Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- The University of Oxford has released new research showing that politicians underestimate the public's demand for climate action. Adam Morton discusses how Australia's Labor party has both an opportunity and a political incentive to break free from petropolitics, while Michael Barnard weighs in on how the ICJ's ruling on climate liability should spur Canada to stop subsidizing dirty energy. And Dharna Noor and Oliver Milman report on scientists' duly scathing response to denialist propaganda from the Trump regime. 

- Ben Shread-Hewitt notes that any plans to reach net zero in the distant future can be undermined by the effects of a climate breakdown today, including in wiping out the trees which are being counted on to offset carbon pollution. And Kiley Bense reports on research showing that children are far healthier after the closure of a nearby coal plant - even as the Trump regime and its Canadian cousins look to keep coal plants spewing out of spite. 

- Meanwhile, Matthew Scace reports on a new study showing that Alberta's coal mine reclamation standards fall far short of protecting affected water and fish - and it's again worth noting that the Moe government's response has uniformly been to criticize anybody seeking to preserve clean water rather than to object to poison being dumped into Saskatchewan's water sources. And Damien Gayle weighs in on Deep Science Ventures' research into the dangers of chemical pollution. 

- Julia Musto discusses a new report on the harms caused by plastic pollution. And the Guardian's editorial board implores world leaders to dedicate themselves to a treaty to stop the damage.

- Polly Toynbee rightly questions why Keir Starmer is obsessed with expanding the use of polluting air travel, rather than investing in rail and other clean transportation. And David Climenhaga calls out the UCP for declaring war on bike lanes to ensure nobody can get anywhere other than in a massive polluting SUV or truck. 

- Finally, Craig Lord reports on the resilience of Canada's economy in the face of the Trump regime's tariffs and threats - which makes for a particularly noteworthy contrast against Paul Wells' choice to declare the fight for sovereignty lost since a few corporate bigwigs might make more money in the short term through appeasement.

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Andrew Nikiforuk discusses the 10 inescapable laws of pandemics - and the grim future they portend in light of our pitiful response to the social challenges posed by COVID-19. And Jessica Wildfire writes that the effects of repeated COVID infections on people's immune systems will reverberate for decades to come. 

- Lucas Henneman writes about new research showing that pollution from coal-fired electricity produces even more health problems than previously identified.  

- Lynn Boylan and Alma Dufour point out that Amazon is a massive cause of carbon emissions and avoidable waste - even as it tries to greenwash its operations through selective reporting and PR. Oliver Griffin reports on the targeted killings of environmentalists in Colombia and elsewhere by corporate forces determined to destroy anything and anybody who might call attention to their destruction. And Radio Ecoshock discusses the fossil fuel sector's plan to wreck the Earth's atmosphere, while Leyland Cecco reports on Canada's worsening contribution to carbon pollution as oil companies ramp up production in the midst of a climate crisis. 

- Michelle Cyca writes about the reality that real estate windfalls represent a massive source of unearned wealth - as well as an opportunity for cynical politicians to divide the working class based on homeownership. And Max Fawcett highlights how the Canadian Taxpayers Federation is entirely a political tool of right-wing parties, rather than a remotely principled critic of unconscionable waste when it emanates from the likes of Danielle Smith. 

- Paul Wells discusses how Pierre Poilievre has paired Stephen Harper's contempt for accountability with the antisocial buffoonery of the Joker, while Deveryn Ross calls out Poilievre's combination of serial lying and determination to foment fear and hate. And the Economist writes about the appalling rise of Geert Wilders' party - including through the normalization of bigotry by "mainstream" parties. 

Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Kenyon Wallace writes that the only reason we're not observing large COVID waves is that we've been pushed to accept a perpetual high tide - with all the avoidable illness and death which comes with that. And Bill Hathaway discusses new research showing how the Omicron subvariants in particular avoid our immune system, meaning that their uncontrolled spread and mutation pose especially severe threats.

- Bill McKibben discusses how even after years of unprecedented heat waves, wildfires and other severe weather events, we're likely only approaching the true weight of a climate breakdown.

- Cara McKenna and Martin Lukacs report on the Indigenous communities fighting to avoid the uncontrolled release of toxic tar sands waste into crucial watersheds. And Bob Weber reports on the predictable reality that the UCP's assurances about having contained the initial spill (while concealing it from the people affected) have proven false.

- Blair Fix discusses the redistributive implications of interest rates - and the inequality which inevitably results from a choice to prioritize higher rates of capital return over shared wealth. 

-' Finally, Crawford Kilian reviews Paul Wells' An Emergency in Ottawa, and discusses how it points out the continued need for a reckoning with the systematic breakdown of trust in public institutions and the concurrent rise of the anti-social right. And Euan Thomson comments on the UCP's choice to value religious control over human lives in allocating resources for drug treatment.

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Heather Scoffield examines the lessons we should be learning from the COVID-19 pandemic if it hadn't been disappeared down the memory hole. And Delphine Planas et al. study the wave of newly-developed variants which looks set to render existing monoclonal antibodies obsolete. 

- Don Drummond and Sarah Miller write that economic forecasts which don't account for the climate breakdown - and the costs of inaction in mitigating it - are obviously unfit for purpose. Cloe Logan discusses the importance of fighting against the climate misinformation which is used as an excuse for continued carbon pollution. And Laura Cameron asks when the oil industry will start investing in actual emission reductions if it's not bothering while rolling in windfall profits - though it's all too clear that it views "never" as the only acceptable answer. 

- Paul Wells points out the appalling implications of Pierre Poilievre's plan to apply Alberta's moralistic harm maximization to the drug poisoning crisis on a national scale. And Yann Marten offers his take on the realities facing homeless people in a province which can't be bothered to make empty housing available to them. 

- Finally, Jen St. Denis discusses the problem with planning for police to respond to mental health calls. And Rumneek Johal and Stephen Magusiak expose how police forces across Canada are commissioning misleading "think tank" pieces in order to steal funding from any other type of crisis response or social support. 

#Elxn44 Roundup

News and notes from Canada's federal election campaign.

- Doug Nesbitt calls out Erin O'Toole's bait-and-switch scheme toward the working class. And PressProgress highlights how the Cons' policy planks for gig workers were actually written by Uber lobbyists to entrench permanent underclass status in law. 

- Meanwhile, D.T. Cochrane examines the Libs' platform from the standpoint of tax fairness and finds that it conspicuously avoids going far in that direction. And Paul Wells notes that incompleteness and incoherence are the main messages to be found in the platform of the party which controlled the timing of the election. 

- David Moscrop writes that the only meaningful answer to a worsening housing crisis is to build large numbers of non-market homes. 

- Bernie Farber argues that hate crimes should be an important issue for voters. But in case anybody was under the illusion that greater police authority is an answer, Stewart Bell reports on a newly-released intelligence report showing that extremist groups are actively recruiting members of Canada's military and police forces. 

- David Coletto offers up Abacus' polling on the "ownership" of issues - finding both a variety of top issues for voters, and plenty of room for movement in determining which party is seen as best equipped to address them. 

- Finally, Heather Scoffield writes that the common problem with the Libs' and Cons' plans is their dependence on implausible assumptions about what our economy will look like. 

#Elxn44 Roundup

The latest from Canada's federal election campaign.

- PressProgress takes a look at the housing plans on offer - finding the NDP's plan to be the best of the major parties, but still falling short of ensuring the right to housing is met. Jonas Goldman, Anna Jessop and Aline Coutinho examine the climate change and environmental policies of the three main contenders. And John McNally and Mohsina Atiq connect the two issues by highlighting how housing affordability is vital to an effective climate plan. 

- Meanwhile, Ian Young reveals how the extreme rise in housing prices in Vancouver can be traced substantially to foreign capital. 

- Rosa Saba examines the weaknesses in Canada's Employment Insurance system - along with the need for stronger action to protect unemployed workers than is currently on the table. 

- Larry Savage offers a needed reality check for people pitching strategic voting, concluding that it fails miserably in its stated purpose of defeating Conservatives while often diverting votes toward undeserving Liberals. 

- Paul Wells theorizes that successful federal election campaigns have tended to focus on benefits for voters, rather than appeals to values. 

- Finally, Enzo DiMatteo reflects on Jack Layton's determined optimism, and its continued relevance in an election where so much bandwidth is being used trying to persuade people to accept less than what's possible. 

Monday Evening Links

Miscellaneous material for your Monday reading.

- Paul Wells writes that the Libs' latest climate announcement represents at least some break from their tendency to take the easy way out on tough policy choices, while Canadians for Tax Fairness offers a thumbs-up to the first national plan to meet any (however insufficient) climate target. But if we're looking for other readily-available steps to make a Canadian contribution to the protection of a liveable planet, the Financial Times reports on the UK's plan to stop subsidizing overseas fossil fuel extraction. And Jeremy Appel asks why we haven't paired a carbon tax with a Green New Deal (particularly as the cost of cleaner energy is plummeting), while Maria Fernanda Espinosa notes that we have an opportunity to transition to a cleaner environment by putting climate progress at the heart of a COVID recovery. 

- Ian Sample reports on new research showing how COVID-19 causes the production of "auto-antibodies" which severely exacerbate its damage. And Krysia Collier and Dawna Friesen highlight how the coronavirus can damage the brain. 

- Meanwhile, Richard Cuthbertsen writes about the readily-foreseeable financial cliff looming in front of people who were facing poverty before now-expiring relief programs were put in place.

- Danielle Groen examines what needs to be done to distribute a COVID-19 vaccine around the globe. And Geoffrey York discusses the eminently reasonable fear that wealthier countries will hoard the vaccines that are being developed and produced.

- Finally, Lana Polansky writes about the use of intellectual properly laws to create cultural monopolies while stifling any genuine creativity.

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Reviewing Rick Perlstein's Reaganland, Martin Gelin writes that the U.S. is paying the price for allowing itself to be trapped in a corporate autocracy since the Reagan years - and that it will take a concerted push for systemic change to improve matters now. And Matthew Corbeil discusses the need for progressives to fight back both through electoral means, and through mass protest.

- CBC News reports that after a minuscule 13-cent increase, Saskatchewan's minimum wage remains the lowest in Canada. And Arthur White-Crummey reports that the province's reward for governing at the behest of the corporate class is a declining population to go with a deteriorating quality of life.

- Paul Wells discusses the complete lack of action from the Libs' infrastructure bank (even as they try to pitch it yet again as an alternative to actual public investment in social priorities). And Brent Patterson contrasts the Libs' insistence on pushing ahead with purchasing fighter jets against yet another delay in keeping promises to ensure First Nations have access to clean drinking water.

- Samir Shaheen-Hussain, Suzanne Shoush, Semir Bulle and Naheed Dosani remind us of Canada's medical colonialism which has ensured that Indigenous people have borne the brunt of past diseases.

- Finally, Lindsay McLaren discusses how a full set of policies aimed at improving public health would include responses to inequality and environmental degradation, as well as investments in children and seniors.

Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Crawford Kilian takes a look at Kurt Andersen's new book on the collaboration between massively wealthy people and those willing to be subjugated to their interests who have re-engineered society for their benefit, to the detriment of everybody else.

- Oren Cass comments on the folly of measuring our economy and society solely through GDP. And Duncan Thorp discusses the importance of rebuilding around a well-being economy.

- Sara Mojtehedzadeh reports on the attempt by a temp agency to saddle a worker with a $30,000 bill after his job disappeared as a result of COVID-19. And the Star's editorial board recognizes the case as an example of the need for improved protection for precarious workers.

- Meanwhile, PressProgress examines how employers are trying to use a pandemic to deny workers the benefits they've bargained for. Jon Milton writes about the efforts of Dollarama employees to fight for safe workplaces and fair wages - particularly in the face of yet another attempt to claw back pandemic pay. And Megan Lupo, Nino Abdaladze, Molly Bohannon, Sanjana Garg, Jamie Fields and Katie Surma report on the essential workers trying to navigate a pandemic while homeless.

- Bill McKibben writes that the U.S. has run out of presidential terms to delay in dealing with climate change. And David Roberts examines the devastating effects that another term of Donald Trump would have on our planet.

- Finally, Paul Wells examines the farce of Bill Blair's panel on solitary confinement. And Justin Ling notes that it's only after the panel's resignation was publicly reported that the Libs took any steps to allow it to function.

Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Jen Gerson rightly argues that we should be closing bars - and otherwise limiting dangerous contacts within our communities - in order to ensure safer school environments for students this fall. And Jana Pruden discusses how the coronavirus pandemic has forced people to rethink what's most important - even as corporations and governments try to push us back toward a profit-focused status quo ante.

- Doug Nesbitt highlights how WE fits into a pattern of charities which substitute upper-class noblesse oblige for solidarity, while Shree Paradkar calls out its white saviourism complex. And PressProgress looks into the connections between WE, Scott Moe, and one of the Saskatchewan Party's largest donors.

- Meanwhile, Paul Wells and Marie-Danielle Smith discuss how WE fits into the Libs' culture - including both a restrictive inner circle, and a focus on showmanship over substance. And the Globe and Mail's editorial board argues that if Justin Trudeau was actually told he had no other options but to let WE handle a student volunteer program, he should have insisted on testing that implausible claim.

- Meanwhile, Jolson Lim reports that the Libs' other most prominent attempt to outsource COVID operations has met a similar end, as the much-questioned deal with Amazon to distribute supplies has fallen apart due to its inability to do the job.

- Finally, Tom Blackburn writes that neoliberalism has no answers for an increasingly unequal economic system which can only be fixed through structural change. And Ian Welsh writes that we can't understand the U.S.' elites without recognizing their predatory nature.

Thursday Evening Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Thomas Powell makes the case for ensuring that families are able to maintain connections to loved ones in long-term care as part of our rules governing the COVID-19 pandemic. And Karen Wang argues that we need a national mask requirement in place immediately to make school opening as safe as possible this fall, while Zak Vescera reports on the Saskatchewan NDP's plan for schools (in response to the Moe government's complete lack of effort).

- David Macdonald writes that the mobilization of public resources in response to the coronavirus pandemic shows that there's no excuse for refusing to fund a just transition to a clean economy. And in case there was any doubt whether investors have any appetite for a dirty fossil fuel economic strategy, Patrick Collinson and Jillian Ambrose report on the UK National Employment Savings Trust's move toward divestment, while Dan Healing reports on Total's writedown of its tar sands assets (and disaffiliation from CAPP).

- But lest anybody hoped the fossil fuel sector would be replaced without a fight, Dana Drugmand exposes how natural gas operators are attacking the electrification of buildings.

- Finally, Jason Markusoff highlights why whataboutism isn't a legitimate response to the Libs' WE scandal. And Paul Wells writes about the jarring refusal to listen to the public which resulted in the Libs trying to substitute a vaguely-defined review for an full inquiry into the Portapique shooting spree.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Paul Wells explores how extensive planning for foreseeable pandemics was discarded or forgotten just as it mattered most.

- Ryan Meili highlights the importance of putting people first in determining how to ease restrictions in the wake of the coronavirus, while Missy Johnson looks at a few of the options to ameliorate our current level of inequality in the wake of a pandemic which has shown how precarity weakens us all.
And Adam Tooze writes that we shouldn't be obsessing over deficits or debt, particularly when it's being raised primarily as an excuse to push cruel austerity measures.

- Nafeez Ahmed notes that the coronavirus may provide the economic system shock which permanently shifts us away from dirty fossil fuels. And Brendan Haley discusses the need for public investment in clean energy systems to ensure a durable and sustainable recovery, while James Wilt argues for decommodifying public transit.

- Andrew Nikiforuk points out that the meatpackers which have become some of Canada's most dangerous vectors for the spread of COVID-19 ignored plenty of warnings to reach that point.

- Bill Blaikie makes the case to fulfill the promise of complete universal health care by ensuring people have the medicine they need.

- Finally, Dominic Rushe and Mona Chalabi discuss how the wealthiest few are exploiting the pandemic to make themselves even richer. And Jo Snyder provides responses to the Koch-funded talking points being used to argue for reckless disregard for the continued dangers of COVID-19.

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Paul Wells highlights the futility in telling people to stay home when they lack a home to stay in. And Robyn Urback discusses the simple test of character involved in the choice of some leaders to abandon people at sea.

- Megan Linton discusses how neoliberal health care treats people as disposable. The Star's editorial board points out how we're currently sending our health care workers to war without adequate equipment, while Catharine Tunney reports on the federal government's recognition only after the fact that it didn't have sufficient personal protective equipment. And Jane Philpott comments on the need to protect the health workers working to care for people through the course of the pandemic.

- Michael Enright interviews Hugh Segal about the prospect of a basic income - and the extra value it would carry in a crisis (particularly as the federal government makes excuses about lacking information to distribute even the barest of benefits to people who need them). And Mark Blyth points out how the U.S.' debt-driven economy with few social supports or shock absorbers makes it particularly vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic, while Madison Hoff notes that a shutdown is calling needed attention to the U.S.' obsession with work over welfare.

- Owen Jones writes about the need to fight to ensure the new world which emerges from COVID-19 is actually an improvement on the one that's allowed it to cause so much damage. And Dorothee Benz takes note of the corporate media focused primarily on profits rather than lives.


- Finally, Ian Welsh offers a needed warning against the impulse to rally around bad leaders in a time of crisis.

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Klaus Schwab comments on the importance of making decisions with far more of a long-term focus, rather paying attention only to short-term dollar calculations:

(W)e should develop scorecards to track our performance on these long-term priorities. To that end, I have three suggestions. First, we need to rethink GDP as our “key performance indicator” in economic policymaking. Second, we should embrace independent tracking tools for assessing progress under the Paris agreement and the SDGs. Third, we must implement “stakeholder capitalism” by introducing an environmental, social, and governance (ESG) scorecard for businesses.
...
Adopting these three scorecards – new global growth metrics, a climate tracker, and a measure of ESG – would go a long way toward addressing the world’s greatest long-term challenges. It would also help us alleviate today’s economic crises and avoid future ones, by demonstrating to a disgruntled public that political and business leaders really are working for everyone’s interests, and not just their own. I invite every stakeholder in the global economy to join in these efforts to end the era of short-termism.

- Karl Nerenberg suggests that the Libs should be willing to work with the NDP and the Greens in a collaborative government. And Paul Wells argues that it's time to prove that it's possible for our politics to be better than we're currently being forced to accept.

- Elizabeth Renzetti writes that this week's federal election result only increases the desperate need for a proportional electoral system. And David Beers discusses the continued fallout from Justin Trudeau's broken promise to implement one.

- Finally, Sarath Peiris rightly criticizes Scott Moe for stoking separatism and ignorance. And
Murray Mandryk writes that Moe's temper tantrum about the federal election results is the last thing Saskatchewan needs.

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Ben Parfitt comments on the dangers of captured regulators such as B.C.'s Oil and Gas Commission who end up serving corporate "clients" rather than the public interest. And Bryan Walsh discusses the discounting effect which makes it all too frequent for people to avoid seriously considering the long-term effects of a climate breakdown (among other policy choices).

- But if we needed an example as to how pollution affects people every day, Allison Aubrey discusses new research showing that smog and other air pollution can be as harmful to a person's lungs as being a heavy smoker. Pheobe Weston reports on the spread of microplastics to the most remote areas of the globe. And Jillian Ambrose reports on new research showing how fracking results in the emission of large quantities of methane with severe climate consequences.

- Meanwhile, Michael Salmato points out that plenty of coal workers (among other people currently tied to fossil fuels) recognize the need for a just transition to more sustainable energy sources.

- In the wake of the Ethics Commissioner's report finding Justin Trudeau to have broken the law by pressuring Jody Wilson-Raybould in SNC Lavalin's interests, Paul Wells highlights the reminder that a government's decisions and actions have consequences beyond immediate public relations effects. And Andrew Coyne notes that the problems with Trudeau's actions also extend beyond a conflict of interest alone.

- Finally, Paul Karp and Ben Butler take note of the attempt by Australian corporate giants to avoid any use of the Panama Papers which revealed their tax evasion - along with the rejection of that argument by the courts.

Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Erika Beauchesne discusses the benefits of a wealth tax as both a means of reducing inequality, and a source of revenue for public priorities:

Canada’s NDP has proposed a one per cent tax on wealth over $20 million as part of its election platform. The party doesn’t include much detail yet but estimates it could generate several billion dollars a year.

Pundits have been quick to pounce on a wealth tax as too extreme, difficult or costly. A National Post column last month asked: “What is the problem to which creating a wealth tax is a solution?”

Growing inequality is the problem.

The richest families in Canada are now more than 4,400 times wealthier than the average family, according to a study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).

This widening gap has gone hand-in-hand with declining social and economic mobility. The CCPA found that family dynasties are more likely to keep their money in the family than they were two decades ago thanks to light taxes and loopholes that primarily benefit the wealthy, while Statistics Canada recently reported that family income mobility has declined since the 1980s.
...
There’s debate among economists about the pros and cons of annual wealth taxes, and whether inheritance taxes and other taxes on capital and wealth would work better. Canadians for Tax Fairness, an organization that advocates for fair and progressive taxation, has called for restoring an inheritance tax on high-wealth estates to narrow Canada’s widening wealth gap, make our tax system fairer and generate funds to pay for public services. Democratic leadership contender and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders proposed a similar plan to expand the estate tax for inheritances over US$3.5 million.

The question and debate should no longer be whether we have increased taxes on wealth and capital, but what form they should take. We should thank the NDP for getting this debate going in Canada, and look forward to seeing what other federal political parties propose.

- And Douglas Todd notes that a failure to adequately tax wealth as opposed to income has left British Columbia in the position of subsidizing foreign ownership of desperately scarce housing.

- Melanie Green offers some important background information as a British Columbia inquiry begins analyzing the cause of soaring gas prices being used by right-wing politicians to attach carbon pricing. Paul Cowley reports on another estimate showing that Alberta faces tens of billions of dollars in well reclamation liabilities left unfunded by the corporations who have extracted oil and gas. And Andrea Palframan reports on the work of the Heiltsuk Nation in documenting the lack of any effective oil spill response along B.C.'s coastline.

- Paul Wells writes that Andrew Scheer's anti-Canada Food Guide bombast can only be the product of a politician taking voters for idiots. And the Star's editorial board argues that we shouldn't allow anybody to play political with health and nutrition.

- Finally, Rick Salutin points out the sheer folly of Doug Ford's insistence that Ontario students earn online credits rather than receiving a full education at school.

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood offers an electoral primer for voters who want to avert a climate breakdown in this fall's federal election. And Paul Wells takes a look at the Cons' undercooked nothingburger of a climate plan, while Hilary Beaumont notes that it's actually designed to coordinate with fossil fuel barons' plans to increase emissions.

- While Jason Kenney explicitly launches a war against anybody who questions the most extreme elements of the oil sector, Mark Schapiro points out that environmental reporting has long been an area in which anybody pursuing the truth has been at risk of being silenced by force. And Marion Guégan and Cécile Schilis-Gallego highlight the specific threats against reporters who dared to expose human rights abuses and corruption in Tanzania.

- Meanwhile, Duncan Cameron examines the NDP's election platform - including its broad view as to how the federal government can improve the well-being of Canadians. And as a reminder of what happens when governments operate under the opposite set of assumptions, CUPE examines the social costs of pseudo-"balanced" budgets which slash needed public services in order to fund tax cuts for the rich.

- Finally, Ed Finn points out the contrived complaints about the cost of pharmacare when governments regularly hand over billions of dollars to the corporate sector.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Paul Wells weighs in on the far-too-long-delayed exposure of Justin Trudeau's fundamental phoniness - particularly when it came to his promise that Canada had seen its last first-past-the-post election:

The operating assumption seems to be that we’re simply supposed to read between the lines—that we’ll understand that when Trudeau speaks he is not to be taken seriously.

Why would he? In June 2016, I asked Trudeau whether he had a preference in the electoral-reform debate he had promised in the previous year’s election, and whether his preference would influence the outcome. It was the sort of question you ask even when you know the answer. Everyone knew Trudeau wanted preferential ballots, which would favour large parties like his.

He swore that wasn’t so. “I’m really open to listening to Canadians. And actually, I have moved in my thinking toward a greater degree of openness toward what Canadians actually want.” So while Liberals would prefer ranked ballots, “Canadians might not agree. And I think this is an important conversation to have, where we do have to respect Canadians.”

Months later, he told the Toronto Star editorial board that he wasn’t about to throw in the towel. “Canadians elect governments to do hard things, and don’t expect us to throw up our hands when things are a little difficult,” he said. “ ‘Oh, it’s more difficult than we thought it could be and therefore we’re just going to give up.’ No, I’m sorry, that’s not the way I was raised, that’s not the way I’m going to move forward on a broad range of issues, regardless of how difficult they may seem at a given point.”

Eight weeks later, he abandoned electoral reform because the emerging consensus was for the reform option he didn’t like, proportional representation. I don’t even know what you do with a guy who acts like that. Eventually he took to wearing his abandonment of a key platform plank as a badge of honour. He wasn’t going to endanger Canadian democracy by keeping an election promise. Not all heroes wear capes.

- Meanwhile, Catharine Tunney reports on the Libs' new party line that corporations are "entitled" to a legal system which relieves them of being prosecuted for bribery and corruption. And Murray Mandryk contrasts the principle shown by the two former federal cabinet ministers who have stepped down against the choice of the Saskatchewan Party's one-time reformers to cover up their party's scandals.

- John Michael McGrath writes that Doug Ford has added municipalities to the list of bodies who are expected to avoid any planning or decision-making since their actions in the public interest might interfere with the PC's governing agenda. And David Climenhaga writes about Jason Kenney's attempt to sell trickle-down snake oil to Alberta.

- Sarah Anderson discusses the push from some U.S. Democrats for a financial transactions tax to ensure that high-frequency traders can't extract wealth from the broader economy.

- Finally, Matt Bruenig charts the distribution of wealth inequality by race in the U.S. And PressProgress points out that nominal economic growth in Canada hasn't led to any improvement in wages or the distribution of income.

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Chantal Hebert, Andrew Coyne and Paul Wells all weigh in on yesterday's revelations by Jody Wilson-Raybould about the Trudeau PMO's protection racket on behalf of SNC-Lavalin. And Andrew Nikiforuk examines the track record of corruption both from SNC-Lavalin in particular, and within the P3 sector generally.

- Nikiforuk also calls out the continued flaws in the National Energy Board's "reconsideration" of Trans Mountain (required due to another example of the law being broken in the name of corporate interests). And Norm Farrell examines British Columbia's resource selloff which is seeing the resource sector extract more while contributing less in royalties.

- Meanwhile, PressProgress exposes the latest in astroturfing, being a lobby group trying to advocate for credit card fees and bank fees.

- Mike Crawley reports on Doug Ford's move to shutter an agency intended to give citizens a fighting chance in challenging developers on zoning decisions.

- And finally, Fred Imbert reports on Warren Buffett's continued call for a tax system which ensures that he and his billionaire ilk pay a fair share.

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Eric Holthaus writes that the Green New Deal which looks to be at the centre of Democratic policy development offers an important opportunity for the U.S. to make amends with a world bearing the brunt of its past pollution. But Rick Salutin discusses how the coup on behalf of the resource sector in Venezuela (with the U.S. and Canada playing major roles) is all about inflating corporate profits, rather than protecting human rights or democracy.

- Fatima Syed reports on Doug Ford's plan to stop tracking carbon pollution to paper over the inevitable effects of his elimination of any climate change plan. And the Globe and Mail's editorial board calls Ford out - albeit too late - for promising that slashing services will do anything but harm the public.

- Luke Savage highlights why any plan for vital public services needs to be aimed toward universal access, rather than stopping at "affordability":

The word “affordable” appeared some thirty-one times in the 2016 Democratic Party platform, in reference to policy areas ranging from housing and college tuition to childcare and finance (for comparison, “middle class,” that hallowed floating signifier, appeared only sixteen times).

Its omnipresence in political language makes a certain intuitive sense. Life for many Americans is, after all, dominated by institutions that make things more expensive by design: health insurers offering pricey packages for even the most basic coverage; telecom and energy giants imposing inscrutable new rates and fees on customers trying to maintain their cell service, keep the lights on, or not freeze to death in the winter; schools making themselves ever more exclusive through higher tuition; landlords raising the rents at each and every opportunity.
...
Pushes to make vital public goods such as health care or education “affordable” — whether well-intentioned or deliberately misleading — still invariably imply a transaction taking place between a seller and a consumer: the dynamic of the market in its most elemental form. Even if the good in question does become cheaper (and therefore easier for more people to access), the basic dynamic is maintained and the good remains a commodity to be bought and sold rather than a universal right to be guaranteed and enjoyed.

This is what makes the incrementalist attitude to health care (and innumerable other policy areas) favored by some Democrats so flawed: the Left’s push for universality isn’t just a more holistic version of liberal efforts that aspire to make things more “affordable.” Its ultimate goal is to democratize social goods, removing the market altogether and extinguishing the need for anyone to worry about whether they have the requisite funds to see a doctor, acquire education, put their children in a safe and caring environment during working hours, or sleep with a roof over their heads.

- Finally, Paul Wells discusses the need for a public inquiry into Justin Trudeau's interference in the prosecution of SNC-Lavalin and its executives for illegal donations largely directed toward the Libs' own coffers.