Monday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to start your week.

- Bryan Bushard reports on research showing how football games served as COVID-19 superspreaders even when less transmissible versions were circulating in 2020. And Akshay Kulkarni reports on the dangers of removing what few protections remain (including B.C.'s just-dropped self-isolation requirement for people infected with COVID), while Amina Zafar reminds us of the importance of staying home when sick.  

- Jeff Sparrow writes that extreme wealth is incompatible with effective democratic governance. And Frida Berrigan discusses how the concentration of wealth and power in the hands of hoarders is an intractable obstacle to needed climate action. 

- Meanwhile, Akshat Rathi, Natasha White and Demetrios Bogkas report on the sketchy math behind claims to carbon neutrality that aren't actually based on the reduction of a corporation's own emissions. And Darrin Qualman makes the case for Canada to set up a Canadian Farm Resilience Agency to ensure that agriculture isn't seen as incompatible with a needed transition to a clean economy.  

- Finally, Mitchell Anderson rightly calls out Danielle Smith for governing based on little more than childish fantasies - though the same criticism applies with equal force to Scott Moe and his government of UCP cheerleaders. 

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Umair Haque discusses how the UK has become a failing state which lacks the capacity to provide either basic public services or a functional economy of any kind. Adam Bychawski wonders whether any of the corporate-sponsored "think tanks" which pushed for the most destructive policy choices will ever be treated as discredited. And Owen Jones calls out the Cons' typical choice to distract from their own failings by demonizing refugees. 

- Meanwhile, Berenice de Suzanne writes that more and more Canadian corporate money is being stashed in tax havens to avoid funding a functional society. 

- Isabella Simonetti and Julia Creswell note that U.S. consumer prices are continuing to increase far past the point necessary to cover retailers' costs - confirming that much of the inflation people are facing is the result of corporate profiteering. And Kelly Geraldine Malone reports on the large number of people having to turn to food banks or skipping meals as a result of inflated food prices. 

- Daniel Drache and Mark Froese ask whether authoritarian populism will self-destruct. But Mitchell Anderson notes that hate is being cultivated by several interconnected forces which demand far more of a response than Canada has yet been able to muster. And Susan Delacourt writes that Pierre Poilievre is avoiding answering for his own support for the #FluTruxKlan. 

- Finally, Katherine Wu discusses both how COVID-19 is evolving far too quickly for much-hyped monoclonal antibodies to keep up, and how U.S. pediatric care is facing its worst crisis in decades as the coronavirus is allowed to spread unabated. 

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Simon Enoch traces the COVID-19 spending that's taken place in Saskatchewan - finding that most of the support has come from the federal government, while Scott Moe has combined a refusal to lift a finger (and indeed a failure to make use of all the federal money available) with constant complaining that the feds aren't doing enough:

(T)hroughout the pandemic, the Saskatchewan government has been quick to tout the state of its finances, in spite of the crisis, reporting lower deficits than anticipated and continuing to commit to a balanced budget by the 2024 election.

The irony is, that for all the ire that Mr. Moe directs at Prime Minister Trudeau, it may very well be the largesse of the federal government, coupled with the underspending of transferred dollars, that has allowed Saskatchewan to post such rosy fiscal numbers.

While in any other situation such news might be greeted by some as evidence of fiscal responsibility, during the worst public health crisis in 100 years, failure to spend and access every available dollar to protect us from the ravages of this pandemic looks a lot less like financial caution and a lot more like callous recklessness.

- Justine Hunter and Ian Bailey report on British Columbia's vaccine distribution plan - showing that it's possible to actually do the work of helping to keep people healthy, rather than devoting one's sole efforts to whining about the federal government. And Gary Mason notes that B.C. has also managed to get caught up on its surgical backlog.

- Robert Reich writes that the threats to U.S. democracy aren't limited to the Trumpist white supremacist uprising, but include corporate sedition aiming to capture the government for the benefits of the wealthiest few.

- Finally, Mitchell Anderson points out that Canada is home to a similarly dangerous set of violent actors who are often encouraged by our right-wing parties, while Matthew Remski documents the spread of Qanon in particular. And Geoff Dembicki notes that the work product from Alberta's anti-environment inquiry includes a smear campaign against journalists funded out of public money.

Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Emma Ladds, Alex Rushforth, Sietse Wieringa, Sharon Taylor, Clare Rayner, Laiba Husain and Trisha Greenhalgh study the wade-ranging and severe symptoms resulting from "long COVID", while Jennifer Lutz and Richard Carmona point out how a health care system dependent on individual funding is ill-equipped to respond. Andre Picard writes about the absurdity of Ontario taking a holiday from distributing COVID-19 vaccines.

- Meanwhile, Mitchell Anderson discusses the lives lost in Western Canada to decades of propaganda which have built deep antipathy and distrust toward both science and the federal government. And Lee Berthiaume reports on another poll showing that the vast majority of respondents in the prairie provinces have had enough of failed leadership in responding to the coronavirus.

- CBC News points out how we've wasted two decades in the fight to salvage a liveable planet in the face of a climate breakdown. 

- John Harris points out that the UK's current set of self-inflicted crises is nothing new, but instead reflects a history of hubris and poor judgment by the country's ruling class. And Dani Alexis Ryskamp discusses how the U.S. has eliminated the prospect of the modest but secure middle-class lifestyle depicted in the Simpsons and other cultural touchstones.

- Finally, Michael Laxer highlights how COVID-19 has been used as an excuse for class warfare in Canada, with the richest few individuals and largest corporations claiming massive handouts and taking the opportunity to exploit their advantages in wealth and power while people generally are shamed for trying to survive.

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Jim Stanford examines how a national child-care program would boost Canada's post-COVID recovery and rebuilding. And Michael Roberts points out the value of being able to manufacture vaccines and vital goods for ourselves, rather than depending on foreign corporations for public health necessities.

- Nick Falvo discusses how our current social programs are set up to be grossly insufficient for single people. And Max Fawcett writes about the future of any middle class in Canada - including the need to define its well-being in terms of quality of life rather than material ownership (particularly where that's financed by debt).

- Matthew Remski offers a warning as to what to expect as Qanon and related conspiracy theories spread in Canada. And tcnorris discusses the connection between systematic errors in U.S. polling and the fomenting of distrust in institutions by Donald Trump and his followers. 

- The remarxist examines the ongoing grift that is the manufactured culture of western alienation - which is of course creating a fertile breeding ground for the most dangerous kinds of wingnuttery. And Mitchell Anderson discusses how Jason Kenney's obsession with oil interests and right-wing identity politics over people's well-being has proven disastrous for Alberta in a pandemic. 

- Finally, Patricia Treble discusses the community buy-in which has enabled the Atlantic provinces to suppress COVID-19 - and thus regain some social and economic normalcy. 

On meritless demands

Mitchell Anderson is right to question why Jason Kenney is so obsessed with betting the pensions of every Albertan on dirty fossil fuels. And that goes doubly when his government's previous exercise in gambling with provincial wealth has produced massive losses due to a grossly flawed risk evaluation strategy.

But while there's every reason to see Kenney's actual plans as worrisome by any standard other than what best serves his corporate masters and donors, there's at least a theoretical argument to be made about exercising local and democratic control over a community's retirement savings.

It's less clear what argument there is to support putting another province's politically-directed and incompetent administrators in charge of the retirement savings of one's own constituents.

But Scott Moe is once again so locked into his role as Kenney's servant that he's outright saying there's somehow some merit in letting Alberta steal Saskatchewan's pensions for its own purposes. And the summer before an impending provincial election would be an ideal time for Saskatchewan's voters - along with responsible citizens across the country - to recognize their mutual interest in ensuring Moe doesn't have the opportunity to sell out Saskatchewan.

Saturday Morning Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Bethany Lindsay reports on the start of B.C.'s inquiry into money laundering through casinos. And PressProgress offers a reminder as to how the Saskatchewan Party has chosen to operate under the "Wild West" of election financing rules to ensure it can rely on big corporate donations from out of the province.

- As for what those donations have secured, Arthur White-Crummey reports first on the remarkable declaration that a multi-million-dollar investment fund for First Nations and Metis run by a Saskatchewan Party insider was never intended either to make money or to create jobs, and then on the multi-billion-dollar backlog of maintenance in schools resulting from the Sask Party's focus on tax slashing and corporate giveaways.

-  Meanwhile, Susan Delacourt writes that a pandemic should be the type of event which reminds us of the need for a functional government. And Tara Carman reports on the national crisis of under-resourced shelters which leave people attempting to flee violence with nowhere to turn.

- Finally, Mitchell Anderson ponders how our political and economic standing would look better if we'd spent the last few decades focused on pursuing treaties rather than gambling on fossil fuel subsidies.

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Kate Andrias notes that governments can ensure better jobs for everybody by fostering collective bargaining strength.

- John Favini writes that cooperation is deeply embedded in our biology - contrary to the spin that we naturally seek and require competition.

- Marc Edelman points out how the U.S.' laissez-faire governance has left rural areas in desperate need of development. And Mitchell Anderson writes that Jason Kenney has abandoned rural Alberta by imposing provincial funding cuts, strongarming municipalities into additional policing costs, and telling them never to expect to recover hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes and fees left unpaid by the oil sector.

- Louise Bradley discusses the importance of investing in mental health - and not only through corporate promotional campaigns. And Trish Hennessy offers her take as to how we should discuss the social determinants of mental health.

- Finally, Bill Curry reports that Canada's federal capacity to invest in people has been cut down by more than a billion dollars per year due to additional costs from the Libs' tax baubles.

Saturday Morning Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Olivia Bowden reports on new research showing that the harmful health effects of air pollution are even worse than previously known.

- But in case anybody was under the illusion that we'd expect polluters to pay for the cost of their damage, Chris Varcoe points out that Jason Kenney is demanding that the oil companies who have left his province with hundreds of billions of dollars in reclamation liabilities be let off the hook in favour of federal funding. Mitchell Anderson notes that continued subsidies for the fossil fuel sector are based on nothing more than wilful ignorance about the future of energy. And Jamie Kneen examines how a tax system designed to favour mining companies produces no discernable benefit to the public.

- Julia Conley reports on the strong popularity of a wealth tax in the U.S. - including among voters across the political spectrum. But Rob Evans, Felicity Lawrence, David Pegg and Caelainn Barr expose how U.S. tycoons have been funding the UK's anti-social right. And Max de Haldevang discusses new revelations about Walmart's offshoring of profits to avoid paying U.S. taxes.

- Danilo Trist and Matt Saenz study the strong poverty-reducing effects of even the U.S.' limited income support programs.

- Finally, Derrick O'Keefe discusses the importance of treating housing as a matter of meeting residents' needs, rather than assuming it can only be built for the purpose of enriching developers. And James Wilt highlights the central role strong public transit can play in addressing both environmental and social pressures. 

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Daniel Tencer reports on Ray Dalio's recognition that the economic system which made him a multi-billionaire is broken. And Harvey Cashore, Chelsea Gomez and Gillian Findlay report on the Liberal-connected tycoons who lobbied against any steps to stop the offshoring of wealth.

- Tom Conway discusses how employers are spying on their workers in order to increase their level of control while shutting down any attempts to unionize. Matthew Van Dongen notes that Hamilton's bus drivers face the need to strike just to secure real bathroom breaks. And Alex McKeen reports on Ravinder Singh's courageous steps to expose the exploitation of temporary foreign workers - and the need for our immigration system to ensure workers aren't punished for doing so.

- Mitchell Anderson examines Alberta's history of throwing away its natural resources. And Linda McQuaig offers a reminder that Canada has previously benefited from publicly-owned drug research and manufacturing.

- The Canadian Press reports on the food insecurity facing nearly half of the families living on First Nations in Canada.

- Finally, Murray Mandryk discusses how the Saskatchewan Party's callous response to reports about lead in the water in Saskatchewan cities reflects a government which is itself in dire need of replacement.

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Mitchell Anderson writes that personal debt may be the most important hidden issue in Canada's federal election:

The reason Canada cannot act in a more moral manner might lie in ballooning amounts of household debt. Canadians now owe an eye-watering $2.2 trillion or 178 per cent of disposable income — a measure that has doubled in the last 20 years. Personal bills now amount to more than our entire GDP, making us the most indebted citizenry in the G20 and fourth highest in the world.

Over half of Canadians report they are only $200 per month away from insolvency.

How can you care about climate change or global stability when your credit cards are maxed out or you are dodging debt collectors? Owing vast amounts of money seems now a defining Canadian characteristic and is increasingly enabled by indulgent political leaders.
...
If Canada has a financial moral injury, it is largely self-inflicted. No one forced consumers to incur such massive personal debts for the trappings of a detached house and everything that goes in it. Canadians spend $2 billion every year on lawn mowers and $85 billion on new vehicles.

What is non-consensual, however, is the pervasive pressure to borrow. Consumers are bombarded with ads from financial institutions and credit card companies encouraging them to borrow ever more. Aggressive marketing by mainstream and B-list lenders targets those least able to carry more credit. If civilization collapses due to inaction on climate change, the marketing departments of major banks should reflect on their contribution to that apocalyptic outcome.

All this debt might seem more rational if it made people happy, but evidence suggests the opposite is true. Forty-eight per cent of Canadians fret that they are on the edge on insolvency. Financial worries are the number one source of stress.

Personal debt is the elephant in the room of Canadian public policy. Decades of cheap money have undermined our national character and now prevents us from being a more principled nation. Canada remains an incredibly compassionate country but in order to meet the moral challenges of the coming century, we need to ditch our debt.

- And while Aaron Wherry takes note of the atmosphere of anxiety around the election campaign, Ed Finn rightly challenges the claim that Canada lacks the resources to address the most prominent stressors facing voters.

- Meanwhile, Health Providers Against Poverty offers (PDF) its assessment of the health platforms of Canada's federal parties.

- Larissa Atkinson examines the impact of secretive privatization schemes in building and renovating health infrastructure. And David Robertson offers ten reasons to oppose the development of Toronto's eastern waterfront as a corporate-controlled, privacy-free "smart city".

 - Finally, Yanis Varoufakis and David Alder argue that a foreseeable recession should be treated as the impetus for a Green New Deal.

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Greg Wilpert interviews Julia Wolfe about the contract between soaring incomes for CEOs, and stagnant ones for workers. And David Cooper observes that everybody benefits from a fair minimum wage.

- Christopher Cheung points out that the presence - or absence - of basic bathroom facilities offers a simple test as to whether cities are designed to be lived in by people.

- Zoe Ducklow interviews Tatiana Schlossberg about the relationship between consumer lifestyles and our climate breakdown and other environmental consequences.

- Patricia Aldana rightly calls out Canada's corporate elite (and their fully-owned political subsidiaries) for prioritizing resource sector profits over the rule of law in Latin America. And Mitchell Anderson notes that we don't have any standing to claim superiority over Brazil in our effect on the climate - though the answer should be that we accept being subject to the same type of pressure we ought to apply to other countries who also place short-term profits ahead of the viability of our planet. 

- Finally, Bernie Sanders highlights how media outlets motivated by a combination of easy profits and billionaire manipulations represent a threat to democracy. And Dennis Gruending discusses how the Koch brothers' dark money has harmed Canada's political debate.

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Derrick O'Keefe writes that our federal election should be focusing on the growing climate crisis, not being sidetracked by such trivialities as chocolate milk. (Though I'll argue that the two issues may sometimes point to the same key structural problems.) Cam Fenton has some suggestions for the questions which could be asked in a climate change debate. And Stephen Leahy points out that temperatures beyond the range of existing heat indexes could soon affect hundreds of millions of people in the U.S. alone.

- Anne Gaviola recognizes that the primary effect of the gig economy is to entrench the power of corporations over workers. And Mitchell Anderson calls out the Trudeau Libs for using public money to promote corporate malfeasance.

- Nora Loreto rightly argues that Canada has nothing to brag about in our own system of migrant detention.

- John Klein highlights Scott Moe's decision to promote racist symbols - now including the Confederate flag.

- And finally, PressProgress points out Brian Pallister's growing list of health care cuts, now including a third emergency room closure so far.

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Joseph Stiglitz points out the need to move beyond neoliberalism and offers a useful policy framework to do so - though framing an alternative as "progressive capitalism" cedes far more ground than necessary in continuing to prioritize capital over social well-being.

- The Economist examines how increasing numbers of Americans are acknowledging the climate crisis in the face of extreme weather events. But Heide Pearson reports that right-wing governments are still sticking with denial, as the UCP for one isn't particularly concerned with the people losing their homes and communities to climate disasters. Mitchell Anderson reminds us that Jason Kenney's top priority is only to accelerate the harm done by a substantially-unregulated fossil fuel sector. And George Monbiot highlights how the Trump administration's propaganda campaign is a planetary version of exactly the language used to persuade people to harm their own lungs by smoking.

- Harvey Cashore reports on another secret settlement in which wealthy KPMG clients avoid not only prosecution, but even public awareness of their deceptive tax evasion schemes. PressProgress points out the connections between the Aquilini family, the gross abuse of workers, and the funneling of money to the B.C. Liberals. And Robert Fife and Steven Chase expose an arrangement in which the federal government ensures that Irving Shipbuilding gets notified of any attempt by journalists to investigate its public contracts.

- Finally, Jean Swanson suggests that if Vancouver is willing to proclaim basic freedoms for animals, it should certainly be prepared to do the same (and couple it with action) to ensure a reasonable standard of living for all people.

Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Tony Burman writes about the seismic change we can expect as the importance of our climate crisis - as well as the need to act on a global basis - starts to permeate our political decision-making. And KC Golden warns that the oil companies who have been the worst offenders in both causing and denying climate change are now trying to use the first steps toward a policy response to escape from any liability for their actions.

- Meanwhile, Jimmy Thomson writes about the challenge of developing cleaner fuel sources to replace outdated and environmentally-harmful diesel fuel generators in isolated communities across northern Canada. The Canadian Press reports on new research showing how climate breakdown is leading to the acidification of Arctic water. And Blake Shaffer notes that vehicle emissions are just one more area where Canada is the world's worst per-capita offender in contributing to the global climate crisis.

- Emily Holden reports on a new international agreement to stop the dumping of plastic waste on less wealthy countries. But Sandra Laville points out how plastics lobbyists are attempting to undermine any effort to limit the indiscriminate disposal of their products in the UK.

- Mitchell Anderson discusses how conventional economics have contributed to environmental disasters - including the impending extinction crisis - by neglecting to value a habitable planet as part of our economic system.

- Finally, Trevor Harrison highlights the bias in Jason Kenney's budget panel which is under orders not to look at revenues (or the cost of corporate tax giveaways). And Hulya Dagdeviren and Jiayi Balasuriya examine how the UK's austerity served largely to dump even more debt and financial stress onto lower-income households.

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Ethan Cox reports on the massive public support in Canada for a wealth tax. David Hetherington writes that the wealthy few go out of their way to avoid any personal interaction with the realities of economic inequality - making it absurd to accept their attempts to rig the political system to exacerbate it.  And Jim Stanford discusses the pattern of wage stagnation in Australia (which is of course all too familiar here as well).

- David Baxter reports on the latest report of Saskatchewan's advocate for children and youth highlighting the importance of mental health as an issue which is far too often ignored and underresourced. And Tyee Bridge points out that the recognition that older generations are willfully destroying the planet is causing particularly acute eco-anxiety.

- Meanwhile, Eoin Higgins notes that the short-term calculations of petro-politicians are helping to ensure their parties are toxic to younger voters. And Abacus Data's look at the priorities of young Canadians confirms they can see how they've been sold out by corporations and politicians.

- Finally, Bill McKibben discusses the opportunity for a moment of real political change. Varshini Prakash warns against accepting half measures in the face of an existential crisis. And Mitchell Anderson points out how tar sands operators have underreported their own greenhouse gas missions, making an already-privileged position in Canada's national climate change planning all the less justified.

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Tom Parkin discusses the contrived war between the Libs' fake progressives and the Cons' phony populists:

In Canada, under Conservatives and Liberals, income polarization continues, social programs get cut, workers’ economic strength weakens, infrastructure is turned into a finance rent-seeking scheme and oil and gas companies get billions in subsidies — currently by a government that claims to be a global climate leader.

Not surprisingly, this might make some people believe the political-economic elite and the Canadian people aren’t on the same team.

There is, of course, a perfectly rational way out of the economic and political disaster foisted on us. The high cost of everyday life needs to be unwound using policy initiatives, including a public drug plan and childcare. We need to attack money laundering and tax housing speculation. Critical monopolies like power grids should be turned into ratepayer-owned co-ops. Public investment in infrastructure needs to be delivered on-time and on-budget by ending the finance of the finance sector. And the labour market should expand bargaining power for people, especially those who are precarious and with low income. The billions being spent on oil and gas subsidies should be reinvested in what’s being labelled a Green New Deal. We should seek international trade and diplomatic alliances with countries that share our social and democratic values. We should stop arming tyrants.

It’s a pretty obvious plan. But it doesn’t help the political and economic elite. So to replace the obvious solutions, we have political fakery — in two brands. And you better believe it. Or at least one of them.

Brand A pushes the fake populist narrative that refugees are today’s crisis, tax cuts for the rich will raise wages, and the oil and gas industry needs more public subsidies. Brand B sells the fake progressive line that things are great, ending racism is one call-out away, and life-changing investments in people are just around the corner.

But surely Canadians understand that, whether it’s Brand A or Brand B, fake populists or fake progressives, Conservatives or Liberals, their reality doesn’t change.

- And Lynne Fernandez writes about the real challenges facing Manitoba (in contrast to the trumped-up deficit fears being used by Brian Pallister as an excuse to slash social investments).

- Sara Peach offers some suggestions in conducting difficult but necessary conversations about the realities of climate change. Jonathan Watts writes about the risks of climate tipping points - but also points out that they signal the value of taking action. Robert Hackett and Philippa Adams point out how mainstream coverage of pipeline issues tends to freeze out any voices other than oil industry backers. Bonnie Heilman reviews the Just Transition summit which discussed how Saskatchewan can do its part, while Vanessa Williamson comments on France's Gilets Jaunes protests (as opposed to the astroturf Alberta knockoff) as an indication that the price of climate action can't be imposed solely on the working class.

- David Climenhaga examines the corporate funding behind a "protest" which served mostly to confirm how clueless Andrew Scheer is. And Dave Cournoyer calls out the recent spate of separatist blather as the toddler's temper tantrum that it is, while Mitchell Anderson notes that reality wouldn't be kind to any Alberta attempt to go it alone.

- Finally, Sarah O'Connor examines how the UK Cons' freeze of housing benefits seems positively calculated to force people out of their homes. And Brittany Shoot discusses the obvious link between soaring rents and increased homelessness.

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Gavin Kelly writes that the UK's welfare state has been shaped by the Cons to prevent working households from being able to aspire to anything better than precarity:

According to a recent analysis for the Equality and Human Rights Commission, the combined effect of the changes to the tax and benefits system between 2010 and 2021 will be average losses for a couple with children of £3,000 a year, rising to more than £5,000 for a lone-parent family – almost a fifth of their income. Families with disabled members, or with three or more children, tend to lose more.

These are life-altering sums. In every corner of Britain, we see the symptoms of these and other cuts as growing numbers fall through the gaping holes in our safety net: the rise in food banks, street-sleeping, temporary accommodation and problem-debt. Tax-credits for those on middle incomes have been steadily chipped away and child benefit for the better off axed altogether – though it’s still the case that the support on offer to middle Britain remains more generous than it was in the mid-1990s, prior to the Labour government. The use of the benefits system has also changed: jobseeker’s allowance, which has withered in value compared to earnings, is claimed by only six out of 10 of today’s unemployed, compared to almost 100% in the early 1990s.

 

The cold calculus of cash losses is vitally important, of course, but only tells us part of the story. A core idea of the welfare state was that it provided the bedrock of security needed for people to take economic risk. Increasingly, however, it has the opposite psychological effect. Take universal credit for example. It’s not just that 3.2 million working households will be £2.5k worse off than under the old system (though 2.2 million will be better off). Moving today’s benefit claimants on to UC over the next five years will involve several million families knowing they face big losses if their personal circumstances alter – the birth of a new child, separation from a partner, a boost in earnings. An idea conceived in the name of “aspiration” has yielded a policy that will pressure families to stand still.

- The Globe and Mail's editorial board notes that Doug Ford's "business-friendly" messaging in fact reflects nothing more than enmity for the working poor. And PressProgress documents how workers will be worse off if Ford gets his way.

- Mitchell Anderson discusses the corrupting influence of the fossil fuel industry generally. And David Roberts points out the tens of millions of dollars it's poured into attacking citizens' initiatives in a single U.S. election cycle.

- Meanwhile, Tristin Hopper discusses the effect a carbon price will have in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. But Nic Rivers and Leah Stokes note that there's limited evidence to suggest a Lib-style rebate scheme will help to build popular support for stronger climate policy.

- Finally, David Climenhaga examines the backstory behind the sale of Jason Kenney's UCP platform to car dealerships.

Saturday Morning Links

This and that for your weekend reading.

- Trish Hennessy examines the aftermath of Ontario's provincial election, while Andrew Mitrovica traces the spread of Trumpian antisocial populism. And Doug Nesbitt offers some lessons for workers based on the province's previous PC government.

- David Roberts takes a look at our economic assumptions behind climate change policy, and notes that they're thoroughly distorted toward a lack of action.

- Linda McQuaig criticizes the Trudeau Libs for prioritizing the oil industry's profits ahead of the national interest. And Mitchell Anderson notes that the Canadian public is now one of the few actors foolish enough to spending large amounts of money trying to continue inflating a clearly-bursting oil bubble.

- Pam Palmater reminds us that Indigenous rights aren't subject to popular whims - even if public opinion still includes far too much baked-in racism. And Murray Mandryk comments on the Justice for our Stolen Children camp which is being evicted by the Saskatchewan Party in the name of  Canada Day festivities.

- Finally, Gary Mason is duly incredulous at the whining of multimillionaire Vancouver homeowners at the prospect of paying something closer to their fair share of the cost of a functioning community.

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- PressProgress crunches the numbers on tax loopholes and finds that more and more revenue is being lost to the most glaring loopholes every year. And Andrew Jackson hopes for a sorely-needed response from the federal government to rein in tax avoidance by the wealthy.

- Sam Cooper reports on Vancouver's embarrassing status as a poster child for criminal money laundering.

- Wanda Wyporska highlights the importance of fighting for greater equality rather than allowing it to overtake social cohesion and individual well-being.

- Anna Patty reports on a new study showing how an improved minimum wage could create jobs in addition to boosting standards of living in Australia. And Scott Brown writes about the B.C. NDP's first steps toward including all workers in basic employment protections (including the right to a minimum wage).

- Mark Winfield warns of the risks of panicking about the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, though Mike De Souza reveals that the Libs have made a habit of leaping into reckless action at Kinder Morgan's behest. And Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood writes that we should be focusing on a just transition for both resource sector workers and their communities, while Mitchell Anderson discusses how the Trans Mountain expansion would only exacerbate a trend seeing refinery jobs leaked south of the border.

- Finally, CBC reports on Justin Trudeau's lack of interest in following the UK's ban on single-use plastics.