Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Ziyad Al-Aly offers a reminder of the immense body of evidence showing that COVID-19 leaves a lasting impact on the brain. And Hannah Devlin reports on new research on the sustained impact of "brain fog" in particular. 

- Ryan Meili writes about the syndemic effects of communicable diseases and poverty. And Scott Santens exposes the billionaire-funded campaign to prevent local governments in the U.S. from alleviating poverty through basic income projects. 

- Drew Anderson examines the absurdity of Danielle Smith's ban on clean energy, as the same government pushing through open-pit coal mining on the side of mountains declares that renewable energy will be stifled in the name of "pristine viewscapes". And Jason Wang writes that the attack on renewables is contrary to any desire to keep utilities affordable, while Duane Bratt points out that it's also irreconcilable with any interest in economic efficiency. 

- Meanwhile, Anderson also notes that the nasty surprises in the UCP's budget include making Alberta the latest province to target a specific tax toward emission-free vehicles, confirming their desire to subsidize carbon pollution. And Graham Thomson observes that the UCP is managing to break promises and defy belief by simultaneously imposing austerity, borrowing more and relying more heavily on one-time resource royalties. 

- Finally, Andrew Gregory reports on new research into the large number of health risks from ultra-processed foods 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Francesca Paris examines the cognitive disability facing many younger American adults (among others) as a result of long COVID. 

- Trish Hennessy discusses the need for a focus on social investments and preventative action to improve public health.  

- But both Graham Thomson and Gillian Steward warn that Danielle Smith is instead trashing Alberta's existing health care system to cater to anti-vaxxers and corporate interests alike. And in case there was any doubt as to the damage which will result from ideological anti-socialism, Bryn Levy reports on research showing how important vaccine mandates were in overcoming systemic barriers to basic preventative action.  

- Meanwhile, Gaye Taylor reports on the call for a fossil fuel phaseout from 46 million health professionals - which figures to be another reason why the very concept of health is in the crosshairs of petropoliticians. 

- Finally, Clara Pasieka reports on the continued escalation of food bank reliance in Toronto, as 1 in 10 people are unable to afford food for themselves. And Ximena Gonzalez points out how a punitive "welfare" system produces worse outcomes both for the people trapped in poverty, and the society which allows it to fester.

Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Dhruv Khullar writes about the likelihood that a continued lack of public health measures will push the vast majority of people toward multiple COVID-19 reinfections, including ones which may not show up on less-sensitive tests. And Carolyn Barber discusses how decision-making around the continued pandemic is being dumped on individuals who largely aren't aware of the long-term risks of constant exposure. 

- Trevor Dunn tells the story of Lynn Spiegel and other seniors who are facing homelessness due to a broken housing system which is oriented toward capturing profits rather than providing for people's basic needs and rights.

- Tim Di Muzio and Matt Dow write about the need for a fundamental change in our energy system in order to extricate ourselves from both the environmental toll of a climate breakdown and the social harm resulting from our fuel supply being under the control of a cartel of bad actors.

- Finally, Graham Thomson wonders whether Danielle Smith's constant pandering to the alt-right will change at all now that she's set to take power - though the early indications look anything but promising. And Frank Graves and  Jeff Smith examine the spread of authoritarian populism in Canada.

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- David Wallace-Wells examines the massive global toll of excess deaths from COVID-19 (likely far exceeding even the already-alarming official counts). Nele Brusselaers et al. examine how Sweden's choice to ignore science in favour of wishcasting and a strategy of deliberate infection resulted in avoidable tragedy, while Heidi Ledford looks at the possibilities and uncertainties in trying to medicate our way around long COVID. And Dr. Thomas Piggott discusses why he's still making sure to mask up to avoid not only illness for himself, but potentially deadly consequences for people who can't protect themselves. 

- Stewart Lansley examines the causes and consequences of the UK's model of extractive capitalism - with the predictable result being the concentration of wealth and power in a lucky few while everybody else faces perpetually more precarity. And Erica Pandey notes that the executive class is far more eager to force employees back to the office in person than workers are to take avoidable risks in the midst of an ongoing pandemic.

- Meanwhile, Laura Chinchilla and Maria Fernanda Espinosa discuss the importance of ensuring that the women who stand to bear the brunt of climate change are at the table in determining how best to avert and adapt to it, while Jeremy Appel writes that we can't afford to doom ourselves to a climate breakdown as part of a toxic masculinity contest with Vladimir Putin. And Donna Lu reports on satellite data showing that Antarctica's Conger ice shelf has collapsed. 

- David Moscrop writes about the hopeful prospect that the NDP-Lib supply and confidence agreement will lay the groundwork for a universal drug plan. And Jacques Gallant reports on the Libs' recognition that increased health care investment needs to be tied to specific priorities and outcomes, rather than being redirected to suit the political purposes of premiers. 

- Finally, Scott Schmidt examines the constant internal bickering and backstabbing within conservative parties which seems to have completely overtaken any interest in discussing policy choices. Graham Thomson reminds us that Jason Kenney has spent his entire time in Alberta politics courting the lunatics he now claims to need to control. And Taylor Lambert reports on the background to Jason Nixon's ascent to environment minister - featuring one of the UCP's trademark appointments of the person with the absolute worst combination of qualifications and suitability to oversee a government department. 

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- David Bush discusses how the latest wave of COVID-19 would have been entirely avoidable if we hadn't allowed corporate interests to suppress vaccine availability and turn workplaces into super-spreaders, while Andreas Laupacis confirms that we had (and have) more than enough knowledge to rein it in if our leaders cared enough to bother. Clara-Laeila Laudette reports on new research showing that the Omicron variant is far more likely to cause reinfection than previous versions of COVID, but no milder when it does take hold. Alexander Quon reports on Dr. Saqib Shahab's warning that people need to be cautious over the holidays, while Denis Campbell reports on the calamitous state of the UK's health-care system as massive spread among workers leaves nobody to treat increasing numbers of patients. Sabrina Maddeaux writes about the importance of proper ventilation in reducing viral spread.

- Ashleigh Stewart reports on the disinformation campaign pushing anti-vaccine positions in Canada. And Phil Tank reports on the steps anti-vaxxers took to take over Saskatchewan's Buffalo Party before putting themselves at Scott Moe's service.

- Graham Thomson discusses why Albertans need to be wary of the UCP's attempts to torque the province's political system to gloss over their past wrongs and eliminate competing voices just in time for the next provincial election.

- Finally, Matt Gurney writes that Justin Trudeau's hatred for the left reflects the fact that it actually stands for the principles which he seeks to claim for his own through mere lip service. And Eoin Higgins discusses how the COVID pandemic and other crises have pushed people to distinguish fakery from actual principles and solutions.

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Anand Giridharadas writes about the dangers of letting political discussions become primarily a matter of process and personalities, rather than the real impact decisions have on people's lives. 

- Graham Thomson calls out Jason Kenney for his consistent refusal to acknowledge the reality of COVID - both in communicating with the public and in making decisions about how to respond to a deadly pandemic. And Tanya Lewis points out the need to upgrade face masks to deal with more infectious COVID variants. 

- Kristian Nielsen examines the role privileged people will play in determining whether we're able to avoid a climate catastrophe. Max Fawcett discusses Canada's choices in its approach to the upcoming United Nations climate change conference - noting that all available evidence suggests that it's countries who get ahead of the inevitable transition to clean energy who will be best off in the long run. And Rebecca Leber discusses how Republicans are ensuring their states will be left behind by prohibiting municipalities from implementing any effective climate action. 

- Meanwhile, Heather Scoffield writes that investors and financial institutions are recognizing that the future is renewable as well - though they may need a boost from public policy to fully incorporate the into their decisions. 

- Douglas Todd writes about the reemergence of inheritance culture, as the children of families with wealth to spare are nearly alone in their ability to afford a home in Canada's major cities. And Chris Lehmann reviews Matthew Stewart's The 9.9 Percent as an important description of the group of workers outside the wealthy elite which works to preserve its privilege. 

- Finally, Melissa Ridgen interviews Murray Sinclair about the path toward reconciliation. And Martin Lukacs writes about the Defenders of the Land who are challenging the exercise of colonial power and pointing the way toward reconciliation based on the mutual recognition of rights.  

Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Graham Thomson discusses how the UCP has put politics over public well-being in choosing to let COVID run rampant (while now seeking to fund-raise off of opposition to even the most basic measures to let people reduce their own risk). And Carrie Tait discusses how Alberta parents are scrambling in the face of a new policy to refuse to inform people of positive cases in schools.

- Raiyan Chowdhury offers an ICU doctor's voice in speaking to the unvaccinated people who have made the choice to pose a danger to themselves and others. And Karen Howlett reports on Saskatchewan's choice to follow Alberta in putting essential surgeries and other medical treatment on hold to make room for preventable COVID cases.

- Armine Yalnizayan writes about the need to focus on the care economy, particularly as its workforce faces both a wave of retirements and massive burnout.

- Stephanie Hughes reports on new research showing the different faces of financial precarity in Canada - with homeowners generally carry larger debts, but renters being twice as likely to be unable to keep afloat.

- Finally, Matt Stoller discusses how predatory capitalism has undermined the supply chains necessary to ensure people actually have access to the goods they need. And Michelle Cyca interviews JB MacKinnon about the problems with consumption for its own sake.

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Graham Thomson writes about Jason Kenney's choice to base his governing strategy on COVID denialism. William Hanage expresses his disappointment at Boris Johnson's continually woeful pandemic response - though it's hard to see why anybody should have expected anything different. And Ed Yong talks to Rhea Boyd about the U.S.' unvaccinated population - including the reality that many people have indeed held off out of hesitancy or lacked an opportunity to access vaccines, rather than being single-minded anti-vaxxers. And Katherine Wu writes about the growing recognition that people who have been vaccinated still need to take precautions to protect themselves and others - including resuming wearing a mask even after right-wing voices have declared it's time to burn them. 

- Meanwhile, Adam Morton reports on the risks facing Australia as it depends on natural gas export revenues which are set to evaporate as its customers shift to renewable energy sources. And Fiona Harvey reports on a growing coalition supporting a "global green deal". 

- David Thurton reports on a new study by the Pembina Institute showing that Canada is falling far short of even its insufficient climate change commitments. Chris McGreal writes about the corporate lobbyists blocking any path toward meaningful climate policy in the U.S. And Alex McMaster highlights how the climate breakdown is only exacerbating inequality in Ireland. 

- The Joseph Rowntree Foundation examines how the UK's system of social supports falls far short of providing people with the resources or security they need to avoid being trapped in poverty. And Derek Dunn talks to Angella MacEwen about the importance of treating housing as a human right rather than a market commodity - as well as the readily-available mans to make that happen. 

- The Star's editorial board calls out the Ford PCs for governing solely in the interests of corporate cronies rather than the public. 

- Finally, Jacques Gallant writes about the Libs' cynicism in setting up a bill banning conversion therapy to stall prior to the election they're bent on calling. And Andrew Coyne highlights how Justin Trudeau has managed to capture activists' values in the service of rank political opportunism. 

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Matt Karp writes about the connection between heavily polarized politics, and the concentration of wealth in the hands of people whose interests are served by voters rooting for laundry rather than holding meaningful input into policy choices.

- May Warren reports on the reality that the faster-spreading B.1.1.7 variant of the coronavirus is likely to become dominant in Canada over the next few weeks. Lauren Pelley reports that even if the COVID-19 pandemic is reined in, we can likely expect to see forms of the virus become a regular part of our lives for years to come. Sophia Harris notes that any new measures to identify and contain COVID-19 and its variants have been conspicuously designed to ignore the truckers who represents the largest source of cross-border contact between Canada and the U.S. And the Star's editorial board warns that Doug Ford is once again refusing to learn from history in refusing to apply appropriate public health measures in the face of a newer and more severe threat.

- Emma McIntosh exposes how Ford is trying to dole out fast-tracked project approvals without environmental assessments to deep-pocketed donors while the public is trapped inside by a pandemic. And the Globe and Mail's editorial board rightly slams Ford's plans for another superhighway as a "sprawl accelerator" rather than a solution to problems of housing affordability and transportation infrastructure.

- Finally, Kim Siever points out how the Kenney UCP is barrelling ahead with new coal mining while claiming to have responded to public outcry by temporarily reinstating the policy which barred it. Graham Thomson highlights how the secrecy, deception and cronyism behind the coal mining plans offer a perfect microcosm of the UCP's governing philosophy. And Bob Weber reports on Dennis Lemly's warning about the foreseeable harm that mining will do to the major water sources affected by it

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Duncan Cameron makes the case for a transition to a more fair and democratic economy. And Paris Marx proposes the development of publicly-owned options - including the increased use of passenger trains along with more accessible transit - as part of an improved transportation network.

- Rick Smith discusses how COVID-19 has been used as an implausible excuse to eliminate environmental protections. Guy Quenneville, Dave Seglins and Joseph Loiero highlight the continued pattern of rail disasters following . And Graham Thomson writes that Alberta's associate minister responsible for "red tape reduction" has no reasonable explanation for any of the regulatory destruction being imposed by his government.

- Emily Eaton, Andrea Olive and Angela Carter write about Saskatchewan's importance in the fight to avoid climate catastrophe.

- Karen-Marie Elah Perry and Jennifer Whiteside examine the failings of privatized assisted living care in British Columbia. And Marc Lee writes about the need to push back against short-term rental operators who are making needed housing unavailable to residents.

- Finally, Denise Balkisoon writes about her experience trying to call out racism in both staffing and coverage at the Globe and Mail.

Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Heather Scoffield points out that the Trudeau Libs' definition of poverty (for the purposes of claiming credit for having reduced it) excludes many people facing extremely precarious financial circumstances. Sarah Boseley discusses how the UK Cons' gratuitous austerity has led to declining life expectancies among lower-income people. And Smokey Thomas slams the Ford PCs' use of a foreign corporation to try to take social assistance away from Ontarians.

- Alistair Steele writes that Ottawa's catastrophic choice to use a P3 to build the Confederation light rail line should offer important lessons for other governments looking at developing infrastructure.

- Imelda Dacones highlights how our climate breakdown is a public health crisis (among other dangers). And a group of B.C. health professionals calls for a moratorium on liquid natural gas pipelines due to their risks to health and the environment.

- Meanwhile, Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood argues that the withdrawal of the Teck Frontier project should offer us an opportunity to begin a needed conversation about a transition away from fossil fuels. But Mike De Souza and Heather Yourex-West's report on the UCP's cover-up of a report on harms from the climate crisis should remind us not to expect a trace of honesty from Canada's petropoliticians.

- Finally, Graham Thomson points out that the obvious answer to Alberta's budget is to start raising revenue at least somewhat commensurate with the norm across Canada. But PressProgress notes that Jason Kenney has instead chosen to attack Alberta's most vulnerable citizens along with its public service.

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.

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Dan Hancox discusses how both work demands and consumerist force are causing people to lose sleep. And Jodi Dean writes about the need for a sense of comradeship to counter the impossible expectation of self-reliance.

- Anand Giridharadas argues that the wealthy few are beginning to lose their grip over the U.S. And Grace Blakeley discusses the potential for transformative change arising out of UK Labour's plan for a just transition, while Owen Jones comments on the need to draw young voters out to the polls to cast ballots based on future hopes rather than past resentments. 

- David Climenhaga rightly criticizes the Kenney UCP for planning to steal teachers' retirement funds. Jason Markusoff calls out Kenney's strongman tactics while noting the dangerous signal it would send if Albertans allow him to get away with them. And Graham Thomson highlights the importance of the effective and independent electoral oversight which Kenney considers an intolerable danger to his plans to cling to power.

- Meanwhile, PressProgress points out the connections between the UCP and extreme separatist groups, while also exposing the attacks on homeless people from both right-wing politicians and business lobby groups in British Columbia.

- Finally, the Globe and Mail recognizes that the coup and purge in Bolivia couldn't be any less peaceful or democratic.

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Mike Pearl discusses the climate despair of people understandably having difficulty working toward a longer term which is utterly neglected in our most important social decisions. But Macleans' feature on climate change includes both Alanna Mitchell's take on what a zero-emission future might look like, and an editorial calling for far more action to get there than either the Libs or Cons is willing to even suggest (let alone deliver).

- Meanwhile, Gregory Meyer offers a reminder as to how methane leaks make natural gas a non-starter when it comes to maintaining a liveable climate. And Nerilie Abram, Matthew England and Matt King point out the dangers of instability in giant Antarctic ice sheets.

- But John McMurtry discusses how the Koch Brothers and other plutocrats are trying to buy public ignorance to ensure that environmentally destructive plans are permitted. And David Climenhaga writes that Jason Kenney is looking to distract from any issue worthy of public discussion by funding conspiracy theorists to write fiction about environmental activists, while Graham Thomson also calls out the lack of any rational basis for Kenney's McCarthyite project.

- David Macdonald offers a primer on tax fairness for Canadians examining their options in this fall's federal election. And the Canadian Press analyzes how British Columbia's anti-speculation tax has collected $115 million for a fund dedicated to affordable housing.

- Finally, Jolson Lim reports on the decision of human rights advocates and labour representatives to resign from a Trudeau-appointed advisory body which was falling short of offering anything remotely resembling corporate responsibility.

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Lawrence Mishel points out that Donald Trump's giveaways to the rich actually resulted in a sharp decline in bonuses paid to workers.

- Robert Plummer reports on the precarity facing lower-income workers in the UK. And John Clapp writes from experience about the catch-22s standing between people and desperately-needed housing in Toronto.

- Gerald Kutney comments on the utter lack of content in the Cons' saw excuse for a climate change plan. Jasper Jolly discusses the role a shift toward electric airplanes will need to play as part of a transition to a sustainable economy. And Nicole Mortarillo writes about Canada's certain role as a haven for refugees driven from newly-uninhabitable areas as our climate crisis worsens.

- Jim Stanford points out a new report from the Conference Board of Canada showing how investment in education pays off many times over - even as right-wing governments across the country slash from students to give to the rich.

- Finally, Cam Holmstrom duly criticizes the Cons' unelected Senators who took it upon themselves to block legislation to implement UNDRIP. And Graham Thomson discusses what Jason Kenney's decision to hand earplugs to his trained seals to avoid even hearing the opposition in Alberta's legislature says about his attitude toward democracy.

Sunday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Janice Fine discusses how the decline of organized labour as a political force has opened the door for the likes of Donald Trump:

Just when we need them most, the main institutions that have fought for decent jobs are a shadow of their former selves. Unions that have played a singular role in forging solidarity across racial, ethnic, and gender lines can now do so only for a diminishing number of Americans. Adding insult to injury, it is not just the right that has hastened their demise; liberals have been dismissing unions for years.

Unions matter for all the reasons described above, but more than anything, they are critical to the functioning of our democracy because of the role they have played in shaping working-class political consciousness and ideology. It has been largely through unions that American workers have developed an understanding of which side of the fence they are on, who is there with them, and who is on the other side. Of course they have had stiff competition, especially in recent years, from Fox News, Breitbart, the National Rifle Association, and now from Donald Trump. But this is precisely the reason it is so important for them to have the rights and the resources to organize and build real local structures. Union locals were once citizenship schools for the working class. When unions were weakened, working-class people lost a central means through which they could develop an understanding of the world—of who was to blame for the decline in their standard of living and how to take action to correct it.
...
Working-class people of all races and ethnicities have reason to be furious. Barack Obama extended unemployment benefits during the recession, bailed out the auto industry, expanded healthcare for millions of people, and extended overtime pay to millions, but for eight years he put investment bankers in charge of the nation’s economic policies, declined to break up big banks, and preached the advantages of free trade. He froze federal salaries, extended the Bush tax cuts, worried about the deficit, and skimped on the stimulus package. His narrative of recovery conflated a rising stock market and soaring corporate profits with an improving economy for regular people.

While millions of mid-wage jobs were lost during the Great Recession, including many in the public sector, few have been added back in the recovery. The optimistic tenor of the monthly jobs report conceals a bitter truth: the economy is adding jobs, but they are disproportionately low wage. Our nation today is an especially brutal place for older workers.
...
In the absence of unions, no other institutions have arisen that have elevated the voice, needs, and aspirations of working-class people and organized at the scale they once achieved. In the absence of collective institutions, people have been known to look to charismatic men who promise to make their countries great again.

While finding meaning in the election results is by definition a complex and complicated task, no one can credibly argue that Trump’s voters felt adequately listened to in the months and years leading up to last Tuesday’s political earthquake. It is unlikely that their lot will improve in a nation’s capital under Republican rule. Had they had strong institutions to express their collective voice, I, for one, believe the outcome would have been much, much different.

- Derrick O'Keefe writes about the need for a more courageous progressive movement to stem the twin dangers of neoliberalism and exclusionism. And James Di Fiore theorizes that Charlie Angus may represent an ideal leader for that type of groundswell.

- Emily Mathieu reports on the federal government's less-than-surprising conclusion that we desperately need a national housing strategy to respond to a crisis of availability and affordability - though it's far from certain whether that will lead to action. And Christopher Cheung comments on the particular lack of family-friendly housing in urban areas.

- Meanwhile, Derek Cook argues that instead of treating poverty as a problem to be fixed solely through dispassionate and impersonal policies, rather than a social wound which needs to be healed with compassion and care.

- Finally, Carl Zimmer highlights the devastating effect global warming is having on the food chain in the Arctic. And Graham Thomson points out points out Alberta's experience with "clean coal" - and how it debunks the theory spouted by Trump and Brad Wall among few that carbon capture and storage is a remotely viable answer to the environmental dangers of relying on fossil fuels.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Matthew Yglesias rightly points out the absurdity of monetary policy designed to rein in at-target inflation at the expense of desperately-needed employment. And Joseph Stiglitz reminds us that we can instead make policy choices which will fix inequality rather than exacerbating it:

Beyond changing taxes and government benefits, we can reduce inequality by rewriting the rules once again. A comprehensive rewriting will help to level the playing field, grow the middle class, and give all Americans an opportunity to succeed. Moreover, we can do this secure in the knowledge that we can have both more economic equality and more growth.

This view of the economy undermines the notion that those at the top are merely receiving their “just deserts” for their contributions to the economy. Some wealthy Americans have, in fact, contributed greatly to the strength of our economy and the well-being of our society. But many have simply gamed the rules — their gains have been largely at the expense of others. Still others have made important innovations, but then amplified their returns through the exercise of monopoly power. Discouraging quarterly capitalism, diluting monopoly power, and preventing the exploitation of workers would strengthen the economy. But rewriting the rules would better align private rewards with social value, thus improving economic efficiency. In other words, the argument for rewriting the rules is not just about fairness: It’s about promoting stronger and shared economic growth.

- Oscar Reyes reviews just a few of the weaknesses of the Paris climate agreement which aren't receiving enough attention. Marc Lee argues that we won't know what it accomplishes until we see how regulators and markets respond, while Simon Dalby discusses how Canada will need to rethink a fossil-fuel-oriented economy in order for the deal to work. And PressProgress lists just a few of the things Brad Wall seems determined not to learn about climate change.

- Andre Picard writes about the dangers of political meddling in health care - and it's worth mentioning Saskatchewan's most prominent examples of corporate fads and anti-social ideology being put ahead of evidence-based policy.

- Graham Thomson comments on the Alberta NDP's work to keep governing in the best interests of the province despite the harassment of unhinged right-wingers. And Stephanie Kusie and Lana Cuthbertson write that the abuse is antithetical to good government and leadership no matter how much one disagrees with a governing party's policies.

- And finally, Susan Wright highlights the ultimate task for Rachel Notley's government - being to tilt Alberta's overall values from a money-based, me-first mindset toward much-needed recognition of the common good.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Debbie Chachra discusses why an effective government is a necessary element of civilization - and why charity can't fill in the gap:

Taxes aren't the only way to pay for civilization, of course: community groups, charities, and churches also contribute. But I consider myself a fairly prudent consumer, and I want my money to be used well.

Even excellent charities are inefficient. Take food banks. We have a distribution system that goes from farms to warehouses to grocery stores. Food banks then set up more warehouses and pick-up sites to get sustenance out to those in need, often food that's already gone down the first chain. It's far more efficient to give people the means to use the retail distribution network than to create and have them use an alternate system.

Charity is also ad hoc: it's difficult to get help to people who need it in a systematic way that makes sure no one falls through the cracks. And charities, especially ones that do take on the challenge of large-scale issues, need to spend much of their income asking people like me to help.
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(W)hile I regularly donate to charities and I believe they play an important role in society, I don't want them in lieu of more efficient systems. I don't want to go to fundraisers to pay the medical bills of artists; I want them to have health insurance. I want to be able to go to meetings on the other side of the country and buy chicken for dinner without worrying about my safety. And I want programs like WIC to provide services that reduce the need for more expensive interventions. 

- Barbara Kermode-Scott writes that big pharma's move to trash British Columbia's Therapeutics Initiative is being met with some international response from doctors who want more information about drugs than what manufacturers put in their promotional materials.

- CBC's series on offshore tax evasion continues with a look at the role Barbados plays in concealing large amounts of wealth siphoned out of Canada. 

- Graham Thomson writes that the Redford PCs' response to a judicial finding that they've deliberately and wrongfully shut the community out of environmental review processes has been to operate in denial that the decision was ever made.

- And Aaron Wherry surveys how Canadian courts have rejected the Cons' mandatory minimum sentence approach to criminal justice.

- Finally, Glen Pearson's takedown of backroom power brokerage is well worth reading (and applying as a test to all political parties):

For whatever reason, these former kingmakers, having had their day, refuse to ride quietly over the horizon. But for all their expertise and experience, their veiled arrogance hints of the kind of political class thinking that increasingly repels the average citizen. The brutality of their language sounds exactly like the regular partisan rants that emanate from the House of Commons on any given day of the week. It is the old politics that sees voters turning away from the political space in droves.
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There is a new democracy [slowly] emerging to fight such shadows, not only in Canada, but in other nations at present that is calling for increased respect, an instinct for cooperation, that is commensurate with the significant challenges faced by communities and reacts with revulsion to those who play at politics while unemployment rises, jobs grow more scarce, our infrastructure deficit runs in the billions, and our middle class facing the greatest challenges in a generation. In such a world, the playground of former kingmakers appears not only out of place, but downright maddening.

The new democracy is more about citizen activism than backroom shenanigans and pressing for transparency than secret dealings. It ultimately opts for cooperation over contention, public policy over punishing partisanship, and a sense of the integration of power over its ideology. This is the politics more and more Canadians are requesting, but it's all fluff and airy ideals to the likes of Reid and Kinsella. They prefer the smell of the trenches over the messy work of the grassroots. Elections are their game, not engagement.

Ironically, our public fate in Canada depends on the outcome of the war between these two practices of democracy. How can citizens possibly win out over such courtiers, when power itself prefers the secret corridors over the public thoroughfares? Well, it's slowly happening regardless of the backroom boys. Activism in our communities is inevitably filling the vacuum left by an increasingly vacuous hunt for political power for its own sake. But this doesn't suit the power players, who show little interest in our daily struggles and who, ironically, are guilty of the same trait they accused Michael Ignatieff of: they're just visiting.

Saturday Morning Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Lana Payne writes that it's long past time for Newfoundland and Labrador to boost its minimum wage:

Last year, a statutory review of minimum wage, conducted by a government-appointed panel, called for action to be taken on the minimum wage. The panel recommended an increase to restore any erosion to the wage since 2010 as well as a formula, tied to the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which would see annual, incremental increases in the wage to ensure that it keeps pace with the increases in the cost of living.

The report and its recommendations sit on a shelf...

The lack of action denies thousands of workers a pay raise. Indeed, the lack of action results in a continued erosion of their wage - as time passes and the cost of living steadily increases, the minimum wage is worth less today than it was three years ago, the last time the wage was increased.

This inaction is a stunning reversal from a minimum-wage policy that had been aimed at making sure the province's lowest-paid were not left totally behind. In 2010, the government also said that minimum-wage increases proved the government's commitment to improving the quality of life of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians while making the province more competitive with respect to attracting workers.
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The Newfoundland and Labrador government's minimum-wage policy had been a success. Three years later, after all that hard work of playing catchup and making sure some of the prosperity is shared, the current government appears to have abandoned its commitment to helping the lowest-paid achieve "increased self-reliance."

The big question is, why?

- Meanwhile, the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario is pushing for that province's government to keep its promise to combat poverty.

- Martin Lukacs wonders whether the great pipeline swindle will succeed only in building a mass movement against petro-politics, while Mike de Souza tracks down briefing notes which nicely expose the Cons' anti-carbon pricing rhetoric as a sham. And Graham Thomson catches Alberta's PC government refusing to acknowledge an actual series of pipeline leaks in what was supposed to be a review of the province's regulatory system:

The review of the regulations does not dig into the spate of pipeline leaks that have plagued Alberta the past few years and it doesn’t delve into whether the Alberta Energy Regulator is properly enforcing the regulations.

It’s a bit like asking, after a rash of crimes, if the streets of Edmonton are safe and then investigating the regulations that govern the police rather than looking at the actual crime spree and how the police handled it.
...
The pipeline safety review does not directly address any of the pipeline spills that prompted the government to call for the review. Those would include spills in 2012 such as the accidental dumping of 3,000 barrels of oil into the Red Deer River and the spillage of 5,000 barrels into Rainbow Lake.

And let’s not forget the Plains Midstream pipeline spill of 28,000 barrels in northwestern Alberta in 2011 — the largest spill in the province in 30 years. That spill warranted its very own public inquiry, or maybe an inquiry into pipeline safety in general.

Instead what we got was the Alberta Pipeline Safety Review.

It would seem to be a classic case of bait and switch. We walked into the store for an Apple MacBook Pro with retina display and left with a Commodore 64.

 - Finally, Paul Hanley and Christine Stark both discuss Canada's appalling (and all-too-rarely-acknowledged) abuse of First Nations people. But have no fear: the Cons are hard at work using public money to search for scapegoats.

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- pogge offers up the definitive response to the Cons' attempt to encourage a sell-off of First Nations reserve land:

When you look past the paternalistic argument that the only way First Nations communities can possibly thrive is to be more like us, this is what's left:

...businesses that want to unlock the economic potential of reserves, from real estate development to forestry and mining, need the legal certainty that a property regime makes possible.

In this context, "unlock the economic potential" looks very much like a euphemism for "streamline the regulatory and tax regime to make it as easy as possible for us to suck all the wealth out." We've been unlocking our own economic potential since around the time Reagan was elected president south of the border. We've unlocked so much economic potential that we now live in the Age of Austerity because all the money is stashed in offshore accounts. If the First Nations have any sense, they'll tell us to get stuffed.

- Meanwhile, FSIN notes that the Cons are slashing funding for First Nations housing.

- If we haven't yet turned every public service into a Con crony's profit stream, it isn't for a lack of trying - with the administration of public benefits programs looming as the next area to be handed over to the corporate sector. But there are some pieces of the Cons' work that are too dirty for even the most anti-social corporation to take on.

- The Victoria Times Colonist and Graham Thomson are duly skeptical about Stephen Harper's claim to be the slightest bit interested in science in determining whether or not to force the Gateway pipeline on B.C. And if we needed another reminder of how distant science is from the Cons' spin on the environment, Marc Lee highlights a few of the more glaring holes in the Cons' latest report on greenhouse gas emissions:

The report creates an alternative “do nothing” scenario that leads to surging emissions of 850 Mt in 2020, then subtracts estimates of federal and provincial actions taken to date, which gets us to 720 Mt. That is a lot of spin on the numbers, perhaps hoping few people will bother to read the actual report and just report the government’s line.

But even the 720 Mt number is suspect for a variety of reasons. First, the economic downturn lowers the baseline, with 2010 emissions coming in lower than previously expected. Next, the feds have included land use changes in the calculations for the first time. The decline in forestry activity means more carbon will remain sequestered in Canada’s forests, and this will lower emissions by 26 Mt. Take these out and the 2020 target jumps back to 745 Mt, slightly more than 2005 levels. Then report also arbitrarily lowers emissions from BC’s natural gas sector, relative to National Energy Board projections. And it assumes that proposed regulations yet to be ratified contribute to decreased transportation emissions. And that Saskatchewan implements carbon capture and storage for four new coal-fired power plants.

The other matter is to what extent the feds can take credit for any reductions in various sectors of the Canadian economy. Much of the heavy lifting appears to have been done at the provincial level, including BC’s carbon tax, Quebec’s cap-and-trade regime and Ontario’s phase-out of coal-fired electricity. In transportation, new vehicle regulations are touted but these just copy the new regulations established by the United States. The report makes repeated reference to new regulations being developed for the oil and gas sector, too, but these have been promised for a long time and no draft regulations have yet seen the light of day.

- Finally, Brent Rathgeber makes the case for sitting MPs to stay out of the boundary revision process. Needless to say, his Saskatchewan caucus-mates don't seem interested in listening.