Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- The Globe and Mail's editorial board reminds us of the continued choice between taking reasonable precautions to minimize the damage from continued waves of COVID-19, or letting wishful thinking lead us until avoidable harm to people's health. And Shalini Saksena writes about the emergence of long COVID as a parallel pandemic, while Elizabeth Payne highlights how Canada's public health care system is woefully unprepared to respond to it.

- Joshua Chung reports on the disappearance of some of the breaks lower-income Canadians were able to seek out at discount grocers, while noting the need for more secure incomes. And Jaele Bernstien reports on some of the changes Canadians are making in response to higher prices in both lower-income and middle-class households.

- Robin Sears reminds us that decriminalization along is far from enough to step the carnage of drug poisoning deaths.

- Amanda Follett Hosgood discusses the sudden loss of phone and Internet services in northwest British Columbia as another example of how we're setting ourselves up to face dangerous and avoidable risks. And Michael Lee reports on new research showing the emergency of "plastitar" as a new threat to marine life.

- Finally, Abacus Data has released polling showing the large number of Canadians expressing their agreement with dangerous and racist conspiracy theories.

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Laura Spinney offers a reminder that the few places which actually made an effort at a COVID Zero strategy have fared far better than those trying to get a rightly-concerned public to accept COVID Unlimited. Nature points out the folly of eliminating the testing we need to know what risks we face in making both public policy and personal risk assessments. And Ariana Eunjung Cha reports on the similarities between long COVID and the brain fog associated with chemotherapy and Alzheimer's disease. 

- Nav Persaud points out that we won't make progress in improving prescription drug coverage without standing up to a sector making lucrative profits off of people's illnesses. 

- Paul Waldman and Greg Sargent discuss the connection between fossil fuel dependency and authoritarian politics - and the opportunities available to a political party willing to call it out. And the Economist's review of Eric Lonergan and Corinne Sawers' Supercharge Me discusses how carbon pricing alone won't get us where we need to go in order to avert climate breakdown. 

- Finally, Robin Sears is hopeful that the supply and confidence agreement between the NDP and Libs may hint at a more mature and cooperative political scene - though both the parties' history and the incentives created by a warped electoral system (which the Libs are unwilling to change) suggest we can't take that for granted.

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Jill Lepore writes that the COVID pandemic has left no room for doubt that there is such a thing as society reflecting mutual obligations - and that its decay or subjugation to laissez-faire ideology produces disastrous results for everybody. And Randy Robinson discusses how inequality is resulting in the propagation of child poverty. 

- Fatima Hassan argues that vaccine nationalism only stands to draw out the suffering from COVID, while Peter Walker reports on the efforts nurses' unions are making to remove intellectual property obstacles to increased manufacturing and distribution. Larry Elliot discusses how the Omicron variant in particular shows the problem with leaving large swaths of the globe without access to vaccines. And while Katherine Wu and Kai Kupferschmidt each point out what we don't yet know about the variant, Ewan Birney writes that we shouldn't take that vacuum of knowledge for an excuse to hold off on the action need to limit transmission. 

- Meanwhile, Urbi Khan talks to eight nurses about the damage that's already been done to Ontario's health care system by the pandemic. And CBC News reports on the outbreak of tuberculosis which is devastating Pangnirtung years after a federal campaign was supposed to have put Canada on a path to eradicating it.  

- Lawrence Scanlan writes that people appear to be increasingly willing and eager to take back some power from the wealthiest few. Alan Murray and David Meyer point out the absurdity of granting preferential tax treatment to capital gains when capital is accumulating at unprecedented rates. And David Cay Johnston discusses how the rich further entrenched their power and privilege under the Trump Republicans. 

- But in case there was any thought there's nowhere to go but up in balancing the interests of the wealthy and the rest of us, Dan Fumano reports on the attempt by British Columbia businesses to claim extra votes for corporations in municipal elections. 

- Finally, Robin Sears discusses the lessons Canada could draw from Germany's successful cross-party cooperation if our two main parties weren't so obsessed with politics built around false majorities. 

#Elxn44 Roundup

The latest from Canada's federal election campaign.

- Charlie Pinkerton reminds us of the need to ensure that any party seeking power addresses the ongoing opioid crisis.

- David Akin offers a comparison between the major national parties in addressing Indigenous inclusion and issues - with the NDP ranking head and shoulders above the Libs and Cons on both counts. 

- Rosie DiManno discusses how the Libs have systematically squandered the polling lead which was supposed to have justified precipitating an election in the first place. And Robin Sears writes about the growing distance between Justin Trudeau and anything even remotely resembling the politics of hope. 

- Meanwhile, Martin McMahon reports on the Vancouver Lib candidate who can't even remember how many properties he's flipped in capitalizing on the housing crisis which the Libs claim to want to solve.

- Finally, Christopher Reynolds points out how Jagmeet Singh's political life follows from an extended history of care for the people around him. 

Sunday Morning Links

 This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Patricia Treble discusses how the rise of the Delta COVID-19 variant is making it vital to hit higher vaccine targets than previously set. And the Star's editorial board argues that any responsible government should be laying out a plan to get children back to school safely this fall - rather than offering vague assurances coupled with no planning. 

- Robin Sears makes the case to build back better once the pandemic actually is done with rather than merely settling back into the same conditions that created so much insecurity.   

- Cathy Crowe notes that Toronto's violent eviction of homeless people and their tents from Trinity Bellwoods Park represents little more than history repeating. And Rick Salutin discusses how the goal of the eviction was to place a continuing crisis beyond the perception of most people, rather than to do anything to actually resolve it.  

- Kenny Stancil writes about the growing U.S. support for socialism relative to capitalism - and the supermajority in favour of closing the gap between the rich and the poor. 

- Finally, Tiffany Crawford reports on the scientific confirmation that unprecedented heat waves (including the one now hitting B.C.) are linked to the climate crisis. But while the European Union is set to make emissions reduction targets legally binding, John Woodside writes that Newfoundland and Labrador - like far too many other jurisdictions - has chosen to prioritize a last trickle of oil industry profits over massive public demand to transition to a clean economy to help avert a total breakdown. 

Thursday Evening Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- David Dayen highlights a rare moment of honesty from the payday loan sharks in their recognition that fair wages would reduce the consumer desperation underpinning their business model. And Brendan Greeley discusses the wealth tax - the merits of which are only proven by the theatrical outrage coming from the people exploiting the public and the planet to add to their own useless hoards of money.

- Lisa Friedman reports on the Trump administration's plan to avoid having industry-led environmental destruction derailed by accurate science.

- William Rees offers his suggestions for the elements needed in an effective Green New Deal. And Kirsten Patrick notes that Canada's twin voter priorities of improving health and ameliorating the climate crisis go hand in hand.

- Finally, Robin Sears argues that we need to plug the loophole enabling large-scale anonymous political advertising in Canada. And Gary Dale offers a reminder of the problems with an electoral system in which most votes are wasted.

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Robin Sears writes that it's long past time for Canada's wealthiest people and corporations to start paying their fair share of taxes. And Leo Gerard points out how the U.S. has gone in exactly the wrong direction by slashing its corporate tax rates and revenues to no end other than the further concentration of wealth, while Alexandre Tanzi notes that the upper middle class up to the 90th percentile is suffering as a result of an economy designed to favour only the most privileged few.

- Meanwhile, Karina Roman reports on the Libs' pathetic response to the glaring lack of protection for pensions and benefits in cases of corporate restructuring.

- Stephen Leahy writes about the absurdity of expanding the environmental destruction wrought by the extraction of Alberta's tar sands even as the world grapples with imminent climate catastrophe, while Mike Doherty interviews Bill McKibben about the role Canada needs to play to avert disaster. And Brent Patterson discusses the Extinction Rebellion and its efforts to foster direct action in the face of governmental climate negligence.

- Sarath Peiris points out that after using the issue briefly to beg for federal money, the Saskatchewan Party has resumed neglecting the province's liability for abandoned oil and gas wells.

- And finally, Allison Jones reports on the Ford PCs' decision to slash flood management funding just as its importance is most readily apparent.

Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Riley Yesno rightly calls out the Libs for telling Canadians they have no choice but to settle for a slight variation in tone from Andrew Scheer:

When we become comfortable with the idea that the best we can hope for is a government that is even marginally better than what we believe is the worst option, we allow ourselves to become complacent in the face of that party’s shortcomings and acts of injustice. We cede our ability to hold the government accountable beyond the most basic principles of decency and good governance. We give permission to those in power to fail in ways that are entirely unacceptable, out of fear that a different power will behave in ways that are also unacceptable — just different.
...

We must demand better. Demand champions rather than lesser of evils. Demand an electoral system that is truly multi-party where your vote can reflect your beliefs rather than a strategy or act of harm-reduction. Remember that as long as you let even a small act of injustice stand, then injustice has already won.
...
Holding the government accountable for its shortcomings is not an attack on the country. In fact, I believe it may be one of the most loving things one can do for the people living within it.

- Christo Aivalis offers responses to three of the Libs' most frequent and dishonest talking points:



- And Lana Payne recognizes that the Libs' broken promise on electoral reform is one of the reasons why we're stuck with politics rooted in anger rather than positive goals.

- Finally, Gregory Beatty examines the Buffalo Project as Canada's first major PAC - and as a means to try to reinforce existing disparities in wealth and power in Western Canada. Scott Sinclair writes about the importance of standing up to big pharma (among other corporate interests) rather than allowing their profits to take precedence over people's lives. And Robin Sears highlights the exploitation of lax tax rules by tech giants who are able to amass large profits in Canada without contributing anything.

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Ann Pettifor rightly questions the supposed gains from austerity in belatedly balancing budgets only at the expense of avoidable social devastation. And the CCPA documents the billions of dollars in lost assets and thousands of jobs slashed in Saskatchewan even when Brad Wall was promising not to attack the province's public services (and simultaneously driving Saskatchewan into a deficit).

- Omar Khan writes about the racial and ethnic pay gap in the UK. And Stephen Buranyi points out that algorithmic recruitment practices only figure to make it more difficult for less-privileged applicants to find work, while John Harris notes that big data is creating the risk of similar issues in other areas of life.

- Stuart Trew discusses the fossilized view of energy which Canada continues to take in NAFTA negotiations. And Catherine McKenna's attempt to excuse Canada's falling far short of emission targets based on the bare hope that it will catch up later looks to signal both a lack of understanding of the underlying science of climate change which continues to get worse in the meantime, and a lack of seriousness in addressing it.

- Meanwhile, new research in the Lancet documents the massive gains in health which would be achieved by meeting the Paris climate change targets.

- Finally, Robin Sears comments on the need for government involvement in providing more basic services and supports through higher revenues - and the fit between that governing philosophy and the demands of a growing activist movement.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Matthew Sears writes that we would be much better off prioritizing more than just cutting short-term costs and prices in making choices:

Are we really unwilling to pay more for our coffee as we are on our way to our well-paid and comfortable jobs (as mine certainly is) in order to ensure that workers are paid a liveable wage?

Can we really not summon enough social and economic imagination to think that businesses, and the real human beings that are in charge of them, can’t be at least encouraged to, well, behave a little less like businesses? I don’t know.

If it’s not cheap coffee, it’s cheap goods made through cheap labour in foreign countries that greases our wheels and to which we turn a blind eye. We no longer have chattel slaves or actively rule an empire (though, in practice, there are many in the world to whom these semantic distinctions make little difference).

But our democratic way of life, which we tend to think of as the freedom to do and live as we please and have what we want, seems awfully dependent upon others not enjoying those things.
...
The legacy of the Classical world isn’t all bad. Despite his faults (and he had many), we could learn a great deal from Aristotle’s ideas. These include ideas such as: The state is natural (an idea that social contract theories largely reject); we humans are at our best when we come together to ensure the flourishing, the eudaimonia, of all of society’s members.

I for one will be doing a great deal of thinking to figure out how I can help those who currently work minimum-wage jobs to be better off. I will start by not letting businesses — or politicians — off the hook simply for acting as we expect them to.

- Karen Weese comments on the high price of being poor in the U.S., while Aleksandra Sagan reports on the trickle-up economic effects of improved wages for lower-income workers. And the New York Times' editorial board points out how corporate tax cuts are mostly leading to raises only for bosses.


- Eric Levitz discusses the political cost the U.S. Democrats have paid for failing to recognize the importance of organized labour. And while Erik Loomis' response raises some questions about the feasibility of reaching better outcomes, the desirability of doing so seems beyond dispute.

- The BBC reports on Carillion's maneuvers to wriggle out of making pension contributions, ensuring that workers would bear the brunt of its failure.

- Finally, Robin Sears offers his take on how Jagmeet Singh can lead the way toward a more inclusive Canada, while Nora Loreto hopes that the memory of the Quebec City anti-Muslim massacre will spark a movement against bigotry. And Singh's message on the the anniversary of the mosque shooting goes a long way toward addressing both.

Leadership 2017 Links

The latest from the federal NDP's leadership campaign as the first voting window closes.

- Robin Sears frames the choice of members as being between a comfortable fit with Charlie Angus and a more ambitious option in Jagmeet Singh, while the Toronto Star's editorial board offers its endorsement to Singh based on its preference for the latter. And Adam Radwanski sees Singh as offering more swagger than the NDP generally exudes.

- Tom Parkin argues that the Bloc's attacks on Singh may both unite the NDP around the need to confront exclusionary identity politics, and win Quebec voters over to the cause. Stephen Tweedale examines Singh's social democratic credentials. And Janice Dickson reports on Singh's interest in running in Brampton East.

- Carl Meyer reports on Niki Ashton's plan to move beyond the Libs' patchwork funding for a green transition. And Maura Forrest and John Ivison interview Angus about his campaign based on authentic concern for the little guy, while Forrest interviews Niki Ashton about her plan for a bold progressive policy vision. 

- Finally, Eric Grenier examines the latest fund-raising numbers - which show Singh maintaining a lead, but not quite the same advantage he held in his first reporting period. And Drew Brown wonders whether the campaign is all but finished in Singh's favour, or whether the other candidates may all still be in the race. 

Leadership 2017 Links

The latest from the NDP's federal leadership campaign.

- Kristy Kirkup reports on the release of Jagmeet Singh's climate change policy statement.And Charlie Angus has offered his road map toward a transition to renewable energy, while the CP reports on his plan for a more fair relationship with Indigenous peoples.

- Meanwhile, Len Gillis reports on Angus' focus on winning support beyond party lines based on his role as a voice for Northern Ontario.

- Guy Caron has unveiled his first major endorsements of the campaign, including ones from Jean Crowder, Chris Charlton and Ruth-Ellen Brosseau. 

- Tom Parkin discusses how the race has featured meaningful policy discussions which are sorely lacking elsewhere in Canada's political scene.

- Finally, Robin Sears argues that the candidates should be careful to make sure that their positioning within the leadership race don't cause undue harm to the broader party. But while I somewhat agree with what I take to be his underlying sentiment, I strongly disagree with his examples.

Surely it's fair to ask candidates to answer questions about their position on major campaign issues - as Singh has done since the debates where he previously demurred on questions about pipelines. But Sears not only seems to expect candidates to avoid asking questions about fellow contenders' positions, but also to shelve their own proposals merely because they might not be convenient for all groups within a party. (That's surely a recipe for politics utterly devoid of values and content - exactly what Parkin laments outside the NDP.)

And it's off base to suggest that any candidate - and particularly a female leadership candidate - should shy away from raising legitimate policy questions merely because they don't serve the interests of a female premier.

Where Sears' point does have some validity, though, is in more personal questions which seem aimed at treating candidates as out-group members.

On that front, I'd particularly point to Angus' line of questioning pushing Singh to commit to running federally regardless of what happens in the leadership race or elsewhere.

That might create an exploitable soundbite in the leadership contest. But it's not at all fair to push that expectation on a candidate who has demonstrated his federal bona fides by running - and nearly succeeding - in a seat which was seen as a long shot for the NDP before he started working for it. And indeed, Angus' demand would seem to be counterproductive: Singh's current position and profile within the Ontario NDP might well do more to help the party at both the provincial and federal levels than a non-leadership role federally.

In sum, we should expect and encourage leadership candidates to identify and debate genuine differences of policy and principle. But we should take care not to let the leadership campaign sink to the level of unfair personal criticism - both because we should expect more out of our politicians generally, and because of the importance of all candidates and their teams being able to work together once the campaign is done.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- John Quiggin argues that public services and corporate control don't mix - no matter how desperately the people seeking to exploit public money try to pretend otherwise:

Market-oriented reforms, particularly in the provision of human services like health, education and public safety, have begun with a working system and replaced it with a string of failed experiments.

Here are a few examples from recent news stories around the English-speaking world:

• The emergency closure of 17 Scottish schools due to safety concerns. These schools were built under the Private Finance Initiative, begun under Thatcher but greatly expanded by Blair and Gordon Brown.
• Crippling costs incurred by hospitals throughout the UK, again as a result of PFI, threatening insolvency for many hospital trusts.
• Private prisons operator Serco forced to repay bonuses in New Zealand.
• For-profit educator ITT closed down without notice, right at the beginning of a new semester, after being cut off from Pell grant funding due to allegations of misleading students. This is one of many such collapses.
• Following a damning report, the US Department of Justice announced it will no longer use private prisons.
• Charter schools (some openly for-profit, many others run as businesses) have been failing at a starting rate.
• The disastrous shift to for-profit vocational education in training, most notably in Victoria and more recently in NSW, where the number of students has halved in three years. The cost to the budget from unrepayable loans for bogus courses has been estimated at $1.2bn for 2015 alone.

...
Sooner or later the advocates of reform will have to answer the Edison-Blair question: “What works?” And what works is traditional public provision. Through all of these failed experiments, the public sector, much-maligned and chronically underfunded, has carried on with the hard work of educating young people, treating the sick and providing the vast range of services needed in a modern society, on a the basis of an ethic of service to the entire community, and not merely those who can pay for premium service.

- Similarly, Andre Picard discusses the importance of a stewardship model for medicine, rather than allowing health needs to be governed solely by profit motives. And Martin Regg Cohn points out how the social guarantees provided by the Canada Pension Plan are only increasing in importance as workplace pensions become less secure.

- Robin Sears notes that progressives need to acknowledge the importance of effective public management, rather than waving away legitimate criticisms of government spending. But I'll argue that at the very least, right-wing anti-government spin should also be met with some of the many examples of the even worse consequences of leaving key issues in private hands - whether through privatized programs, or through complete abandonment to the corporate sector.

- Jason Warick reports on Winona Wheeler's message that all Canadians need to take responsible for reconciliation with First Nations. Ashifa Kassam writes about Grand Chief Stewart Phillip's lack of interest in empty gestures. And David Akin reports that the Libs' first wave of housing announcements falls well short of meeting even the most immediate needs.

- Finally, Branko Milanovic theorizes that inequality tends to be cyclical based on past changes in the relative wealth associated with rent as opposed to labour. But while he offers some useful theories as to how inequality might be reduced in the future, there's plenty of need for public action to bring them about (particularly a political turn toward more progressive systems of taxes and benefits).

Sunday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Andrew Jackson discusses how the rise of right-wing, prejudiced populism can be traced to the failures of global corporate governance. And Dani Rodrik argues that it's time to develop an international political system to facilitate - rather than overriding - democratic action:

Some simple principles would reorient us in the right direction. First, there is no single way to prosperity. Countries make their own choices about the institutions that suit them best. Some, like Britain, may tolerate, say, greater inequality and financial instability in return for higher growth and more financial innovation. They will opt for lower taxes on capital and more freewheeling financial systems. Others, like Continental European nations, will go for greater equity and financial conservatism. International firms will complain that differences in rules and regulations raise the costs of doing business across borders, but their claims must be traded off against the benefits of diversity.

Second, countries have the right to protect their institutional arrangements and safeguard the integrity of their regulations. Financial regulations or labor protections can be circumvented and undermined by moving operations to foreign countries with considerably lower standards. Countries should be able to prevent such “regulatory arbitrage” by placing restrictions on cross-border transactions — just as they can keep out toys or agricultural products that do not meet domestic health standards.

...

 

Third, the purpose of international economic negotiations should be to increase domestic policy autonomy, while being mindful of the possible harm to trade partners. The world’s trade regime is driven by a mercantilist logic: You lower your barriers in return for my lowering mine. But lack of openness is no longer the binding constraint on the world economy; lack of democratic legitimacy is.

It is time to embrace a different logic, emphasizing the value of policy autonomy. Poor and rich countries alike need greater space for pursuing their objectives. The former need to restructure their economies and promote new industries, and the latter must address domestic concerns over inequality and distributive justice.

- William Lazonick and Matt Hopkins note that already-appalling estimates of the gap between CEOs and other workers may be severely underestimating the problem. And Iglika Ivanova laments British Columbia's woefully insufficient changes to its minimum wage which will keep large numbers of workers in poverty.

- In one positive development for corporate accountability, Telesur reports that the International Criminal Court is now willing to take jurisdiction over land grabbing, environmental destruction and other corporate crime.

- Harry Stein writes that there are significant economic and social gains to be achieved by better funding social infrastructure.

- Finally, Jeremy Nuttall interviews Robert Fox, the NDP's new national director, on the plan to building a more activist party - both in the sense of better engaging with existing activists, and developing a culture of ongoing action. And Robin Sears offers a long-term path for the NDP to once again lead Canada toward progressive policies.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Matthew Yglesias writes that The Big Short and other stories focused on the financial aspects of the 2008 economic meltdown miss by far the most important part of the picture in the real economic destruction wrought by irresponsible banksters. And David Dayen notes that U.S. mortgage lenders are now laughably pointing fingers at regulators who have made lending forms more understandable for the fact they aren't lending as easily as they were during the housing bubble.

- Martin Boucher discusses the urgent need for a shift to a low-carbon economy in Saskatchewan. And Seth Klein argues that it's time to move past pipe dreams like Christy Clark's liquid natural gas get-rich-quick scheme.

- Robin Sears sets out three crucial tests for Justin Trudeau - and while one can quibble with his order of difficulty, there's no doubt that major advances on climate change, electoral reform and First Nations relations would represent a first-term agenda worth pursuing.

- But it's also worth noting how the Libs may be tying their own hands on those among other issues - and the fact that they seem to consider a single e-mail address to be enough consultation on the Trans-Pacific Partnership doesn't bode well.

- Finally, Andre Picard highlights the dangers of a culture which pushes employees to work when they're sick - with the inflexible requirement for sick notes to excuse any absence serving as a particularly counterproductive policy.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Martin Whittaker reminds us that the American public is eager for a far more fair distribution of income than the one provided for by the U.S.' current political and economic ground rules. But Christo Aivalis writes that there's a difference between a preference and a cause - and that we need to do far more to shift the fight for equality into the latter category.

- Ed Struzik discusses how climate change is affecting Alberta's cattle ranges facing unprecedented droughts. And Emily Chung reports on new research showing that our groundwater supplies are mostly non-renewable.

- Robin Sears argues that we shouldn't let terrorists succeed in their goal of undermining our shared humanity. Unfortunately, Brad Wall didn't get the memo - and is facing due outrage for his willingness to let refugees suffer for the crimes of others.

- But there's at least some good news when it comes to greater inclusion in Canada - in the form of both premiers looking to help settle refugees, and a federal government dropping some of the Cons' most egregious attempts to exclude minority groups.

Saturday Morning Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Paul de Grauwe points out that the European push to force Greece into continued austerity is the most important factor holding back a recovery, as the country would be fully solvent if it were being allowed to borrow money on anything but the most draconian of terms. And Paul Mason criticizes the war that's been declared against the Greek public for trying to pursue democratic governance - while noting that the public's justified dissatisfaction isn't going away regardless of the result of the impending referendum.

- Sherif Alsayed-Ali responds to the news that the UK's intelligence agencies have been conducting illegal spying against Amnesty International - and it's worth noting that Bill C-51 will make Canada's sweeping powers and lack of oversight even worse than the UK's:

Our concerns about mass surveillance are not limited to human rights organizations, although this is already very worrying. Mass surveillance is invasive and a dangerous overreach of government power into our private lives and freedom of expression. In specific circumstances it can also put lives at risk, be used to discredit people or interfere with investigations into human rights violations by governments.

We have good reasons to believe that the British government is interested in our work. Over the past few years we have investigated possible war crimes by UK and US forces in Iraq, Western government involvement in the CIA's torture scheme known as the extraordinary rendition programme, and the callous killing of civilians in US drone strikes in Pakistan: it was recently revealed that GCHQ may have provided assistance for US drone attacks.

The obfuscation, secrecy and determination to avoid any meaningful oversight is worthy of a tin-pot dictatorship. It is time for serious public scrutiny of the behaviour of the British government. We need to know what surveillance programmes the government is operating, what spying they consider to be fair game, and why.

- Andrew Cohen sees the Cons' "Memorial to the Victims of Communism" as a monument to crass and destructive politics.

- Finally, Robin Sears highlights why the Cons' division and narrowcasting are doomed to fail as a strategy for building a natural governing party. And Thomas Walkom writes that the cult of personality around Stephen Harper is leading the Cons to shut out natural allies in the name of worshiping their leader.

New column day

Here, expanding on this post about the new challenges the Cons are facing heading into this fall's election.

For further reading...
- Geoffrey Stevens offers his own take on the Cons' weaknesses.
- Meanwhile, Nik Nanos (as reported by Theophilos Argitis) focuses on the possibility of vote splitting working to the Cons' benefit. But that analysis seems to miss the point that no amount of vote-splitting between two competitors can get the Cons into majority territory if their own support levels remain stuck in the low 30s.
- And on a more interesting note, Robin Sears wonders whether the leader's tour model of campaign coverage will soon be a thing of the past - which might offer some reason to expect different influences to affect election results. But it doesn't seem that either the parties or the media are headed for a drastically different model this time out - nor is it clear that a shift would do anything but play to the strengths of more popular leaders.

Saturday Morning Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- CBC follows up on the connection between childhood poverty and increased health-care costs later in life. And Sunny Freeman points out how the living wage planned by Rachel Notley's NDP figures to benefit Alberta's economy in general.

- Meanwhile, William Gardner laments our lack of accurate information on health and well-being in the wake of the Cons' census shredding, particularly among exactly the marginalized communities who are most likely to need help.

- And Richard Thaler reminds us why it's foolish to assume that people and economies can be treated as if they'll operate according to market ideals of perfect information and equality in bargaining power. 

- Gerald Caplan offers a warning to the Notley government as to what it can expect from a corporate establishment which considers itself to be above the will of the public. And in keeping with the theme of this week's column, David McGrane sees the NDP's victory as bringing Alberta's politics in line with those of the other prairie provinces.

- Finally, Andrew Coyne discusses how the Cons managed to fit nearly every possible indictment of their government into a single day's worth of legislative abuses and public deception. And Robin Sears highlights why the next federal election campaign figures to be far less predictable than the government which will be up for public scrutiny.

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- In advance of this weekend's Progress Summit, Robin Sears comments on the significance of the Broadbent Institute and other think tanks in shaping policy options:

The Center for American Progress was the wakeup call for progressives around the world. Independent-minded, massively funded, deeply professional, it was created to develop winning agendas for a new Democratic president. Key Obamites trained there. Core strategies and goals were polished there. Their success helped to spawn a third generation of think tanks who understood that to have real impact, good ideas had to be married to credible execution.

In Canada today, the two ‘conviction-based’ parties of left and right as political scientists are wont to label conservatives and social democrats—have thriving think tanks that have played important roles in both the idea baking and the training of a new generation of political activists. The Manning Centre—unlike the Fraser institute—has become less fringe and more effectively political. The Broadbent Institute has quickly found its groove as a forum where greenies, left liberals, New Democrats, and independent activists can hammer out new progressive visions and the tools to deliver them.
...
The Broadbent Institute’s executive director Rick Smith and his small but impressive team seem so far to have found their footing, pushing the envelope a little, rallying partisans as required, and avoiding the curse of think tanks everywhere: becoming pedantic, boring, and irrelevant. Their annual gatherings of the progressive clans have exceeded most cynical old-timers’ expectations; convening a new generation from outside partisan politics, from the NGO and environmental movements, left liberals and social democrats, and helping them build bonds both personal and political.

Ten years from now—or maybe much sooner—one may expect a proud young minister celebrating the success of a dramatic new initiative, just endorsed by Parliament, telling reporters, “Well, it all started late one boozy night, at the Broadbent summit!”

- Meanwhile, Desmond Cole interviews David Hulchanski on rising inequality in Toronto and elsewhere. And Kate McInturff notes that increased inequality is just one of the harmful results of an obsession with fighting deficits rather than improving the lives of citizens.

- Roy Romanow highlights the imminent dangers facing Canada's health care system if we don't fill in missing pieces including a pharmacare program.

- Raveena Aulakh reports on the Council of Canadians' damning study on the protection of water in Canada. And on the subject of regulatory negligence, Allison Martel finds that CN Rail has seen a massive jump in derailments even as it's carrying more hazardous products including crude oil.

- Finally, Bob Hepburn discusses how Stephen Harper decided to use the politics of fear as his main means of clinging to power. And thwap observes that a reasonable amount of Parliamentary pushback has gone a long way in countering the spin when it comes to C-51.