Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Marianne Cooper and Maxim Voronov optimistically suggest that our state of denial surrounding the climate crisis and other collective action problems can't get any deeper. 

- But Julia Steinberger examines the array of wealth and power dedicated to pushing perpetually-increasing extraction regardless of the environmental damage it causes. Jack Marley writes about the manipulative and deceptive nature of fossil fuel advertising (which of course Canada's establishment is determined to push and echo at every turn). Arno Kopecky discusses the risk that the fossil fuel-funded far right will get to set the limits on any climate action. And Michael Harris warns that Canada is far from immune from the rise of violent fascist politics in Europe and the U.S.

- Martin Guttridge-Hewitt writes about the possibility that weather reports could systematically include a mention of climate impacts so people's day-to-day experiences aren't detached from the carbon pollution which is altering our living environment. Meryl Davids Landau points out how the climate crisis is affecting our brains. And Anna Pivovarchuk highlights how climate scientists are increasingly turning to direct action in an effort to avert a readily-foreseeable catastrophe. 

- Meanwhile, Amanda Stephenson reports on Deloitte's conclusion that even applying the self-serving standards set by the oil and gas industry, it's impossible for Canada to meet existing climate commitments without reducing our fossil fuel extraction. And Carl Meyer reports that RBC is starting to face pressure to acknowledge and respond to its role in financing climate destruction. 

- Finally, Andrew Gregory reports on new research showing the absolute declines in well-being for children in the UK who are shorter, sicker and more prone to obesity than earlier cohorts. 

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Thomas Neuberger (via Ian Welsh) discusses the imminent reality that insurers will refuse to cover massive swaths of property due to the climate crisis - even as the public money which could provide a social insurance alternative continues to be spent exacerbating the problem through fossil fuel subsidies. And Joan Westenberg notes that many people will own less assets to insure in the first place, as a default model of temporary access to everyday needs at extortionary prices replaces any expectation that people will have personal property of their own. 

- Jonathan Watts reports on a new analysis showing how 80% of all carbon pollution can be sourced to just a few dozen oil, gas, coal and cement producers. And Carl Meyer reports on new research showing how Canada's tar sands operators are lying to the public about "net-zero plans" which in fact serve as nothing but excuses for continued (or even increased) emissions. 

- Michael Harris examines how the right's general war on democracy is playing out in Canada. And David Moscrop is duly appalled that the concept of ensuring that hungry children have food to eat is being shot down by the Cons and their provincial cousins.  

- Finally, Samia Madwar asks whether work is inherently toxic - while also pointing out many of the factors which make it far more so than necessary. 

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Lisa Schnirring reports on new research showing how infection with COVID-19 tends to lead to extended sick leave, while Helen Twohig et al. survey the prevalance and effects of long COVID among children. And Alec Salloum reports that workers and experts alike are rightly appalled at the Moe government's political order to expose patients and staff to needless risk by removing masking requirements. 

- Justin Chandler interviews Marilyn Struthers about the role municipalities and non-profit organizations can play in ensuring people have homes. Ximena Gonzalez reports on the UCP's choice to make matters worse by paying to privatize existing housing and enrich landlords. And Annette Desmarais and Andre Magnan report on the takeover of prairie farmland by institutional investors, squeezing out anybody who doesn't have multi-billion-dollar pools of capital to to throw around. 

- David Ho highlights why we can't accept the theoretical possibility of future carbon dioxide removal as an answer to the urgent need to reduce emissions now. Damian Carrington reports on new research suggesting that ice sheets may be collapsing far faster than expected. 

- Meanwhile, Rob Miller calls out Danielle Smith for deliberately blocking any transition to cleaner and cheaper renewable energy in order to serve her party's fossil fuel donors. And Alex Robinson writes about the corporate lobbying aimed at undermining any international effort to reduce plastic pollution. 

- Finally, Owen Jones writes that there's ample reason to fear the decline of the West - not because of trumped-up claims about morality, but because of real losses in health, well-being and equality. And Michael Harris discusses how Pierre Poilievre has bet his leadership and his party on MAGA politics - even in the absence of much reason to think Canadians are willing to let them carry the day.

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Laura Ungar reports on the message from experts that the COVID-19 pandemic is far from over. And Jon Kamp discusses the reality that COVID-19 remains one of the main direct causes of death in the U.S., while Neha Madaan reports that the main Omicron subvariant in India is mutating to become even more dangerous. 

- Meanwhile, Therese Kleim reports that the drug poisoning crisis also continues to escalate in Saskatchewan while being met with utter neglect from the Moe government. 

- Inayat Singh writes about Canada's connection to two of the key climate tipping points which we're passing with barely any effort to change course. And Annette McGivney discusses the unprecedented megadrought in the U.S. as another example of the extreme conditions being caused by the continued spewing of carbon pollution. 

- Jason DeParle notes that the U.S. has seen a little-discussed drop in child poverty which is traceable entirely to public-sector supports. And David Moscrop writes about the problem with Canadian housing policy which has been set for the benefit of capitalists who want to profit from a basic human right, rather than people who actually hold the need. 

- Finally, Emily Leedham points out how Pierre Poilievre has spent his entire career attacking the interests of workers. Michael Harris writes that he's best considered a symptom of the rot which set in under the Harper regime. And Aaron Wherry rightly identifies Poilievre as the ultimate expression of the Conservative id. 

Saturday Morning Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Jennifer Ackerman reports on what Saskatchewan can expect from a COVID wave allowed to sweep across the province without precautions. Eva Ferguson points out that plenty of experts and parents alike are calling for protective measures in Alberta schools (to no avail in the face of the UCP's catering to the Flu Trux Klan). And Rob Ferguson discusses what's looming this fall in Ontario.

- Meanwhile, Matt Gurney writes that any substantial flu season will exacerbate the crisis in an undersupported health care system.

- Steven Greenhouse explores how younger workers are organizing and providing hope for a resurgence of the U.S.' labour movement, while Hayley Brown delves into the numbers showing how unionization leads to higher wages and improved benefits. And David Moscrop writes that only the most entitled and delusional employers can be surprised to see workers choosing not to work extra for no reward.

- John Smith notes that a punitive social housing regime should be taken as a canary in the coal mine for any democratic effort to meet the basic needs of citizens. Armine Yalnizyan points out Orangeville, ON's imminent implementation of free public transit as an example to note of how strong and freely available public services can benefit everybody. And Alexander Shevalier offers a reminder that universal pharmacare stands to both keep people healthier and save money.

- Finally, Michael Harris discusses the need to be wary of politicians looking to incite violence against journalists for doing their job of questioning the misuse of influence and authority - particularly in light of the disproportionate effect their rhetoric has on historically suppressed voices.

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Irini Osaeivi et al. study the effects of long COVID and find that it continues to result in vascular damage for 18 months (or more) after infection. 

- Carly Weeks discusses how the combination of COVID misinformation and increasingly untenable workloads is imposing intolerable burdens on health care workers. And Armine Yalnizyan discusses what employers and governments should be doing to ensure the availability of needed workers - particularly in the care sector.  But Matt Lundy reports that employers are predictably pushing to import foreign workers rather than offering a reasonable quality of life to the ones already available, while Jo Constantz highlights how the "nobody wants to work!" talking point generally reflects employers refusing to offer reasonable pay. 

- John Woodside calls out how the Libs are looking to push fossil fuel-based hydrogen rather than renewable alternatives in order to keep money flowing to existing oil and gas giants. And Al Jazeera reports on new research showing that the Arctic region is warming even faster than previously recognized as governments allow climate change to veer out of control in order to serve their corporate benefactors. 

- Finally, Caitlin Johnstone writes that the U.S.' systemic problems can be traced to the consistent incentivization of viciousness. And both Michael Harris and David Moscrop discuss how the importation of a similar set of values and assumptions has resulted in Pierre Poilivre's presumptive ascent to the leadership of the federal Cons. 

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- BBC reports on the justified fears of medically vulnerable people that they're being left behind by the UK Cons' decision to eliminate all COVID protections, while Kendall Latimer takes note of the similar situation facing Saskatchewan's seniors. Rohan Smith reports on the emerging evidence that the Omicron BA.2 variant - which is being allowed to spread freely as governments abandon any interest in public health - may be the most dangerous one yet. And Apoorva Mandavilli reports on the hope that a single booster vaccination may prime a body's immune system to respond to existing and future variants for some time to come. 

- Michael Harris writes that we shouldn't understate or euphemize the threat posed by the #FluTruxKlan - particularly by treating its hostile occupation of a civilian population as being comparable to legitimate protest. And Andrew Nikiforuk points out the foreign propaganda machine which was activated to exacerbate the insurrection. 

- Pete Evans examines some of the structural causes behind higher food prices. But Ellen Ioanes reminds us that corporations are positively bragging about their extraction of higher profits under the cover of "inflation". 

- Finally, CBC News reports on the recommendations of Newfoundland and Labrador's Health Accord panel - which include familiar themes about ensuring a basic income and better addressing the social determinants of health. 

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Yasmin Tayag discusses the progress being made in determining how long COVID is caused - though the only point that appears beyond dispute for now is that avoiding infection is the only sure way to escape it. And Theresa Kliem reports on the swift response from experts calling out Scott Moe's science denialism in declaring that vaccines don't help stop community transmission. 

- Meanwhile, Supriya Dwivedi is appalled by conservative politicians' embrace of the racism and violence at the root of #FluTruxClan, while Max Fawcett suggests they'll end up paying an appropriate price. And Michael Harris rightly argues that the lunatic fringe have no right to impose their destruction on everybody else. 

- Julia Rock discusses how the U.S.' regulatory state is encouraging the funding of obsolete pipelines at public expense. 

- Umair Haque writes about the need to start building effective global systems to ensure people have even the most basic necessities met. 

- Finally, as a prime example of how warped our current service structures are, Alexandra Levine reports on the collection and sale of data from a suicide hotline to turn pleas for mental health assistance into a profit centre. 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Jonah Brunet points out the wide variety of definitions of the term "lockdown" in response to COVID-19 - with imprecision in the meaning of basic terms being used to drive anti-social complaints about even the most minimal public health measures. And Nisreen Alwan writes about the need for greater recognition of the widespread and devastating effects of long COVID.

- Sara Mojtehedzadeh and Maria Sarrouh report on the Ontario workplaces which have served as COVID hot spots - with a lack of paid sick leave unsurprisingly looming as a common contributor, even as Doug Ford blusters about being more committed to avoiding people having two sources of benefits than their being able to stay healthy. And Joel Dryden and Sarah Rieger report on another belated closure of an Alberta slaughterhouse only after hundreds of cases (including one death).

- Norma Cohen proposes that an excess profit tax could ensure that distortions in supplies and prices resulting from the pandemic don't turn into a windfall for a lucky few at the expense of people in general. And Lucinda Chitapain discusses how corporate-driven intellectual property rules are making vaccines and treatments into drivers of concentrated wealth and increasing inequality.

- Leslie Kaufman reports on new research showing that the Trump administration's attacks on environmental regulations are responsible for tens of thousands of deaths. And Jacob Knutsen reports that in contrast, Joe Biden is looking at finally reining in the use of "forever chemicals".

- Finally, Luke Savage interviews Kate Aronoff about the need for U.S. climate policy to go beyond an end to active self-sabotage. Michael Harris notes that the Libs' efforts to simultaneously promote fossil fuel exports and climate change action make it impossible to succeed in the latter. And Jodi-Ann Juexuan Wang highlights the need for government action to make any progress in the fight to avert climate breakdown.

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Jennifer Robson examines the lessons we should learn from EI's failures which required a less-onerous and more-widely-available income support system to bail Canadian workers out through the coronavirus pandemic.

- Michael Harris surveys some of the actions of governments - including that of the Trudeau Libs - which are using COVID-19 as an excuse to infringe on people's rights. And Erin Knight wonders why the necessary transition toward social distancing and remote work and education hasn't been met with efforts to ensure people have access to reliable and affordable Internet access.

- Zak Vescera reports on SEIU-West's warning that Scott Moe is trumpeting a COVID-19 testing target which can't be met by current laboratory staffing levels. And Laura Sciarpelletti reports on the Saskatchewan NDP's call for assurances that school divisions won't suffer cuts to already-insufficient funding if students are forced into online learning, while Adam Hunter discusses the clunky application process the Saskatchewan Party has set up to theoretically make both provincial and federal education funding available.

- Samantha Beattie discusses how Canada stands to be devastated far more by the climate breakdown we're in the process of locking into place than by the immediate threat of COVID-19. And Emily Holden reports on a needed push by Senate Democrats to rein in the power of the fossil fuel industry in the U.S.

- Finally, Lorian Hardcastle and Ubaka Ogbogu offer a warning about the dangers of the Kenney UCP's plans to privatize and corporatize health care in Alberta.

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content for your long weekend reading.

- Andrej Markovcic discusses how the pursuit of profit above all else has contributed to the coronavirus pandemic and its devastating effects on people - while warning that we'll only make matters worse by keeping the same warped priorities now. And Ian Welsh writes that the coronavirus may not yet be the shock needed to jolt us away from corporate-driven politics, even as it demonstrates the obvious flaws of a system where power is exercised primarily to allow for asset accumulation by the already-privileged few.

- Warren Bell discusses the crucial role of political decisions in the obvious successes and failures in responding to COVID-19. Claudia Webbe focuses on Jair Bolsonaro's calamitous refusal to acknowledge and address the pandemic. And Michael Harris rightly criticizes Justin Trudeau for trying to turn a public health emergency into a power grab - though of course others have gone far further in that direction.

- Meanwhile, Kate Ng reports on Spain's use of a basic income to offer COVID-19 relief - and the prospect that it will be maintained past the immediate crisis. And Daniel Boffey takes note of Amsterdam's decision to use Kate Raworth's doughnut model in planning its next steps.

- Finally, Marc Lee points out the significance of food insecurity as one of most obvious areas where our social safety net is failing. And Alicia Bridges reports on Scott Moe's continuing failure to provide housing and basic care even to people with the symptoms of COVID-19. 

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Justin Fox writes that there are plenty of options available to push for the wealthiest few to pay their fair share toward a functional and compassionate society. And Christine Berry discusses the need for a progressive plan of attack to fundamentally restructure our economy to serve the interests of people rather than plutocrats.

- Meanwhile, Thomas Walkom suggests that Doug Ford's backpedaling should include revisiting his attacks on Ontario workers. Both David Climenhaga and Graham Thomson point out some of the glaring flaws in Jason Kenney's attempt to maximize the pain inflicted on public sector workers in Alberta. And Steven Greenhouse theorizes that the success of a widespread GM strike may encourage more collective action by workers.

- Michael Harris writes that it's obvious why Andrew Scheer should be done as the Cons' leader - but far less clear whether the Cons will actually be interested in avoiding the same problems in choosing a replacement. And Peter Loewen and Michael Bernstein note that the Con's refusal to offer any viable climate policy may have been a major factor in their election loss.

- Finally, Scott Gilmore rightly questions whether it makes sense for Canada to be deepening its dependence on the U.S. when its administration has proven to be both capricious and incompetent around the globe.

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

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

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


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


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


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

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

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

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

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:

Saturday Morning Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- David Moscrop discusses the need for a more meaningful definition of "progress" which doesn't hand-wave away the long-term harms and risks created by the single-minded pursuit of immediate gains in top-end wealth.

- Rajeev Syal reports that the UK Cons pushed through public-sector austerity with full knowledge of the increased poverty that would result. CBC reports on at least one private-sector employer, Quebec's Simons, which is recognizing the benefits of paying employees more than the bare minimum. And Mike Crawley notes that Doug Ford's list of attacks on workers includes delaying even a modest level of pay transparency.

- Meanwhile, Kwame McKenzie discusses the predictable public health costs of Ford's minimum wage freeze. And as a memo to the Saskatchewan Party: those problems with leaving the return on work at $14 per hour are all the worse when the minimum wage is nearly three dollars less.

- Brent Patterson criticizes the Libs' attempt to reframe the Trans-Pacific Partnership as "progressive", rather than a massive giveaway of wealth and power to the corporate sector. And David Schneiderman argues that the only truly progressive response to anti-social investment pacts is to decline to sign them.

- Finally, Ryan Maloney reports on Charlie Angus' plan to extricate Canada from any deal to contribute military weaponry to Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses. And Michael Harris writes about the costs of failing to stand up for human rights.

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Michael Harris writes that we shouldn't expect politicians to lead the way toward the action we need to combat climate change. Katie Dangerfield reports on new research showing that the economic effects of carbon pricing are modest, while ignoring climate change will have massive costs. But Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood examines how the USCMA figures to lock in a fossil-fuel economy while failing to pay even lip service to our most fundamental challenge.
 
- Amanda Agan and Michael Makowsky study the social effects of a higher minimum wage, including a decrease in criminal recidivism.

- The CP reports on Doug Ford's latest move to prioritize cheap intoxicants over necessary public services.

- Finally, Naomi Klein discusses Donald Trump's standing as the U.S.' most glaring example of dynastic privilege being used to suppress the hopes of anybody who doesn't share the same fortune. And Christo Aivalis comments on the ongoing relevance of Mouseland as a metaphor for Canadian politics:

The story of Mouseland—which can be seen here in animated form—described a society where mice formed the majority of the population, and yet consistently elected governments comprised of cats. Those cats—be they white cats or black cats or spotted cats—passed laws that benefitted them, often to the detriment of the mice majority.

The story turns for Douglas when a little mouse comes along with a bold idea, which is that instead of electing a government of cats, they should choose their leadership from amongst themselves. Of course, that little mouse was branded a dangerous subversive and was locked up, but as Douglas says, “you can lock up a mouse or a man but you can’t lock up an idea.”

The allegory is clearly meant to apply to Canadian society, and Douglas makes that explicit: “Now if you think it strange that mice should elect a government made up of cats, you just look at the history of Canada…and maybe you’ll see that they weren’t any stupider than we are.” For him, the story of Canadian politics was one where Liberal and Conservative cats ruled the roost while the masses of mice languished in poverty, precarity, and inequality. But when pioneering mice like J.S. Woodsworth stepped up to form the Labour Party and eventually the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation, they offered a new path forward.
...
Mouseland is clearly a populist narrative. In our own times, many people, especially among the centrist elite, have equated populism with Trumpian far-right politics. Certainly, the right has been successful at tapping into popular discontent with the status quo, and has been able to portray wealthy leaders like Trump and Ford as regular joes. But as I’ve noted in other venues, populism is an essential component to any left wing programme which sincerely seeks to represent the masses of working-class people. Mouseland is just the sort of fable that sparks a populist understanding of politics, where the 99% of mice stop deferring to the feline elite, and start doing politics differently. Where politicians who share their life experience are elected to represent them, and in turn can pass good laws—that is—laws that are good for mice.

One of the Canadian left’s key failings over the past couple decades has been a belief that we have to move beyond class conflict as a vehicle for social, political, and economic change; that regular Canadians don’t see themselves as mice anymore, or simply see themselves as cats-in-waiting. Some of this may well be true, but the reality is that class conflict isn’t going anywhere, and the social and economic elite understand this best of all. The left in Canada needs to centre politics of the many over the few, even if that makes enemies among the people unlikely to support them in the first place. Mouseland may well just be a fable, but it is nonetheless instructive, and can be used in part to illustrate a class consciousness among the masses of people in this country, matching that class solidarity which has never dissipated among the wealthy and well-connected.

Monday Evening Links

Miscellaneous material for your Monday reading.

- Evelyn Forget discusses the international outrage at the Ford PC's cancellation of a basic income pilot. And Paul Waldeman writes about Republicans' shock that voters are smart enough to recognize their giveaways to the wealthy for what they are.

- Doug Cuthand makes what should be the obvious point that residential schools intended to suppress Indigenous culture didn't have any redeeming features. But Tammy Robert's post makes clear that not only is there a worrisome lack of consensus on the basic harms of genocide, but right-wing ideologues are spending money to try to undermine the development of anything of the sort. And Steven Zhou reports on similar attempts to cultivate racism within Chinese Canadian politics.

- Meanwhile, Nick Loenen notes that a shift to proportional representation will help to ensure that extremism and bigotry aren't rewarded with artificial majorities.

- Anne Price and Jhumpa Bhattacharya write that a public wealth fund should account for and close existing racial wealth gaps.

- Finally, Michael Harris writes about the Libs' failures on the environment - and David Suzuki's role in holding them to account.

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Tracy Smith-Carrier comments on the importance of addressing poverty as an issue of human rights rather than charity:

It is not a matter of being down on your luck or misfortunate, as if people are somehow fated to live a life of poverty. It is the building blocks of society that reproduce poverty. Work conditions, unequal social relationships and the economy are all part of the problem: Some groups have historically been subject to racism, discrimination and inferior treatment while others have been accorded wealth and privilege.

For example, dynamics in the economy and labour market cause poverty. How many jobs are available, the nature and quality of those jobs, the availability of child care, the accessibility of advanced education and training, the affordability of housing, the extension of appropriate accommodations in the workplace, the accessibility of transportation systems, the ability for certain groups to climb the social ladder, the extension of income-security programs to buffer people in times of crisis: These are all factors that influence people’s slide into poverty and their ability to move out of it.

The decisions people make are ultimately shaped by these larger systemic forces. People might reduce their hours of work as they cannot find quality child care, or they might be reluctant to pursue post-secondary education with the prospect of crushing debt. These decisions are ultimately shaped by a lack of opportunities, not by personal deficiency. And then there is the psychological toll poverty takes: Mental-health issues can develop in the face of lingering unemployment.
...
Charity – the primary solution in place to address poverty through breakfast programs, soup kitchens, food banks, community gardens, and the like – can only provide some measure of emergency relief. It cannot eradicate poverty. No one gets out of poverty by using charitable programs. The fundamental problem – a lack of financial resources – remains unchanged.

It is time to shift away from the charitable model to a rights-based approach, guaranteeing people the right to food. People must have access to an adequate income that allows them to obtain their own food, and do so “in normal and socially acceptable ways,” ensuring personal dignity and choice. The perpetuation of food banks ensures the charitable-food model is preserved, and people remain hungry.

- David Leonhard argues that our current mean of measuring the economy tend to focus on the concentration of wealth rather than economic security for most people.

- Jedediah Purdy points out how the U.S. has turned the principle of freedom of speech into a mechanism to ensure most people are drowned out by the privileged few who can afford to dominate the media. And Adam Federman reports on the private surveillance of environmental activists in Canada as a similar example of money infringing on basic freedoms.

- Michael Harris offers a reminder that Canada is far better off holding off on any NAFTA deal than signing onto Donald Trump's plan to further enrich the American corporate class. And Janyce McGregor reports that like so many corporate trade deals, the CETA has fallen far short of its supposed economic promise.

- Finally, Colleen Flood, Bryan Thomas, Asad Ali Moten and Patrick Fafard examine some of the options available to establish a national universal pharmacare system.

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Michael Harris laments the lack of any consistent connection between reporting on severe weather events and the climate change which is producing them in unprecedented numbers:

Mainstream news coverage does well with reporting episodes, but misses the boat on thematic coverage. CNN is good at telling us about the casualties and costs of storms in places like New Orleans or Wilmington. But it is next to hopeless at taking the vital signs of the planet. It may be the biggest missed story in history.

Here are just a few of the inconvenient facts that don’t often make the nightly news — even when storm-tossed.

The biggest one is perhaps that despite all the global conferences, despite the policies of government, despite a token tip of the hat to alternate energy sources like wind and solar, despite all the hype surrounding electric cars, greenhouse gas emissions are rising. According to the Global Carbon Project, after three relatively flat years, there was a two per cent rise in emission rates in 2017.

Worse, emissions are growing at exactly the point at which radical cuts are needed to escape a 2 C rise in temperature that would plunge the planet into chaos, or even its death throes. The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says that a 70 per cent cut in greenhouse gas emissions must be made by 2050 to break the earth’s rising fever.

It’s not happening.

Instead, the planet is experiencing unprecedented droughts, floods, hurricanes and wildfires scientists believe are linked to global warming.

- Arthur Neslen writes about the dangers of air pollution as the largest current environmental health risk in Europe. Ben Doherty reports on the UN Pacific Islands Forum's recognition that climate change is responsible for rising malnutrition rates. And the Canadian Press reports on new research showing how even slight exposure to diluted bitumen can be deadly for salmon.

- Alex Hemingway examines how soaring real estate prices have exacerbated inequality in British Columbia.

- Yvette D'Entremont notes that a national food program is entirely feasible - though I'd be careful before assuming that a Senate motion will have any bearing on long-term policy development.

- Finally, George Monbiot argues that the results of publicly-funded research should be freely accessible to the citizenry which has footed the bill.

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Peter Gowan discusses UK Labour's push for greater social control over economic development. And Rainer Kattel, Mariana Mazzucato, Josh Ryan-Collins and Simon Sharpe set out a useful framework to evaluate policies which are intended to shape markets rather than merely attempting to fix them.

- Anis Heydari reports on the choice far too many Albertans face between food and housing when neither is affordable. And Glen Pearson comments on how poverty can trap people in a cycle of deprivation and pessimism:

What do kids in low-income situations do, for instance, when school is out? For many, camps are beyond reach because of the expense, vacations to other regions virtually impossible, and for some, hunger pangs will increase with the loss of school breakfast and feeding programs. It’s a sad irony of our times that agricultural growing seasons flourish at the same time as kids go more hungry than usual.

For working parents pressed down with precarious or vulnerable work, inquiring as to what their plans are for the summer can prove to be a moment of insensitivity. They possess no cottage, boat, travel agenda or, for some, even a car. They can enjoy the sun like everyone else, but not in those more exotic locations most citizens can get to.

This is what modern-day poverty looks like — not just a lack of resources but also a loss of hope.

It is this psychological state that presents democracy and politicians with one of their greatest challenges because there seem to be no solutions if the economic status quo prevails. And those losing faith in their future are frequently working adults, trapped in vulnerable employment, unable to escape their situation.
...
The longer we put off pressing for change, the closer the tentacles of poverty come to us. We all know people in our neighbourhoods and among our friends and families who have become increasingly vulnerable to low-income pressures, despite their best efforts to retrain, finish their education and work unbearable hours. There is more of this to come.

- But on the bright side, Matt Robinson reports on Vancouver's action to expropriate slum hotels to ensure they can be properly maintained and made available for people who need the housing. And Cami Kepke reports on a push by several Regina city councillors to stop further commercial development in Wascana Park. 

- Finally, Michael Harris weighs in on Doug Ford's choice to impose chaos on Toronto's municipal governance.