socialists are right to focus, for the time being, on proposals like Medicare for All and free college.


But the question at the center of socialism, Taylor continued, is not what services the state should provide—such as whether or not public housing should be more widely available, or whether there should be a jobs guarantee or a basic income or both—but rather who owns the state. “For me, socialism is about the collective control of society by the majority of people,” she says. “Right now, the majority of people, the people who create society’s wealth, never get asked questions about how society should be run.”

- And if we needed any further reminders as to how power is being used primarily to entrench inequality, Jen St. Denis reports on the federal government's lack of action in response to money laundering in Canada. Alex Hemingway rightly questions the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority's eagerness to introduce corporate control into the health care system. And Sharon Riley exposes how Alberta may soon be automating the licensing process for oil and gas wells, ensuring that no human being evaluates the safety and environmental concerns raised by their use.

- Meanwhile, Don Pittis offers a reminder that clean energy already offers more opportunity for workers than dirty fossil fuels - and this before any level of government has planned out a meaningful transition from the latter to the former.

- Finally, Michael Harris writes that we should neither put up with Justin Trudeau's contempt for social and environmental justice, nor buy for a second the view that Andrew Scheer is an acceptable (or the only) alternative.