Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Andrew Nikiforuk discusses the immense economic and human cost of COVID-19 denial as another wave surges. And Matthew Frank et al. study how COVID produces lasting damage to the brain. 

- Robert Booth and Emine Sinmaz report on the findings of the UK's Grenfell inquiry, which find that the tragic fire was the result of systemic corporate dishonesty and government neglect. And Mo Amir discusses how B.C.'s government is failing to implement vacancy controls even while understanding they would benefit renters.

- Meanwhile, Myriam Durocher, Annika Walsh, Irena Knezevic and Madison Hynes discuss how charity isn't enough to eradicate food insecurity. 

- Ariel Silber reports on the less-than-surprising revelation that apps are listening in on users' smartphones without notice or consent in order to profit from the contents of their conversations. And Webb Wright reports on the FTC's study into "surveillance pricing" where unspecified personal information is used to present different prices to different consumers. 

- Kea Wilson discusses how the deaths of Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau are just an example of the traffic violence resulting from a transportation system designed to prioritize single-vehicle convenience over pedestrian and cyclist safety. And Coral Davenport highlights how the U.S. will need to update its infrastructure one way or another due to the use of materials which can't withstand a changed climate. 

- Finally, Susan Wright contrasts the importance of unions in social cohesion and development against the solidarity denialism of the UCP. And David Moscrop writes that the Cons and their allies remain hostile to workers - even as they try to pretend otherwise. 

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Rumtin Sepasspour and Courtney Tee write that it's impossible for governments to prevent and prepare for catastrophic risks when they're deliberately operating in denial that such risks even exist. And Crawford Kilian points out how the fact that we're still in the midst of a global pandemic doesn't mean we've developed mechanisms capable of responding to another one. 

- Meanwhile, Jamie Ducharme writes about the utter abandonment of anybody trying to maintain some level of COVID-19 precautions. And Erin Clack discusses the continuing stream of research showing the negative effects of COVID on the brain, while Lauren Pelley highlights how updated vaccines remain important even as their availability is becoming less and less certain. 

- Steven Trask reports on the latest revelation of a "carbon credit" project which has turned out to be an utter failure - which is worth keeping in mind in particular as the federal government's climate change consultation includes a predictable push to accept foreign credits as a substitute for emission reductions. And Natasha White examines how banks are recognizing the dangers of funding the fossil fuel sector - but how the financial sector is responding by shunting dirty loans into separate private entities. 

- Finally, Cory Doctorow writes about the realities of trying to operate in systems which people can't fully understand under circumstances where the corporations with direct control and the governments who are supposed to serve the public interest have both proven utter failures in protecting our interests. And Sam Biddle exposes how any posturing by Elon Musk and X about the evils of government surveillance is entirely selective given that they've turned the sale of their own surveillance data into a profit centre. 

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Ed Yong writes that the tragic legacy of the COVID-19 is one of policymakers repeating (and indeed increasing) the same mistakes at the expense of people's lives and health. And Stephanie Kampf and Adrienne Arsenault discuss the desperate situation facing emergency rooms as an unchecked pandemic is piled on top of an already-underresourced health care system. 

- Meanwhile, Molly Gill writes about the reality that the release of prisoners to limit the spread of COVID produced virtually no effect on public safety - raising the question of how many more people are being incarcerated at great expense without any social benefit. And Mikkael Sekeres explores what it took for regulators to remove ingredients including antifreeze from what were pitched as curative elixirs - offering a stark reminder of how dangerous it is to take a  manufacturer's word as to the effect of a product without a sound regulatory system. 

- Michael Green studies the connection between inequality in smoking rates and other related health problems including dementia. Elizabeth Chuck reports on the plight of U.S. students who are going hungry for want of eliminated school lunch programs. And Kat Eschner discusses how the housing crisis (driven by a political imperative to inflate property values for the benefit of wealthier voters) feeds into wider inequalities in Canada.

- David Borer offers a reminder that the best solution to a lousy job is a union, though Andrea Hsu reports that Starbucks is among the employers engaging in wanton law-breaking and retaliation in order to prevent workers from achieving that outcome. And Dylan Matthews discusses the need for "encompassing coalitions" (such as class-based unions) to ensure that public policy doesn't merely cater to smaller interests including the wealthy. 

- Finally, Marc Fawcett-Atkinson reports on the coordination between the Poilievre Cons, the alt-right noise machine and the fossil fuel industry to spread conspiracy theories about fertilizer bans in order to farm outrage. 

Saturday Afternoon Links

 Miscellaneous material for your weekend reading.

- Jim Naureckas discusses the absurdity of the New York Times (among other outlets) criticizing the idea of saving millions of lives from COVID rather than choosing to act in denial of it. Paige Ouimet points out the widespread long-term damage long COVID is inflicting on the U.S.' workforce. And Rachel Jobson interviews Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha about the need to recognize both the reality of people with disabilities generally, and the importance of listening to them in caring for those newly disabled by the pandemic.

- Becky Kane writes that an obsession with quantifying worker productivity through constant surveillance is serving mostly to undermine its theoretical purposes. 

- Justin McCurry writes about the popularity of Kohei Saito's Capital in the Anthropocene as a rallying call for degrowth and greater equality. And Owen Schalk offers his own reminder of the dangers of pursuing growth for its own sake.

- Finally, Audrey Nilson discusses new research showing that gratuitously lengthy prison sentences don't lead to community safety.

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Benjamin Mueller and Eleanor Lutz discuss the increased number of deaths among the elderly caused the Omicron COVID-19 variant as compared to previous ones, while WorkSafeBC's updated chart shows how 2022 has seen the largest claim counts for workplace COVID. And Gavin Leech et al. confirm the reality that masking can play a major role in reducing transmission in community settings.  

- But sadly, Kate Grenville writes that the pandemic has revealed how eager governments are to claim - and many people are to accept - that "every man for himself" is the only possible response to a social crisis. And Lauren Pelley reports on the warnings that went unheeded which have led to spread of a new monkeypox virus.  

- Armine Yalnizyan warns that the suppression of wages and workers' rights being imposed in response to inflation is far worse than the supposed problem it's intended to solve. And Grace Blakeley points out that privatized shipping and infrastructure is one of the major contributors to inflation (while also representing an obvious example of profiteering at the expense of both workers and consumers). 

- Sigal Samuel writes about the drastic impact of a modest basic income amount in reducing crime among men at risk of criminal behaviour. Rhonda Castello discusses how Ontario's basic income pilot project - which in again at issue in tomorrow's provincial election - relieved some of the most important stressors for people living in precarious circumstances. And Andrew Russell, Carolyn Jarvis, Michael Wrobel and Kenneth Jackson discuss the distinction between the NDP and Greens who are committed to ensuring that child welfare funding actually supports the people who need it, and the PC/Lib determination to prop up operators of for-profit care. 

- Finally, Lex Harvey reports on Doug Ford's feat in breaking the Star's fact-checking system by building his campaign rhetoric around claims which couldn't be tested for accuracy.  

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Abdullah Shihipar discusses why one-way masking is far from an adequate solution to the public health problems posed by even the current variants of COVID-19, while Monica Torres points out how far we are from the point where prudent people can reasonably take the invitation to stop masking in the workplace. And Sarah Trick writes that telling immunocompromised people they can isolate themselves completely while a "new normal" develops without them is far from an acceptable position. 

- Nora Loreto rightly raises the question of why the Trudeau government has applied the Emergencies Act only to protect commercial transit, but not to keep tens of thousands of people from dying as a result of a pandemic. An anonymous Ottawa resident describes how citizen activism was able to do what police failed or refused to do in blocking the #FluTruxKlan, while Vanessa Balintec notes that the occupation of Ottawa has only exacerbated some of the health concerns arising out of the COVID pandemic. And the Angus Reid Institute finds overwhelming public opinion in opposition to the convoy of disease and hate.  

- Henry Giroux writes that the purpose of the convoy is to destroy the ability of democratic governments to act for the common good, while Paul Krugman notes that the only "right" being effectively asserted is the right to destroy. And Tom Cardoso reports on the financial backers - both Canadian and foreign - offering up millions of dollars toward those ends, including fossil fuel interests looking to undermine acceptance of science generally. 

- Finally, Charlotte Grieve reports on the less-than-surprising revelation that the gas industry is just as deceptive in seeking approval for continued carbon pollution as the coal and oil industries have been to put us on the precipice of climate breakdown. And the Associated Press reports on the U.S.' "megadrought", along with its roots traceable directly to climate change. 

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Kendall Latimer reports that epidemiologists are calling for far stronger public health measures as COVID variants have become the dominant strain - and spread to an alarmingly high number of people already - in Regina. German Lopez discusses the value of a harm reduction approach which asks people to be careful rather than perfect. And Andre Picard examines some of the the facts and fictions around the vaccination process.

- Ashifa Kassam reports on Spain's decision to join the ranks of countries offering a four-day work week. And Jeff Stein reports on the Biden administration's much-needed plan to stop the international race to the bottom on corporate taxes by applying a global minimum tax on profits.

- Owen Schalk points out the Trudeau Libs' willingness to support unelected right-wing governments - and approve of political the jailing of progressive leaders - where it serves the interest of Canadian mining corporations in exploiting the countries involved. And Jon Horler exposes how the federal government lobbying about an arms export permit to Turkey which resulted in the sale of drone technology to be used in war.

- Angie Schmitt discusses how the design of pickup trucks is increasingly oriented toward hypermasculine impunity and disregard for pedestrians and other drivers, rather than any reasonable measure of functionality. And CBC News reports on the rightfully dubious response to the UCP's plans to make Alberta's roads more polluted and less safe by raising highway speed limits.

- Finally, David Kirkpatrick and Alan Feuer report on the refusal of U.S. law enforcement to respond at all to the Proud Boys until they participated in the Trump-induced attack on the Capitol.

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Elisabeth Rosenthal writes about the need to ensure that our public health messaging includes the graphic details of the severe threat of COVID-19. And Josh Kovensky points out one of the crucial questions still unanswered about the vaccines we're hoping to rely on - as it's not clear they'll prevent transmission even if they protect the people who have been vaccinated.

- Meanwhile, Maclean's highlights how data from the release of prisoners to minimize the spread of COVID offers us a compelling indication that we can significant reduce prison populations without any harm to public safety. 

- CBC News reports that Saskatchewan is predictably in the same position as Alberta when it comes to federal funding for oil well reclamation: having begged for massive amounts of federal money in the name of COVID relief, the Moe government isn't bothering to put most of that money to use until future years. 

- Noelle Allen discusses how protest is crucial to bringing about any meaningful social change. 

- Finally, Lawrence Mishel, Lynn Rhinehart and Lane Windham examine the deliberate choices made to undermine the ability of American unions to organize people toward collective action.

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Larry Elliott writes that continuing inequality looms as an obstacle to meaningful climate action. But David Love offers a reminder that climate apartheid is the likely end result of failing to rein in carbon pollution.

- Christopher Smart outlines the OECD's plans to regulate how multinational corporations are taxed. But Alex Cobham warns that the current structure looks to cause increased complexity without actually reducing the availability of tax havens.

- Chris Maisano points out the glaring disconnect between a U.S. population which is increasingly supportive of unions, and public policy which has been designed to prevent workers from actually organizing. And Cole Stangler discusses the importance of turning an increasing number of moments of activism - such as the French general strike - into longer-term membership and involvement.

- PressProgress warns that the same mining companies who have been allowed to exploit our environment without cleaning up their messes now have a plan to profit off of remediating their own damage. Janet French reports on the UCP's plan to start allowing oil operators to dump water from tailings ponds into Alberta's waterways. And Scott Miller reports on the Saugeen Ojibway Nation's resounding vote against taking on the risk of Canada's nuclear waste. 

- Finally, Bruce Campbell discusses the origins of both the Lac-Mégantic catastrophe and the failure of Boeing's 737 Max planes in self-regulation by businesses more interested in cutting costs than averting foreseeable tragedies.

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Robinson Meyer writes about the latest IPCC report on how our climate crisis endangers the land we rely on. And George Monbiot responds by noting that it understates the need for changes in how we produce and consume food, while the Canadian Press notes that it already identifies serious risks to our food supply.

- Meanwhile, Joe Romm reports on BNP Paribas' research suggesting that the rise of affordable renewable energy will make all but the cheapest oil unusable even without taking into account the social costs of carbon pollution. And Peter McCartney points out that plenty of Albertans are already well aware that a transition away from fossil fuels is coming, meaning that the only question is whether we cause undue harm by delaying the inevitable.

- Megan Stacey and Randy Richmond write that London is losing the war against poverty due to addictions and a lack of affordable housing. And Jason Antonio reports on the harm inflicted by Scott Moe's self-serving policies on the people of Moose Jaw and across Saskatchewan.

- Jim Stanford comments on Australia's disastrous shift toward privatized and unequal education as Andrew Scheer tries to impose the same types of educational disparities in Canada.

- Finally, Zak Vescera discusses how Canada is failing to keep up with the threat of right-wing extremism.

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Geoff Dembicki interviews Leah Gazan about the need to put people over corporate profits in our political system.

- Dale Eisler writes about the need for our conversation around climate change to focus on an honest appraisal as to how we can rein in carbon emissions. But Jason Markusoff points out how petro-jingoism is drowning out any willingness to consider the massive costs of continued fossil fuel extraction. And Paul Willcocks highlights the glaring partisan divide which has seen conservative parties tamp down any interest in acting to avert a climate crisis.

- Meanwhile, Andrew Leach observes that the right-wing strategy of opposing consumer-level pricing and incentives only figures to ensure that more of the cost of any action will be incurred by the extraction industry and other major emitters.

- Ian Austen looks back at the causes of the Lac-Mégantic explosion - and the minimal regulatory response so far.

- Finally, Ricardo Tranjan calls out the Ford government's stinginess in slashing funding for a seniors' transit tax credit. And Leyland Cecco discusses Innisfil's disastrous experiment replacing public transit with ride-sharing which has increased both costs and pollution.

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Lana Payne comments on the war being waged by Canada's right-wing governments against workers.

- Dion Rabouin writes about the product of decades of giveaways to the rich - as the obscenely wealthy literally can't find any use for massive amounts of money other than to hoard it, even while refusing to pass any of it along. And Elizabeth Capelle discusses both how housing has become financialized, and how to reorient our view of it to serve the interests of people beyond the 1%.

- Frederick Hewitt points out how some of the most several long-term dangers of a climate breakdown involve the types of food supply disruptions which proved the undoing of past civilizations. Christopher Flavelle notes that the increasing recognition of the dangers of climate change is leading to higher costs and lower use of insurance to guard against foreseeable risks. And while Susan Delacourt wonders whether the climate crisis will lead to full social mobilization, the most telling part of her column is the thoroughly uninspired (and uninspiring) response from the Lib government:

My colleague here in the Star’s Ottawa bureau, Alex Ballingall, asked Environment Minister Catherine McKenna this week about whether wartime examples could inspire more collective public action on climate change.

“Look, I mean, I am very supportive of more ambition on climate change. I hear good ideas every single day. I mean I think the idea that you need to link climate action with people and making sure that you are focused on how do you improve lives is critical,” McKenna told Ballingall. But the minister also said that any ambition has to be tempered with, yes, affordability. “People want action on climate change but they want life to be affordable and at the same time creating good jobs.”

So, not exactly Dunkirk or D-Day, at least not yet. Bill Nye may need a bigger blowtorch.

- Finally, Bruce Campbell comments on the need for a public inquiry into the Lac-Mégantic disaster and points out some of the questions which remain unanswered to this day. And Penelope Simons notes that the Libs' distaste for corporate accountability is endangering Canada's global reputation.

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Justin Fisher laments the fact that we're still talking about first steps toward combating a climate crisis after decades of understanding the problem. Jake Woodier points out that Brexit has been the UK's recent distraction from the most important issue facing humanity. And Joseph Stiglitz is the latest to compare a Green New Deal to avert climate breakdown with the scale and urgency of a wartime mobilization:

When the US was attacked during the second world war no one asked, “Can we afford to fight the war?” It was an existential matter. We could not afford not to fight it. The same goes for the climate crisis. Here, we are already experiencing the direct costs of ignoring the issue – in recent years the country has lost almost 2% of GDP in weather-related disasters, which include floods, hurricanes, and forest fires. The cost to our health from climate-related diseases is just being tabulated, but it, too, will run into the tens of billions of dollars – not to mention the as-yet-uncounted number of lives lost. We will pay for climate breakdown one way or another, so it makes sense to spend money now to reduce emissions rather than wait until later to pay a lot more for the consequences – not just from weather but also from rising sea levels. It’s a cliche, but it’s true: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

The war on the climate emergency, if correctly waged, would actually be good for the economy – just as the second world war set the stage for America’s golden economic era , with the fastest rate of growth in its history amidst shared prosperity. The Green New Deal would stimulate demand, ensuring that all available resources were used; and the transition to the green economy would likely usher in a new boom. Trump’s focus on the industries of the past, like coal, is strangling the much more sensible move to wind and solar power. More jobs by far will be created in renewable energy than will be lost in coal.
...
The mobilization efforts of the second world war transformed our society. We went from an agricultural economy and a largely rural society to a manufacturing economy and a largely urban society. The temporary liberation of women as they entered the labor force so the country could meet its war needs had long-term effects. This is the advocates’ ambition, a not unrealistic one, for the Green New Deal.

There is absolutely no reason the innovative and green economy of the 21st century has to follow the economic and social models of the 20th-century manufacturing economy based on fossil fuels, just as there was no reason that that economy had to follow the economic and social models of the agrarian and rural economies of earlier centuries.

- But if we needed a reminder of the ease with which serious dangers to the public get ignored or forgotten, Benjamin Kentish notes that tens of thousands of Britons still live in buildings covered in the same material which caused the spread of the devastating Grenfell Tower fire.

- Rafferty Baker reports on research showing how harm reduction steps are reducing the still-alarming number of deaths caused by opioids. And Barbara Krantz points out that as serious as the opioid crisis is, far more people die due to alcohol - even as Canada's right makes it a core policy to try to push people to drink more.

- Trade Justice Network Canada discusses how the new NAFTA is anything but progressive - no matter what talking points the Trudeau Libs use in trying to push it through.

- And finally, Paul Romer suggests that a tax on targeted advertising could both raise revenue, and reduce the amount of user tracking that contributes to hidden dangers online.

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Patricia Cohen and Maggie Astor discuss what they perceive as the boldness of the emerging debate about taxing the wealthiest in the U.S. But John Nichols points out that even the most "radical" progressive tax plans under discussion would only restore the principles that applied through some of the country's most prosperous eras.

- Jonathan Watts reports on a new study from the Institute for Public Policy Research on the systemic environmental and economic threats posed by a climate breakdown, while Roger Harrabin emphasizes the multiple crises we're facing. And Damian Carrington takes note of the impending collapse of insect populations in particular. 

- Owen Jones highlights the need for UK Labour (among other progressive parties) to lead the charge in fighting to protect our planet from those clear and present threats. And Avi Lewis makes the case for a Canadian equivalent of the Green New Deal.

- Sharon Riley reports on the rapidly-increasing bills being foisted on the public as the Alberta oil sector abandons its responsibilities. And Justin Mikulka notes that the recent rail accident in Field, B.C. resulted from many of the same factors as the Lac-Mégantic explosion - signalling how much work still needs to be done to address threats that we know all too well. But Dawn Wolfe points out the lengths corporatist parties are going to in preventing the public interest from being considered by pointing out how Michigan Republicans have given corporate polluters a veto over any environmental regulations. 

- Finally, Anita Huberman and Hassan Yussuff offer a reminder as to how families and small businesses stand to gain from universal pharmacare. But Kelly Crowe reports on big pharma's lobbying efforts to ensure Canadians keep paying exorbitant prices out of pocket.

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Campbell Robb laments the persistence of in-work poverty in the UK - though it's of course worth noting the reality that poverty of all kinds is worth combating. Pat Thane points out that increasing poverty can be traced directly to deliberate and avoidable austerity, while the Real News talks to Matt Gardner about the U.S.' exacerbation of inequality through tax giveaways to the rich. And Susan Delacourt wonders what happened to Justin Trudeau's supposed interest in alleviating inequality in Canada.

- Jesse McLaren points out how Doug Ford's attacks on workers will only make the hallway medicine problem worse by foisting more social problems onto the health care system. And Martin Regg Cohn writes about Ford's choice to target younger Ontarians.

- David Climenhaga comments on Jason Kenney's used-car-salesman brand of politics. And Murray Mandryk discusses how the Saskatchewan Party is refusing to cut the province's losses on the Global Transportation Hub by throwing busing subsidies at Loblaws even after cutting off transportation for Saskatchewan's citizens.

- Finally, James Wilt interviews Bruce Campbell about his new book on the Lac-Mégantic explosion - and the real danger to the public posed by continued regulatory capture.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Humberto DaSilva comments on the need to recognize that it's the distortion of the political system by the wealthy that's left most people with a standard of living that's stagnating or worse. And Davide Mastracci makes the case for an inheritance tax as one step toward improved equality and social cohesion in Canada.

- Meanwhile, Daniel Tencer writes about Ontario's minimum wage boost as yet another example of wages increasing where they're most needed without any of the threatened side effects.

- CBC reports on a new study showing how the Saskatchewan Party's elimination of STC is preventing victims of domestic abuse from getting to safety. And Krystalle Ramlakhan discusses how Doug Ford's attack on drug overdose prevention will cause easily-preventable deaths.

- Matt Wittek argues that limiting the use of straws is just a small first step in reducing our reliance on environmentally-destructive single-use plastics.

- Finally, Jeffrey Ball writes about the limitations of low-level carbon pricing absent a meaningful strategy to shift to a clean energy economy. David Gray-Donald calls out far too much of Canada's media for failing to point out the glaring gap between oil industry projections and climate imperatives. Melissa Lem and Larry Barzelai point out that a summer of record temperatures and wildfires should confirm that climate change is a public health emergency. And Jonathan Watts and Elle Hunt describe the devastating effects of the extreme heat that's becoming more common.

Sunday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

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

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

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

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

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

Saturday Evening Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Joel Achenbach and Angela Fritz discuss how climate change is amplifying all kinds of extreme weather (with severe heat as only the most obvious example). And Umair Irfan examines some of the dangerous economic and social side effects of unprecedented heat waves.

- Matthieu Vincente highlights how the classification of workers can serve as a barrier to the exercise of collective bargaining rights and employment protections. And Tom Ayers reports on the large-scale use of foreign workers in Kameron Coal's Donkin mine at wages far beyond those offered to domestic workers - with few consequences for the operators who have breached the law to make that happen, even as the employer complains that even having its egregious violations reported publicly is too much.

- The CP and Leader-Post report on Rachel Notley's recognition that a responsible government can't simply leave rural residents stranded without transportation options - which is unfortunately in stark contrast to the Saskatchewan Party's apparent view.

- Brennan MacDonald and Vassy Kapelos point out that Justin Trudeau's decision to plow billions of public dollars into the Trans Mountain pipeline has served to give Donald Trump additional leverage in trade negotiations (among other worrisome consequences).

- Finally, Real Lavergne and Gisela Ruckert offer some vital background information for British Columbia voters about their electoral reform referendum.

New column day

Here, on how Saskatchewan may be in the eye of a global heat storm, but shouldn't use that as an excuse to keep contributing to increasingly-dangerous climate change.

For further reading...
- Scientific American's temperature circle highlights how every country in the world is seeing higher temperatures than normal. And Brandon Miller surveys the recent heat wave around the globe. 
- CBC has reported on the recent extreme temperatures in Quebec and Ontario, British Columbia, and the Yukon and Northwest Territories.
- And again, the Prairie Climate Centre has examined the likely results of climate change for Saskatchewan - which even on their own would justify far more than the sad excuse for a plan offered up by the Saskatchewan Party.

Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Katie Dangerfield reports on new research showing that carbon pricing can be an economic benefit, while unrestrained climate change would be disastrous. Bill Curry and Shawn McCarthy report that Scott Moe has eagerly lumped himself in with Doug Ford as Canada's most ignorant premiers, as the rest of the country's provincial leaders are still working toward meaningful climate policy. And David Climenhaga notes that the climate-denier coalition is relying purely on political bluster rather than any plausible constitutional argument.

- Noah Smith examines the impact of academic research funding, and finds that directing money toward universities which already have plenty of wealth and prestige makes for a poor use of research dollars.

- Edward Keenan exposes the utter failure of John Tory's privatization of fire inspections which left fire safety in Toronto in the hands of a fraud.

- Douglas Todd discusses how the polarization of first-past-the-post politics does far more to boost extremism than a more proportional system which tends to require that multiple viewpoints be addressed in a governing coalition. 

- Finally, CBC reports on the rightful outrage in response to the Saskatchewan Party's attempt to remove the Justice for Our Stolen Children camp through the courts.