Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Melissa Hanson writes about life as a climate refugee from what was billed as a relatively safe area - making for a particularly painful position in the midst of an election where a major contender denies both the reality of climate change and the humanity of refugees generally. Andrea Thompson points out that a natural disaster such as Hurricane Helene will have continuing impacts on victims for years to come. Jonathan Watts reports on new research showing that wildfires are rapidly burning through humanity's carbon budget, while Benjamin Shingler charts how Canada's 2024 wildfire season was severe by any standard other than the unheard-of fires of the previous year. And Marko Hyvarinen et al. study how our climate is breaking down faster than many species can possibly adapt. 

- Katharine Hayhoe discusses how China is far ahead of the rest of the world in developing clean and cheap renewable energy. But Richard Murphy laments that UK Labour is joining far too many Western governments in throwing massive amounts of free money at the fossil fuel sector even while telling citizens they'll have to fend for themselves in an environment of austerity. And Karin Larsen reports on Burnaby's agreement not to criticize Trans Mountain after its pipeline was forced through the city at pblic expense. 

- Jon Milton interviews Nora Loreto about the decline of public services in Canada in the name of neoliberalism. And Linda McQuaig discusses how the Ford PCs - like their ideological cousins elsewhere - are undermining public health care in order to ensure donors can profit from needed health services. 

- Meanwhile, Angela Amato reports on the UCP's decision to facilitate corporate influence and control in municipal politics.

- Colin Lecher and Tomas Apodaca expose how Facebook profits from the environment of violent extremism which it promotes. And Alex Kierstein reports on Ford's patent filing seeking to eavesdrop on car users in order to foist ads on the occupants of vehicles.

- Finally, Fair Vote Canada fact checks Justin Trudeau's excuses for breaking his promise of a fair electoral system - while highlighting that its members and others who support a more proportional system were specifically targeted for misleading promises which Trudeau never planned to fulfil. 

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Stephanie Desmon interviews Ziyad Al-Aly about the reality that anybody infected with COVID-19 faces a substantial risk of heart problems as a result. And Moira Wyton examines what British Columbia could be doing to limit the spread of the Kraken sub-variant, while Paul Faulkner reports on Ian Watkinson's call for air cleaning units to reduce the transmission of respiratory infections in schools. 

- Meanwhile, F. Douglas Stephenson offers a reminder that the pharmaceutical industry has every incentive to see people get sick and require treatment, rather than acting responsibility to avoid the spread of disease. 

- Ari Natter reports on the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's work examining whether gas stoves should be regulated due to their contribution to asthma and other respiratory ailments. And Oliver Milman notes that many U.S. cities are finally pushing back against the spread of parking lots which encourage vehicle use while disincentivizing any other form of transportation - even as Peter Walker observes that policies aimed at reducing avoidable vehicle traffic are met with a particularly virulent strain of conspiracy theory in response.  

- Finally, Vivian Unger discusses how an electoral system which awards absolute power based on a minority of votes can be expected to break down trust between the public and the politicians who are supposed to be serving it. 

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Kit Yates offers a reminder of ignoring the exponential growth of COVID-19 as the Delta variant puts many jurisdictions back on that same path. And the BBC reports on the belated recognition by Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte that the slashing of public health protections was leading to high infection levels - particularly in bars and nightclubs. 

- John Agliata writes about the prolonged pain, stress and anxiety experienced by COVID long-haulers which creates obvious risks of suicide - a point which is distinctly ignored by the people who have demanded the relaxation of restrictions based on a supposed concern about mental health. Ashley Okwuosa discusses how an outbreak was allowed to overrun Brampton's Ontario Correctional Institute, resulting in dozens of COVID-19 cases among inmates, staff and their families. 

- Murray Brewster reports on a review panel's findings that Canada's pandemic warning system was gutted under the Harper Cons and never rebuilt while the Libs were in power. And Tom Parkin discusses how Justin Trudeau has undermined the movement for paid sick leave across Canada by shirking responsibility and pointing fingers at provincial governments. 

- Fair Vote Canada points out the risk that one of the Libs' most glaring broken promises could combine with Trudeau's cynical election posturing to produce the most unrepresentative majority government Canada has ever seen. 

- Finally, the Broadbent Institute calls for a fair tax system which doesn't reward idle capital owners with lower tax rates compared to workers. 

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Eric Cadesky writes about the psychology behind adherence to - and deviation from - the social distancing rules needed to keep us all safe.

- Nora Loreto discusses how COVID-19 has exposed the lethal problems with Canada's long-term care system. Karl Belanger points out that among the other warnings, Howard Hampton tried to highlight the neglect of residents in 2007 - only to see austerian governments continue to hold power. And Susan Delacourt discusses the role the federal government can play in ensuring that seniors are treated with care, while Scott Schmidt calls out Jason Kenney's UCP for declaring it's willing to sacrifice residents' lives if it means profits keep flowing.

- Kelly Grant and Carly Weeks examine Ontario's hot spots for community transmission of the coronavirus - as well as the social inequalities they reflect. And Jennifer Yang discusses the prospect that workplaces will be the new danger zones.

- Fair Vote Canada makes the case to restore democratically-determined per-vote funding to our federal political parties.

- Finally, Sandy Garossino discusses how Stephen Harper has cemented his place as an embarrassment since being voted out of office.

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Emily Stewart reports on Elizabeth Warren's message about the need to end corruption and corporatism in order to make U.S. politics work for people. Martin Wolf writes that a rigged economic system is undermining the prospect of viable democracy. And Andrew MacLeod examines where Canada's federal parties stand when it comes to tax fairness.

- Jennifer Wells makes the case for the federal government to buy GM's Oshawa plant as a hub for the development of electric vehicles in Canada. And the Guardian's editorial board offers its support to the spread of worker-owned industries as a means of sharing wealth and power.

- Oliver Milman reports on the growing desire for strong climate action in the U.S., with two thirds of the public demanding a policy response to our climate breakdown. Ben Ehrenreich discusses how public activism is vital in building the action needed to counter entrenched interests in business and government, while Geoff Dembicki wonders whether we'll see Canada's political parties match leading Democratic presidential contenders in calling out the oil industry as a villain. And Bill McKibben points out the significance of large pools of capital concluding they're not prepared to fund the continued degradation of our living environment.

- Meanwhile, Max Fawcett highlights how Jason Kenney is trying to amplify the most toxic of petro-politics.

- Finally, Fair Vote Canada has released the results of a new poll showing a strong majority of Canadians in favour of a proportional electoral system.

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Nick Falvo lists ten things to know about social programs in Canada. And Mike Crawley offers a painful example of Ontario's social safety net and employment law both falling short, as injured workers are forced to go to work even when ill or injured in the absence of paid sick leave.

- David Cay Johnston writes that while corporate tax slashing won't do anything to boost the U.S.' economy, it may do plenty to undercut businesses who have planned based on tax rates as they stand.

- Make Votes Matter makes the case for UK Labour to push for proportional representation - including by pointing out how it leads to a more fair and equal society. And Fair Vote Canada is pushing for an NDP-Green agreement on electoral reform in British Columbia.

- Meanwhile, Ethan Cox discusses what should an obvious choice facing B.C.'s Greens in deciding between giving voters the change they want, and owning another term of Christy Clark's corporatism as usual. And Vaughn Palmer notes that Clark is the most important loser from yesterday's election.

- Finally, Daphne White interviews George Lakoff about the importance of fitting political messages into frames which will resonate with voters.

New column day

Here, following up on this post as to the Libs' cynical repudiation of the very concept of ideas and values in politics.

For further reading...
- Fair Vote Canada's list of National Advisory Board members is here - and as noted, it hardly reflects the spin of being "anti-Liberal". And FVC's statement as to the importance of being involved in electoral politics is here.
- I've covered most of the policy points mentioned in the column before, but will add David Hulchanski's post on the Libs' illusory housing spending.
- Joanna Smith reports on the Libs' attempt to strip opposition parties of their ability to hold a government to account (as well as the necessary response). Paul Wells discusses Justin Trudeau's contempt for question period - which is as obvious when he's failing to answer every question posed as when he's choosing not to bother showing up. And Andrew Coyne points out how the unaccountable concentration of power in the PMO is only undermining any perception of legitimacy in federal decision-making.

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Citizens for Public Justice laments the Libs' and Cons' joint effort to vote down the NDP's push for a national anti-poverty strategy. And Sean Speer and Rob Gillezeau make the case for an improved Working Income Tax Benefit which should be palatable across the political spectrum.

- CBC reports that Saskatchewan students are lagging behind their peers in all Canadian provinces in science, reading and math - and it's worth noting that this represents just another example of an obsession with standardized testing failing even on its own terms.

- Meanwhile, SASKforward is offering citizens a chance to have their voices heard and amplified through a process other than the ones run by the Sask Party government and its corporate benefactors.

- Robert Fife and Steven Chase report that the Libs' cash-for-access fund-raisers have explicitly been pitched as allowing people who can afford a maximum donation to buy the ear of cabinet ministers. And even the Globe and Mail isn't buying the Libs' excuses.

- Finally, Karl Nerenberg discusses how the Libs' most recent survey represents nothing but a poorly-hidden effort to stifle electoral reform, while Fair Vote Canada offers a guide to avoid getting pushed toward the Libs' preference for non-proportional outcomes. And Rank and File interviews Charles Smith about labour's role in pushing for a more fair electoral system.

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Frank Graves writes about the decline of Canada's middle class - and notes a parallel between the type of economy which tends to produce broad social failure, and the Cons' familiar obsession with extraction:

The other key factor is rising inequality and a failing middle class. Our evidence has shown that as economic issues have become the dominant concerns for Canadians they are — for the first time in our research — twinned at the pinnacle of public issues with blended concerns about fairness and inequality. These are not the traditional and more modest concerns we have seen about the gap between the rich and poor. The new and more potent linkage is the gap between the über rich and everyone else. Nowhere is this dynamic more evident than in what can only be described as the crisis of the middle class.

The middle class has always been by far the most popular self-defined class denomination in upper North America — one of the reasons it is such a popular political target. The 20th century ascension of the United States to the “hyperpower” status it enjoyed as little as a decade ago was largely the culmination of an unprecedented period of middle class ascendance.
...
In analysing why societies fail, Daron Acemoğlu has a very insightful theory that suggests the harbinger of societal failure is a shift from an ‘inclusive’ to an ‘extractive’ economy. The swelling of upper North America’s middle class in the 20th century is a shining example of a successful inclusive economy. Among other examples, Acemoğlu argues that Venice went from backwater to world powerhouse and back to a sterile urban museum-in-waiting when it shifted from an inclusive to an extractive economy. The diminution of taxes and public services and the rise of the ‘one per cent’ has been coupled with a similar shrinkage and relative decline in the North American economy — and could be a chilling harbinger of our future economic well being.

- But look on the bright side: at least our mass-murder industry is seeing massive international growth potential thanks to the Cons' choice of trade priorities.

- Andrew Pollack discusses the latest example of how prescription drug profits can fall neatly into the pure extraction category - as a drug launched in the 1950s is now being widely sold in the U.S. for $28,000 per dose.

- Finally, Wilf Day posts a thorough rebuttal to an attempt to change Fair Vote Canada's focus from higher-level proportional representation to municipal-level instant runoff voting.

A different story

Yessiree, the conventional wisdom goes, Canada's political parties are all the same. Especially the NDP, which having reached Official Opposition status is sure to abandon any pretense of principle when it comes to, say, electoral reform. (Especially now that it's actually benefitting from first-past-the-post.)

But wait, what's this?

Spokespersons from various parties participated in a political panel to give their point of view on how to move forward on electoral reform in the new political landscape. Tyler Crosby, Legislative Assistant to David Christopherson, the NDP critic for electoral reform, announced that the NDP would introduce a motion on proportional representation in the House in the next session.

Bruce Anderson is presumably unavailable for comment.

Sunday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your weekend reading.

- Brian Topp rightly points out the inconsistency in how NDP poll results are reported:

(M)aybe this is a poll varying inside its margin or error, more or less. Like the other polls we've seen so far – some of which are being breathlessly analyzed despite much recent discussion about the credibility of doing so.

But you can't have it both ways, fellow poll analysts. If a two-point drop in one national poll is national news, then so is a three-point increase.

- I'm in full agreement with what Dick Gauthier thinks Canadians should be hoping for out of their election campaign. But isn't his suggested history lesson for the Cons pretty much identical to Stephen Harper's list of social policy he's worked to undermine while in office?

Stephen Harper keeps harping about the coalition boogeyman hiding in the closet just waiting to pounce on unsuspecting Canadians if his party is not given a majority in Parliament.

Any clear-thinking conservative needs only to google Canadian coalition governments to obtain a quick history lesson.
...
Although he never had a majority in the House of Commons, (Pearson) managed to bring in many of Canada's major social programs, including the much-revered universal health care, the Canada Pension Plan and Canada Student Loans, and established a new national flag. This was due in part to support for his minority government from the New Democratic Party, led by that great Canadian, Tommy Douglas.

His legislation included instituting the 40-hour work week, two weeks' vacation time and a new minimum wage.

Coalition governments work well when individuals are willing to co-operate in bringing forth good legislation that enhances the well being of all Canadians.

- It's been a huge plus to see some serious pushback against the Cons' attacks on public per-vote financing. And it isn't just the opposition parties making the case for political activity as a social good worth funding, as Fair Vote Canada has chimed in as well:

Fair Vote Canada, a national citizens’ movement for fair voting reform, has endorsed ballot-triggered public funding programs and called for the elimination of corporate and union campaign contributions in federal, provincial and municipal elections, in addition to its core demand for the use of proportional voting systems at all levels of government and civil society.

“Public financing of election campaigns creates a level playing field,” added FVC Executive Director Wayne Smith. “The per-vote subsidy introduces an element of proportionality to our winner-take-all system. Let the voters decide. Let every voice be heard.”

- Finally, Armine Yalnizyan points out that while pinching pennies when it comes to Canada's most vulnerable seniors, the Cons have already given away enough to wealthier retirees to end senior poverty in Canada:

The Alternative Federal Budget estimates that an increase of 15 per cent in the Guaranteed Income Supplement -- targeting another $100 a month to those seniors with very low incomes -- would be enough to lift most Canadians aged 65 and older above the poverty line. That would cost $1.164-billion.

Sound like a lot? Since 2007, public policy initiatives that impact seniors total considerably more than $1.2-billion a year. The government of Stephen Harper could have handily eliminated poverty among the elderly if that had been an objective. It was not.
...
In 2007, the Harper government introduced income splitting of pensions. Estimated by the Library of Parliament to cost $687-million that year, the annual tax expenditures report from the Department of Finance shows it actually cost the public treasury $920-million in 2010.

About a third (32 per cent) of that pot of money went to households with incomes over $90,000. In 2007, fewer than 10 per cent of all seniors’ households made more than $90,000. About three quarters (74 per cent) went to households making more than $60,000. In 2007, less than a quarter of all seniors’ households had incomes above $60,000.

Roughly 40 per cent of seniors live in households with incomes below $30,000. However, they only get 5.8 per cent of the benefits from the new tax treatment of pension splitting. The poorest households -- usually those who live alone, mostly elderly women -- get nothing from this $920-million initiative.

If we took that money and targeted it to Canada’s 634,000 poorest seniors, they would each get $1,450 more a year. Enough to make a huge difference in their daily lives. Enough to get rid of poverty.

Instead, the government chose to put more money into the pockets of the most well-off seniors.

It’s hard to imagine more ineffective public policy. Without doubt, we could do better. Sadly, we did even worse.
...
Fewer than five million Canadians – not quite one in five eligible Canadians – have opened a Tax Free Savings Account. By the end of 2010, these accounts held about $19 billion-in assets. Reports indicate that it primarily benefits the elderly and the affluent, with highest take-up among those over 65.

The program has reduced federal revenues by hundreds of millions of dollars each year compared to just two years ago, despite economic recovery.

In a nation as affluent as ours, seniors’ poverty doesn’t have to exist at all. Based on what seniors already get out of public policy, we can afford to help. We don’t have to spend more. We just have to spend it differently.