Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Damian Carrington reports on the response to the consensus among climate scientists that we're headed for climate catastrophe, including the UN's recognition that there's no higher-stakes issue for humanity. Matt McGrath, Mark Poynting and Justin Rowlatt discuss how the oceans are headed for yet another record-breaking year of heat. And the Canadian Press reports that British Columbia is facing unprecedented threats to its natural waterways due to years of extreme heat and limited precipitation. 

- Meanwhile, Phil Tank offers a reminder that the Sask Party's choice to blow billions on carbon capture and storage has produced little result other than to delay action which would actually reduce carbon pollution.  

- Matt Gurney implores Doug Ford to stop exacerbating his province's health care crisis by refusing to offer reasonable compensation to family doctors. 

- Katie Dangerfield reports on new research into the myriad health risks of ultra-processed foods. 

- Craig Lord reports on the Bank of Canada's recognition that renters rather than property owners are facing the greater level of financial stress. 

- Finally, Geoffrey Picketts writes about the utter lack of reason behind separatist rhetoric in Alberta and Quebec - though there's probably nothing more pathetic than Saskatchewan's "me-too" equivalent which replicates the economic social and risks of separatism, while replacing any theory of self-determination with complete subservience to Alberta puppetmasters. 

A display of weakness

It didn't take long for Gilles Duceppe to reverse course on his plans to run for the PQ leadership. But it's far from clear that the move will be anything short of the another disaster for the separatist movement (and concurrent benefit for federalists and the rest of Canada alike).

On the provincial side, the PQ will seemingly head toward a coronation for Pauline Marois rather than a meaningful race. But it can't speak highly of the party's strength or depth that someone who couldn't beat out Andre Boisclair just two years ago is now considered to be head and shoulders above all other options. And presumably both Boisclair's and Duceppe's supporters will be ready to pounce on Marois if she can't push a weakening party back to power in a hurry.

As for the Bloc, Duceppe himself will have plenty to answer for - both in his seeming admission that he sees federal politics as being less important than the provincial scene, and in his seeming confusion as to what his own personal goals are. And those factors can only ensure that both internal rivals and the other parties smell weakness...leaving the Bloc all the more vulnerable to what already looked to be an unfavourable federal scene.

A crumbling Bloc

Andre Boisclair's resignation as leader of the PQ is grabbing the headlines so far. But while that may have been sufficiently predictable to lead to few lasting implications, there's another story today which seems to have far more potential to damage the separatist movement, as Gilles Duceppe's agreement to apologize to Stephane Dion for libel within the Bloc's 2006 campaign materials should result in serious questions about both the leader and the party:

Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe will publicly apologize to Stephane Dion as part of an out-of-court settlement of a lawsuit after the separatist party published a French pamphlet in 2005 linking the Liberal leader to the sponsorship scandal.

Mr. Duceppe has agreed to apologize for the offending pamphlet, which was distributed to thousands of homes in 22 ridings in Quebec just before the launch of the 2006 winter election. The pamphlet, titled "La route de l'argent" (the money trail), showed arrows pointing to Mr. Dion and other Liberal politicians. In papers served on Mr. Duceppe, Mr. Dion pointed out that the Gomery commission absolved him of any links to the scandal and the pamphlet libelled him by suggesting he benefited financially.

A spokesperson for Mr. Duceppe's office confirmed the separatist leader will sign an apology in a similar pamphlet to be distributed in the same 22 ridings in June.

Given that the Bloc has defined itself primarily in opposition to the Libs in Quebec, it would seem to be a major blow to its credibility to publicly admit that it falsely portrayed its strongest issue in the last election. And the damage would both spill over to the PQ and be amplified if the leader most responsible for the fabrication is then anointed the new face of separatism within Quebec.

Mind you, the federal Libs may not see themselves having much incentive to try to discredit Duceppe or the Bloc. And that likely explains the relative silence about the agreement so far.

But even if Dion isn't motivated to highlight Duceppe's retraction, the issue doesn't figure to go away entirely...particularly if Jean Charest can dismiss criticism of his own government on the provincial level by showing how Duceppe was off the mark federally. And that only figures to send Quebec's political scene into a state of even greater flux - with plenty of room for surprises as a result.