Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Lisa Young writes about the stark difference in how Alberta's main party leaders approach the role of women in politics and society. But Drew Anderson laments the lack of a meaningful willingness on the part of any substantial party to engage in an adult conversation on the climate crisis.

- On that front, Clifford Krauss reports on the fossil governments who are standing in the way of a needed clean energy transition, and in fact using their power and the public's money to keep pollution spewing.

- Damian Carrington reports on the IPCC's affordable and achievable path to meeting the promise to limit climate change to 1.5 C - with a shift to less expensive clean energy as the core task. And Nathasha Bulowski reports on the Canadian Labour Congress' push for an ambitious climate plan. 

- John Burn-Murdoch notes that while the pervasiveness presence of guns explains the difference in gun suicides between U.S. states, the rate of homicides also reflects differences in the social trust which Republicans have been working feverishly to destroy.

- Finally, Krista Hessey reports on the benefits of a right to repair - while noting that it's manufacturers who are standing in the way of ensuring products can be maintained and restored to use.

Sunday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Selena Simmons-Duffin writes about the large number of COVID cases going unreported - and thus unaccounted for in risk mitigation - due to the shift toward private, at-home testing.  

- Jessie Anton reports on Saskatchewan's place as the worst jurisdiction in Canada for HIV transmission (among other preventable social maladies). 

- Laura McQullan reports on warnings from scientists that many parts of the Earth are headed toward temperatures that are uninhabitable for humans. 

- The David Suzuki Foundation studies how a shift to 100% renewable power in Canada by 2035 is both feasible and affordable. Matthew Gray charts the relative carbon prices needed to facilitate switches from coal to either gas or renewables - with the most recent data showing a strong advantage to renewables as the more affordable (as well as cleaner) option to phase out the dirtiest past energy sources. And Jake Johnson reports on the reason for cautious optimism from a G7 promise to cut off new public financing for fossil fuels. 

- Bob Murphy and Chiara Padovani discuss the cruelty involve in Ontario's meagre social assistance rates which have decayed for decades under PCs and Libs alike. 

- Finally, Arwa Mahdawi is duly appalled by the Republicans' attempt to blame doors for yet another preventable gun massacre. And Scientific American sets out some of the data showing how gun control measures are the policies which would reduce the number of mass shootings. 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Aekkachai Tuekprakhon et al. study how the Omicron COVID-19 subvariants are evading both previous immunity and existing treatments. And Zak Vescera reports on Dr. Saqib Shahab's recognition that misinformation and apathy are key factors keeping Saskatchewan's vaccination rates low - though both government policy and messaging have played a substantial role in their development. 

- Meanwhile, Dr. Kevin Wasko discusses the five key areas where Saskatchewan's health care system is in the most need of improvement.

- Isaac Callan reports on the Ford PCs' refusal to make any effort to even discuss accessibility improvements for people with disabilities. And as Vanmala Subramaniam reports, that contrasts thoroughly against their choice to grant virtually every item on the wish list of Uber and other exploiters of precarious workers seeking to avoid normal employment responsibilities. Luke Lebrun exposes the PC's approval of a candidate whose background involves scamming students through an unaccredited career college. And Randy Robinson discusses the state of the Ontario election campaign - including the strong demand for change among women.  

- Alex Hemingway highlights how an investment in public housing can be self-financing while meeting people's essential needs. 

- Barry Saxifrage examines how Canada (like other countries) fell far short of its Copenhagen climate change commitments, while AFP reports on InfluenceMap's research showing how the fossil fuel sector is trying to use Russia's attack on Ukraine as an excuse to keep ignoring any climate responsibilities. And Damian Carrington reports on Antonio Gutteres' call for young people to refuse to pursue work with climate wreckers. 

- Finally, Clint Smith rightly opines that nobody should have to live through the losses caused by the U.S.' refusal to avoid readily-preventable mass shootings. 

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Mark Kline warns against accepting continuing denialism about the impact of COVID-19 on children. Andre Picard discusses Canada's grim milestone of 40,000 (reported) COVID deaths. And Dennis Thompson notes the reality that long COVID may be a chronic condition requiring constant treatment, while Sky News reports on the warning from Asthma and Lung UK that people are being abandoned to try to hunt down oxygen and other necessities through private channels rather than receiving the care they need through the NHS. 

- David Milstead reports that long-term care executives managed to rake in extra-large bonuses even as their residents were dying at unconscionable rates in the first year of the pandemic. And Mitchell Thompson exposes how PC assistant labour minister Deepak Anand sought to profit from privatized long-term care while his government was neglecting residents and grinding workers. 

- Jiaying Zhao and Lorne Whitehead rightly ask why a basic income to fully eliminate poverty remains in the realm of pilot projects and preliminary consultations rather than full implementation. 

- David Knowles reports on new research showing that we've reached a new record for carbon concentration in our atmosphere. And Serhii Plokhy writes that we only need to look at the historical dangers of nuclear power to see why it's not a viable answer to the need for a clean energy transition. 

- Finally, Juliette Kayyem discusses the dishonesty of treating the Buffalo mass shooter as a "lone wolf" when his plans and motivations are readily traceable to a large and organized group of white supremacist terrorists. And Talia Lavin recognizes that the underlying values are in fact shared and amplified by the entire Republican party. 

Friday #skvotes Links

 The latest news and notes from Saskatchewan's 2020 election campaign.

- Nicholas Frew reports that a majority of Saskatchewan's voters are willing to fund a reduction in class sizes. And PressProgress highlights how Scott Moe is insisting that the public health measures required in every other indoor space be waived in order to allow for classrooms to remain overcrowded and underfunded.

- Jen Quesnel, Winter Fedyk and Tammy Robert offer their take on this week's leadership debate. 

- The Canadian Press reports on the NDP's outreach to - and support among - voters who have supported the Saskatchewan Party in the past. 

- Merle Massie challenges the new, provincially-appointed firearms officer to pay attention to the real threat of gun suicides. 

- And finally, Ahmereen Salim and Peter Gilmer write about the need for legislation to move us toward an end to poverty. 

Saturday Morning Links

This and that for your weekend reading.

- Jason Markusoff writes about the absurdity of Jason Kenney's continued bluster about attacking the rest of Canada rather than working on improving the lives of Albertans. And Shama Rangwala and Danielle Paradis discuss the warped idea of "freedom" underlying the ideology of extractive capitalism.

- Julia Raifman, Laura Sampson and Sandro Galea study how higher rates of gun ownership lead to a higher number of completed suicides. Which means it's especially antisocial for Scott Moe to be funding a position pushing the proliferation of assault rifles and undermining municipal efforts at gun  control, while opposing any additional work on suicide prevention.

- Meanwhile, PressProgress highlights Moe's defunding of vaccines and protections for workers in the midst of a pandemic. And Arthur White-Crummey reports that the Saskatchewan Party's combination of free-flowing money for the oil sector and the police state with austerity for anything that might benefit people is only leading to cuts in Saskatchewan's credit rating.

- Finally, Matt Simon writes about the environmental threat posed by microplastic rain which is reaching even into remote and protected park areas.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Alastair Campbell discusses how the latest group of right-wing demagogues has progressed from being post-truth to being post-shame.

- IMFBlog examines how the perpetual slashing of corporate tax rates has eliminated needed public revenue - particularly in lower-income countries - without producing any desirable outcomes.

- Tim Ross writes about the need for a renewed commitment to co-op housing to ensure stable and safe homes are available for everybody.

- Jim Bronskill reports on Nathalie Provost's resignation from the Libs' federal firearms advisory committee which had proven to be just for show. Nora Loreto points out that we can readily afford to eliminate student debt if we care to do so, rather than seeking to burden young people with long-term liabilities to further enrich the wealthy. And Max FineDay points out that the genuine hope for reconciliation among young people in Canada needs to be supported by the political will to ensure Indigenous people are no longer facing systemic disadvantages.

- Finally, the Globe and Mail's editorial board warns that we can expect the Libs to approach this year's election season with scare tactics to try to paper over their failings in government.

Saturday Morning Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Sandy Garossino offers a reminder of the large-scale corruption - including bribery supporting dictatorial regimes and multiple instances of illegal practices in Canada - at the root of the Libs' SNC Lavalin scandal. Andrew Coyne comments on the parallels between SNC Lavalin's lobbying blitz and the PMO's assault on prosecutorial discretion. And Michael Harris highlights how the Libs' attempt at a political defence has not only failed on its own terms, but also reflected a dangerous eagerness to intrude on the criminal justice system.

- Steven Rosenfeld examines Jason Kenney's dubious UCP leadership campaign as a warning for the integrity of U.S. elections which might be subject to similar manipulation. And Graham Thomson writes that the secret recording of an MLA's office hints at the UCP's continuing authoritarian tendencies.

- Lucas Powers reports on the gun lobby's intimidation of physicians who have the audacity to point out that shootings have severe health implications. And John Bowden reports on research showing that to nobody's surprise, more lax gun laws correlate to a higher number of mass shootings.

- CTV Regina examines the lack of affordable rental housing in Regina as market units are left vacant instead of being priced at a level accessible to lower-income tenants. Greg Mercer writes about the even more glaring lack of housing on First Nations in Canada, with the recent state of emergency at Cat Lake representing just the latest example. And Peter Walker reports on UK Labour's plans to make tenancies secure and affordable.

- Finally, Megan Mayhew Bergman discusses the connection between environmental racism and climate change:

Sunday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Vanmala Subramaniam reports on the move by real estate developers to push tenants out of desperately-needed housing in Canada's largest cities to chase after short-term profits.

- David Wallace Wells asks how the rapidly-materializing worst-case climate change scenarios are being met with shrugs rather than recognition of the urgent need for action. And Denise Balkissoon comments on the connection between a heating planet and the increased threat of wildfires, while Yanis Varoufakis points out that both climate change and austerity have severely exacerbated Greece's outbreak of fires in particular.

- Meanwhile, Emma Davie reports on the risks to a Nova Scotia tidal power project after its private-sector participant pulled out - with no government apparently willing to invest in the development of stable renewable energy even as the federal government pumps billions into subsidizing oil infrastructure.

- Tom Parkin argues that Canada can be far safer if it minimizes the presence of handguns which are available to be put to malicious purposes.

- Finally, Jerry Dias makes the case for long-overdue anti-scab legislation to ensure that workers and unions are able to effectively exercise their right to strike for improved workplace fairness.

Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Ed Finn writes that we shouldn't believe claims that Canada lacks money for social benefits when Lib and Con governments have deliberately chosen not to bring in the revenue needed to fund them:

Canadian governments back in the 1960s and ‘70s never asked where the money was coming from when they launched our public health care system, the Canada Pension Plan, unemployment insurance, and other social programs. These programs were at their peak in 1975, when the country’s per capita GDP was just $7,489.94.

Making historical comparisons is complicated by having to take the effects of inflation, exchange rates, and other variable factors into account; but it’s safe to infer that the per capita income generated by Canada’s economy today -- in constant U.S. dollars -- is almost as twice as high as it was in the 1970s.

Why, then, are we still being told by our political leaders that Canada cannot afford to enhance or even maintain the social benefits we somehow managed to fund with far less national income four decades ago? 
...
Clearly the cause of Canada’s purported “shortage” of funds for social spending does not derive from a revenue shortfall, but from a heartless maldistribution of revenue. The decision to tolerate inexcusably steep rates of poverty and homelessness; the refusal to expand medicare to cover drugs, dental and vision care; to provide cost-free child care and tuition-free higher education; to improve public pensions and other social programs -- all these decisions have been matters of choice, not necessity.
...
So the answer to the recurring “where’s the money coming from?“ question is that it comes mainly from Canada’s working people. Millions of low-income tax payers are being denied better social and economic conditions because their governments have misspent their tax payments while reducing tax rates for the rich. That’s what gives our political leaders the contrived excuse that they can’t afford further social spending.

How much larger would the contents of their financial coffers be if they maintained an honest and equitable tax system? If they fairly taxed wealthy individuals and profitable corporations? If they stopped lavishing corporations with tax exemptions and subsidies? If they imposed and collected taxes on the enormous amounts of money stashed in foreign tax havens? (The tax haven haul alone would increase federal revenue by at least $10 billion a year -- and by as much as $47 billion, according to Conference Board of Canada estimates.)

A federal government truly committed to serving the public interest instead of powerful corporations and the wealthy elite would stop depriving itself of the much greater financial assets it could legitimately acquire.

- Catherine Bosley and Fergal O'Brien take note of the lack of wage growth even in what's supposed to be a tight U.S. labour market. And Noah Smith discusses the impact new automation figures to have on the working class - and the importance of a strong social safety net to make sure advances in technology don't leave a large number of people worse off.

- Nora Loreto comments on the connection between Canada's settler-state mentality and the perpetuation of racial disparities. And David Climenhaga points out that the rhetoric around the defence of property pushed by Alberta's UCP (among other right-wing parties) is intended to echo the U.S.' dangerous "stand your ground" laws.

- Finally, Anita Khanna, Sid Frankel, Martha Friendly and Peter Bleyer discuss Canada's embarrassing failure to make a meaningful dent in child poverty in three decades after Parliament unanimously agreed to eradicate it - as well as what needs to be included in an effective plan to fight poverty at last.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Lucas Chancel points out the myths underlying any claim that corporate globalization does anything but voluntarily exacerbate inequality:

It is often said that rising inequality is inevitable — that it is a natural consequence of trade openness and digitalization that governments are powerless to counter. But the numbers presented above clearly demonstrate the diversity of inequality trajectories experienced by broadly comparable regions over the past decades. The U.S. and Europe, for instance, had similar population size and average income in 1980 — as well as analogous inequality levels. Both regions have also faced similar exposure to international markets and new technologies since, but their inequality trajectories have radically diverged. In the U.S., the bottom 50% income share decreased from 20% to 10% today, whereas in Europe it decreased from 24% to 22%.

Rather than openness to trade or digitalization, it is policy choices and institutional changes that explain divergences in inequality. After the neoliberal policy shift of the early 1980s, Europe resisted the impulse to turn its market economy into a market society more than the US — evidenced by differences on key policy areas concerning inequality. The progressivity of the tax code — how much more the rich pay as a percentage — was seriously undermined in the U.S., but much less so in continental Europe. The U.S. had the highest minimum wage of the world in the 1960s, but it has since decreased by 30%, whereas in France, the minimum wage has risen 300%. Access to higher education is costly and highly unequal in the U.S., whereas it is free in several European countries. Indeed, when Bavarian policymakers tried to introduce small university fees in the late 2000s, a referendum invalidated the decision. Health systems also provide universal access to good-quality healthcare in most European countries, while millions of Americans do not have access to healthcare plans.

Re-examining these pervasive beliefs around globalization and its impacts on global inequality is more important now than ever before. Using new data from the World Inequality Report is the first step in rectifying these myths and generating a new public discourse that has the potential to effect long-lasting, systemic change.

- Tonia Novitz, Alan Bogg, Katie Bales, Michael Ford and Roseanne Russell discuss the lack of good work in the gig economy.

- Marie-Danielle Smith reports on the Libs' deficient excuse for arms control legislation, whose loopholes include a failure to revisit export contracts in the face of new human rights abuses.

- Meanwhile, Marco Chown Oved reports on the some positive measures in cracking down on corporate tax avoidance - though it's worth noting that those join so many of the Libs' other progressive promises in being deferred past the next election.

- Finally, the Western Producer weighs in on the folly of pretending that gun violence is a worthwhile price for the protection of property. And James Hamblin comments on the stress and anxiety children face when confronted with active-shooter drills and other activities which normalize fear and violence.

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Thomas Edsall discusses the difficulties in trying to address wealth inequality through a money-infused electoral system:

Five years ago, for example, Adam Bonica, a political scientist at Stanford, published “Why Hasn’t Democracy Slowed Rising Inequality?” Economic theory, he wrote, holds that “inequality should be at least partially self-correcting in a democracy” as “increased inequality leads the median voter to demand more redistribution.”

Starting in the 1970s, this rebalancing mechanism failed to work, and the divide between the rich and the rest of us began to grow, Bonica, Nolan McCarty of Princeton, Keith T. Poole of the University of Georgia, and Howard Rosenthal of N.Y.U. wrote.

They cite five possible explanations.

First, growing bipartisan acceptance of the tenets of free market capitalism. Second, immigration and low turnout among the poor resulting in an increasingly affluent median voter. Third, “rising real income and wealth has made a larger fraction of the population less attracted to turning to government for social insurance.” Fourth, the rich escalated their use of money to influence policy through campaign contributions, lobbying and other mechanisms. And finally, the political process has been distorted by polarization and gerrymandering in ways that “reduce the accountability of elected officials to the majority.”

In the five years since their essay was published, we’ve seen all of this play out; in the case of campaign contributions in particular, the authors provide strong evidence of the expanding clout of the very rich.

- Similarly, Dean Baker points out the connection between "centrist" policies which serve primarily to further enrich the people who already have the most, and public disgust with the parties pushing them. And Matt Egan compares the immediate gains from the Trump tax giveaway to the rich - with shareholders being gifted 30 times as much new money as workers even at a point when businesses are trying to put on a show of sharing benefits to lock in their goodies for the long term.

- Meanwhile, Tom Jacobs theorizes that the progressive movement may be able to win over small-c conservative voters with messages based on nostalgia. And the New Economics Foundation discusses how to frame economic discussions in terms of both populist responses to elite control, and our common interests in shared development.

- Tabatha Southey weighs in on the Parkland school shooting - and the gun lobby's response designed to ensure that the U.S. continues to suffer plenty more similar tragedies in the future.

- Finally, Robert Cribb reports on the underrepresentation of minorities on juries in Ontario. And Lana Payne comments on the need to move beyond empty apologies, and instead start acting on the thoroughly-studied steps which could actually move us toward reconciliation in Canada.

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Trish Garner offers some suggestions for evidence-based poverty reduction - with a strong emphasis on the need for employers to pay a living wage. And Jim Stanford challenges critics of a $15 minimum wage to put their money where their mouth is when it comes to fearmongering over job totals.
- Steve Buist discusses how a the stress of a precarious job market is manifesting itself in mental health challenges for millennial workers in Hamilton. 

- Alex MacPherson examines the relationship between low incomes, unstable housing and a host of preventable social ills. And Brenda Thompson highlights the absurdity of a Nova Scotia "welfare" system which requires people to put up cash up front - and wait for multiple bureaucracies to process requests - in order to apply for income they lack.

- Finally, Robert Koehler writes that the U.S.' acceptance of regular gun massacres is just one symptom of a more general culture of violence.

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Louis-Philippe Rochon writes that while American voters had to know what they'd get in casting their most recent ballots, far too many Canadians may have believed the Libs' promises of something else:

On this side of the 49th parallel, however, when Canadians elected Trudeau a little over 15 months ago, on Oct. 19, 2015, we were led to believe he was some sort of a progressive politician with respect to social and economic issues, which essentially is what got him elected.

What a difference a year makes.

In recent months Trudeau has behaved very little like a progressive economist and has instead embraced with great fanfare some oddly conservative policies. In doing so, has Trudeau revealed himself to be a conservative wolf in liberal clothing? If so, it would appear the fix is in: Canadians voted for one guy but got another.  It was the classic political bait and switch: the great Canadian hoodwink.
...
[Under a privatized structure,] any infrastructure project will easily cost twice as much over a 30-year period. In other words, for any project, Canadian taxpayers will end up holding the fiscal bag through higher fees and taxes, whereas the government could finance the project at much cheaper rates. This makes no economic sense, which raises the question, is the government doing this simply as a way of thanking their financial supporters?

There is a more sinister argument looming under all this, and it regards the role of public spending and the privatization of the state. Indeed, with all these musings about privatizing airports, ports and public spending, Trudeau is in fact championing the privatization of the state itself, robbing it further of its powers to create jobs and regulate unstable markets. This is clearly not what Canadians were expecting when they elected him last year.

- Christopher Majka highlights how Justin Trudeau's choice to break a core promise on electoral reform can only be explained by his taking Canadian voters for fools, while Scott Baker and Mark Dance write that it's bound to fuel voter cynicism. Tom Parkin discusses Trudeau's dishonesty on the issue, while Lawrence Martin emphasizes the damage the decision will do to Trudeau's core brand. And Karl Nerenberg points out how the retention of first-past-the-post is a gift to the right wing.

- Meanwhile, Michael Taube rightly observes that the Liberals' choice to nix electoral reform doesn't mean the issue will disappear. And Michael Morden and Michael Crawford Urban comment on the need for improved voter turnout as a means of ensuring better governance.

- Jugal Patel reports on a giant crack in Antarctica's ice shelf as yet another vivid reminder of the drastic effects of climate change.

- Finally, Andre Picard rightly questions why the Quebec City mosque massacre hasn't led to a discussion of gun control.

Burning question

C-51, the Cons' terror bill, allows CSIS to covertly intrude on personal freedoms in two obvious ways.

First, it enables CSIS effectively unfettered authority - without a warrant - to engage in any action which is not contrary to the Charter or other Canadian law, and which does not:

(a) cause, intentionally or by criminal negligence, death or bodily harm to an individual;
(b) wilfully attempt in any manner to obstruct, pervert or defeat the course of justice; or
(c) violate the sexual integrity of an individual. 

Second, it enables CSIS - with a warrant - to violate the Charter and other Canadian laws, including to "install, maintain or remove any thing".

With that in mind, would the responsible gun owners who have fought so hard even against the mere registration of firearms consider it desirable for CSIS to have the general power to remove, install tracking devices on or tamper with their firearms, especially if (as seems possible) that can be done without a warrant?

On unclear motivations

Shorter Peter MacKay:

We should tremble in our boots at the possibility that the people plotting a mass shooting in Halifax might have been susceptible to motivation by religious fervour. But if they'd instead carried out their actual plan, we should be willing to write off the resulting deaths as the price of free access to guns.

Update: Anna Mehler Paperny has more.

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Thomas Walkom sees Stephen Harper's approval of dove hunting as an ideal metaphor for the gratuitous violence of his government:

The wildlife service also estimates that new hunting rules will result in about 18,000 Ontario doves being shot each year. But, say hunt aficionadas, so what? There are plenty more.

As the Conservatives would tell you: This is our world. Other species are born into it at their own risk.

To Canada’s governing party, killing doves is a metaphor for sound thinking, fiscal sobriety and doughnut-shop values. It is where the Harperites want to be.
...
To reconcile these competing metaphors is not easy. In Israel, Canada’s prime minister is the dove’s friend. He supports this wonderful bird root and branch. His ideals are lofty, his vision clear.

But back home in Canada, his relationship to the dove is quite different. Back home, Stephen J. Harper is the dove’s sworn enemy. Back home, his government wants to see a good chunk of these damned birds dead.

- Reuters reports that Switzerland will soon be voting on the type of universal income security that's been all too thoroughly excluded from discuss by the chattering classes in Canada.

- But at home, the Cons are still the main obstacle looming in the way of even modest CPP reforms to make sure that seniors have a reasonable standard of living.

- Erin Weir reminds us of the need for fair royalties to ensure that the oil industry can't siphon billions of dollars worth of public resources out of Saskatchewan while paying as little as penny on the dollar.

- David McGrane's Canadian Social Democracy Study looks to offer plenty of interesting discussion to come about the recent history and future of the NDP.

- Finally, David Oswald Mitchell's presentation on the grammar of social change is well worth a view:

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Bill Curry reports on the Cons' continued refusal to provide accurate information to the PBO - with the end result being that an office intended to provide a fully-informed, unbiased perspective in evaluating government action is now being forced to make Access to Information requests in an attempt to do its job.

- If it's seldom easy to unite Canada's provinces behind a single cause, the Cons can at least take credit on that front - as their no-consultation, poorly-thought-out jobs grant has managed to win unanimous disapproval from our premiers. And Matthew Mendelsohn discusses a few of the problems:

The programs that the federal government plans to cut — delivered under the Labour Market Agreements — are those that fund training for Canadians who are not eligible for Employment Insurance. These workers are typically the most vulnerable and hard to serve. Many of the programs that could be cut are those that support the essential literacy and numeracy skills that are critical for unemployed Canadians to re-enter the workforce.
...
The federal government is proposing to use the $300 million diverted from the Labour Market Agreements to create a new program called the Canada Job Grant, which would pay employers to train workers through educational institutions. Employers would have to kick in one-third of the funds, and provincial governments would likewise have to come up with an additional third.

This would act as a windfall subsidy to employers who already provide the type of training covered by the program — mostly large employers — who could see their training bill fall by two-thirds. But it would probably be too complex and bureaucratic for many small and medium-sized employers to access.

Given that the maximum grant from the federal government would be $5,000 per trainee for short-duration programs, it is hard to see how this would actually help provide workers with the advanced skills they need to take the high-skill jobs where there really are labour shortages. There is simply no evidence to suggest that these small subsidies to large firms would be more effective than the current programs that provinces and communities have been building over the past decade to help unemployed people get jobs.

- Meanwhile, Jeff Jedras makes the case against the Cons' attempt to exercise control over access to the Internet. And Lee Berthiaume reports on their push to turn Canada into an arms dealer.

- Finally, Ish Theilheimer argues for a Marshall Plan aimed at improving the lot of people living precarious lives around the globe. And Mark Bittman sees some hopeful signs in the movement toward a living wage in the U.S.' fast food and retail industries.

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- David Miller makes the case to take aim at inequality in Canada:

With globalization being the holy grail of efficiency, it became a race to the bottom as international capital sought the lowest cost and the lowest wages. The result in Canada and many other countries was the closing of industries, the gutting of union organizing through new laws that attack unions and limit their ability to operate, and the gradual rise in income inequality since 1990. Canada now ranks 12th out of 17 first-world economies for income inequality, and were given a "C" grade by the Conference Board of Canada.

How do we reduce this trend and reap the long-term rewards? There are a number of potential solutions, but I'll touch on three.

First, we need to re-think the "lowest possible cost" globalization mantra. International trade is here to stay and can yield many benefits, both in Canada and abroad. But the emphasis should be less on "free trade" and more on "fair trade," so that people from all walks of life can benefit. The recent factory collapse in Bangladesh is just one example of what can happen when the lowest cost trumps everything.

Second, we need to strengthen the rights of trade unions to organize in the new digital economy. The power balance has swung too far -- and we need to better empower trade unions in their fight to bargain for fairer wages. For those not in a trade union, we need to raise the minimum wage to reduce the incidence of subsistence living.

Third, we need to examine how we can use public policy for all projects at all levels of government to advance the economic prospects for those least well off. For example, in Toronto, when we decided to reinvest in one of our poorest neighbourhoods, Regent Park, our procurement policies stipulated that 25 per cent of jobs related to the rebuild go to local residents. It was an effective way of ensuring that greater economic benefits flowed directly to the community that needed it most.

- Meanwhile, Jim Stanford is optimistic that Canadian governments are looking for new revenue tools to help address inequality. And Avaaz is leading a public push to close international tax loopholes which could go much further.

- But then, Paul Dewar observes that the Cons are still determined to prevent international action on issues which should represent simple areas of agreement - writing in particular about Stephen Harper's attempt to protect illegal arms brokers.

- Seumas Milne writes that a combination of relentless lobbying and a revolving door between regulators and industry has resulted in a thoroughly corrupted state in the UK - and the problem figures to be no less significant in Canada. And Simon Ravenscroft notes that the rich have been conspicuously unaffected by the austerity afflicted on mere commoners.

- Peter Kent is trying to spin as a plus the fact that oil companies are demanding that their old, dirty operations be allowed to continue without being subject to environmental regulations. And Leslie Young reports that we have plenty of reason to worry about newer installations as well - as the Plains Midstream debacle in Peace River resulted in Alberta pulling its limited regulatory staff from inspections of new pipelines in order to help assess the existing mess.

- Finally, Linda McQuaig presciently suggested that Nigel Wright's role as a party bagman should receive far more attention. And one secret seven-figure Con slush fund later, it looks like we'll be talking about the Cons' off-the-books and under-the-table dealings for a long time to come.

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.