Wednesday #skvotes Links

Saskatchewan's election day is rapidly approaching (and indeed voting is already underway). And with plenty of content being generated, I'll plan to offer some link posts dedicated to news of interest to voters.

- PressProgress has been providing plenty of important election news - even if it has regularly been ignored by the mainstream media even after it's been reported and thoroughly documented. In particular, it's exposed how a SaskParty donor was handed a $60 million contract to take over services formerly provided on a profitable basis by STC, and highlighted W. Brett Wilson's shamelessness in insisting that outside money should be able to define Saskatchewan's political debate.

- The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives has surveyed voters about their views on climate change and the environment, including finding a strong majority supporting a transition to 100% renewable energy over the next 20 years. And John Klein's latest update highlights the utter failure of the Saskatchewan Party to meet the emission reduction targets which it chose to set for this year. 

- Jason Hammond offers his take on tonight's leadership debate and what comes next.

- And finally, the Leader-Post and Star-Phoenix' editorial boards highlight the importance of voting, even as COVID-19 has made it more difficult to do so. (And I'll offer a reminder that the deadline to apply to vote by mail provincially is tomorrow.)

Friday Morning Links

 Assorted content to end your week.

- David Roberts examines a few of the ways to conceptualize the share of responsibility for climate change. And while the most crucial reality is the need for everybody to take steps (and not just incremental ones) to avert a climate breakdown, Vernon Loeb, Marianne Lavelle and Stacy Feldman highlight how a second Trump term alone could do irremediable damage to our planet.

- Moira Wyton writes about the roles of connectedness and resilience in mitigating the health effects of the damage we've already done. And CBC News talks to George Monbiot about the importance of a politics of belonging to reclaim power from the wealthy few.

- Hiroko Tabuchi reports that the longtime deception from the fossil fuel sector is far from finished, as oil executives privately acknowledge they're doing little if anything to stop especially-harmful methane emissions.

- Leslie Evans Ogden discusses the long-anticipated growth of geothermal power as a source of baseload electricity in Canada. And Arthur White-Crummey reports on the Saskatchewan NDP's commitment to prioritize geothermal development as part of its work to develop a clean energy grid.

- Robert Palmer notes that the combination of upper-class tax slashing and general austerity remains thoroughly despised by the general public when accurately presented as such.

- Finally, Sara Birrell reports on new research as to the devastating public health impacts of the Saskatchewan Party's shuttering of STC.

On choice giveaways

There's been plenty worth criticizing about Scott Moe's combination of laughable demands of the federal government and refusal to take responsibility for anything his government is doing at home. But let's take note of yet another example of the Saskatchewan Party's fanatical focus on freebies for resource exploiters with no regard for anybody else:

The new document also includes at least one instance of the government walking back a decision made in the deeply unpopular 2017-18 budget — the choice to reinstate a $14-million provincial sales tax exemption for mining exploration and downhole drilling.

Of course, it was in that same budget that the PST was also added to construction - a move which continues to affect the ability of anybody in Saskatchewan to build literally anything. But any development of homes or businesses is apparently well down Moe's priority list compared to giveaways for oil drilling.

It was also the 2017 budget which shuttered STC. Concidentally, that required provincial grants of just under $14 million to help people and goods move all around the province - which is also apparently far less of a concern for Moe's Sask Party than handing subsidies to oil and mining conglomerates.

And the many other sectors which have seen direct harm from the Saskatchewan Party's cuts and choices - from film to restaurants to renewable energy - are still being told there's nothing for them. But the dying fossil fuel sector continues to be showered with incentives.

In other words, Jason Kenney isn't the only premier treating economic diversification as a negative while actively trying to become even more dependent on volatile resource prices. And the fact that resource exploitation is once again being given priority over people's well-being should confirm that nothing's going to change for the better until the Saskatchewan Party is ousted from power.

Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Stephen Maher writes that Michael Cooper's choice to give voice to the Christchurch shooter's manifesto represents a test of Andrew Scheer's willingness to take action to match his words. And Scheer's choice to quietly shuffle Cooper out of a single committee assignment - rather than actually showing him the door in response to premeditated hate speech - seems to offer a clear wrong answer. 

- Keith Gerein laments Jason Kenney's insistence on betting Alberta's future on ideological tax cuts which have proven to be losing gambles everywhere else they've been tried. And Jesse Ferreras points out that Kenney's predictable response to wildfires exacerbated by our climate breakdown is to deny the science plainly connecting the two.

- Murray Mandryk notes that Yancoal's simultaneous palm-greasing at the municipal and provincial levels offers yet another example of the types of seedy pay-for-play politics which prevail in Saskatchewan in the absence of basic donation restrictions.

- Meanwhile, the CP reports that Manitoba has decided to fund coverage of Mifegymiso, leaving Scott Moe's government as the most regressive of conservative parties in the country in refusing to do the same.

- Finally, Alex MacPherson reports on the increasing recognition of how people are worse off for the Saskatchewan Party's destruction of STC - as well as the NDP's plans to restore and improve service.

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Iglika Ivanova discusses how British Columbia can move toward eliminating poverty in its next budget.

- Patrick Maze points out the need for Saskatchewan's education system to be able to rely on stable and sufficient funding. But Alex MacPherson notes that Scott Moe has refused to benefit people even when there's federal money available to provide such basic necessities as public transportation.

- Kelvin Gawley reports on the massive public benefits from the NDP's comprehensive and universal pharmacare plan (in contrast to the Libs' watered-down attempt at corporate appeasement). 

- The Star's editorial board calls out Doug Ford's bait-and-switch which will result in funding being pulled away from the children with autism who most need it.

- Finally, Christo Aivalis reminds us of Tommy Douglas' genuine socialism - and the continued importance of holding and conveying strong social values even when they're not seen as politicall convenient:

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.

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Gary Younge comments on the highly selective willingness of far too many privileged people to acknowledge suffering around them. And Paul Krugman calls out the Trump administration's gratuitous cruelty toward the people who already have the least:

There’s something fundamentally obscene about this spectacle. Here we have a man who inherited great wealth, then built a business career largely around duping the gullible — whether they were naïve investors in his business ventures left holding the bag when those ventures went bankrupt, or students who wasted time and money on worthless degrees from Trump University. Yet he’s determined to snatch food from the mouths of the truly desperate, because he’s sure that somehow or other they’re getting away with something, having it too easy.
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In the end, I don’t believe there’s any policy justification for the attack on food stamps: It’s not about the incentives, and it’s not about the money. And even the racial animus that traditionally underlies attacks on U.S. social programs has receded partially into the background.

No, this is about petty cruelty turned into a principle of government. It’s about privileged people who look at the less fortunate and don’t think, “There but for the grace of God go I”; they just see a bunch of losers. They don’t want to help the less fortunate; in fact, they get angry at the very idea of public aid that makes those losers a bit less miserable.

And these are the people now running America.

- Meanwhile, CBC News reports on the continuing effects of the Saskatchewan Party's destruction of STC on people with disabilities who relied on it. 

- Sheila Block points out the longstanding gap between what Ontario governments have invested in health care and what's needed to properly care for patients - while noting that voters will have a chance to set the province on the right track in this spring's election.

- Lauren Pelley highlights the barriers to dental care faced by low-income seniors in Toronto - and the resulting social costs. And Ake Blomqvist and Frances Woolley make the case for universal dental coverage.

- Finally, Bob Weber reports on new research showing that the environmental impact of the oil sands is larger than previously known. And Jodi McNeil reminds us that the public will likely end up paying for the mess left behind by oil operators who can't be bothered to keep their promises once any profits run out.

Sunday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Tom Parkin discusses how the growing pile of Liberal disappointments is creating opportunities for Canada's opposition parties.

- Julie Ireton reports on the continued problems being caused by the federal government's Phoenix privatization debacle - including by forcing retirement-eligible employees to hold on until their retirement income comes into focus. And Mike De Souza reports on the National Energy Board's focus on stifling any flow of accurate information to the public in the name of resource-sector corporate profits.

- Rupert Neate highlights how the extravagant bonuses paid to property developers could provide housing for large numbers of people who actually need it. And Yogi Achyara discusses Toronto's need for increased shelter resources (rather than the cuts being imposed by John Tory and right-wing councillors).

- Don Giesbrecht wonders why Canada is allowing itself to fall behind its international peers in investing in child care.

- And finally, Kendall Latimer reports on the continued fallout from the Saskatchewan Party's decision to trash STC - with rural residents having to reconsider whether they can afford to be trapped without reliable transportation, while Brad Wall's minions continue to pretend that private operators will materialize out of nowhere.

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Steve Burgess points out that we shouldn't be the least bit surprise by the latest news of politically-connected billionaires managing to tilt the tax system in their favour. Ed Broadbent calls for a much-needed end to tax policy that favours the wealthy in efforts to avoid contributing to the public good. And Tom Parkin suggests that Murray Rankin's bill to better regulate international cash flows would offer an important starting point.

- Andy Beckett tells the story of UK Labour's left, and how it has managed to outlast multiple strains of neoliberal leadership to earn a promising opportunity to win power. And Jessica Elgot reports on John McDonnell's call for billions of pounds to be redirected from corporate giveaways to public purposes.

- The Standard discusses how the latest incarnation of the Trans-Pacific Partnership isn't a meaningful improvement over the previous versions.

- Alex MacPherson reports on the utter lack of any analysis or consultation before the Wall government decided to trash the Saskatchewan Transportation Company.

- Finally, Geoff Leo reports on the Saskatchewan Party's disappearing e-mails and other efforts to hide what they've done while in office. And Bill Waiser writes that there's plenty more to be discovered and concerned about in the Wall government's avoidance of accountability.

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Rupert Neate reports on a new study showing that the world's 1,500-odd billionaires between them control over $6 trillion in wealth.

- Stuart Trew sets out Canada's choice between corporate-oriented trade deals such as the CETA, or sustainable and fairly-distributed economic development. And Laurie Monsebraaten writes about the need for political action to rein in inequality among minority groups.

- Kate Aronoff discusses how U.S. Democrats are wasting an essential opportunity to respond to climate change. And Martin Lukacs highlights how the oil industry gets sweetheart deals which result in it pay far less royalties in Canada than nearly anywhere else, while Carl Meyer exposes how the Libs have pushed any discussion of fossil fuel subsidies behind closed doors.

- The Conference Board of Canada examines the massive return on an investment in child care - with each dollar funded leading to six in social and economic benefits. And Iglika Ivanova offers a step-by-step plan toward a universal child care system in B.C., while pointing out how Quebec's system has dramatically improved labour force participation for women with children.

- Finally, Chris Vanderbreekel reports on Jagmeet Singh's plan to provide federal funding to revive the Saskatchewan Transportation Company.

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Nathaniel Lewis and Matt Bruenig discuss the relationship between massive inheritances and ongoing wealth inequality. Nick Hanauer makes the case for much higher taxes on the wealthy as part of a plan for improved economic development, while a new Ipsos poll finds that three-quarters of Americans are in favour of that possibility. And Larry Elliott reports on a new IMF study which concludes that a more progressive tax system will reduce inequality without affecting growth:

The Washington-based IMF used its influential half-yearly fiscal monitor to demolish the argument that economic growth would suffer if governments in advanced Western countries forced the top 1% of earners to pay more tax.

The IMF said tax theory suggested there should be “significantly higher” tax rates for those on higher incomes but the argument against doing so was that hitting the rich would be bad for growth.

But the influential global institution said: “Empirical results do not support this argument, at least for levels of progressivity that are not excessive.” The IMF added that different types of wealth taxes might also be considered.
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IMF research found that between 1985 and 1995, redistribution through the tax system had offset 60% of the increase in inequality caused by market forces. But between 1995 and 2010, income tax systems failed to respond to the continuing increase in inequality.

It also said inequality should be tackled by giving a more pro-poor slant to public spending.

“Despite progress, gaps in access to quality education and healthcare services between different income groups in the population remain in many countries,” Gaspar and Garcia-Escribano said, adding that in rich countries men with university education lived up to 14 years longer than those with secondary education or less.

“Better public spending can help, for instance, by reallocating education or health spending from the rich to the poor while keeping total public education or health spending unchanged,” they added.

- Michael Nienaber reports on a push by German trade unions to translate productivity gains into reduced hours of work. And Martin Regg Cohn argues that corporate fearmongering isn't a valid reason to avoid ensuring that workers make a living wage.

- Meanwhile, the Mowat Centre and Smart Prosperity Institute study (PDF) how decent work fits into a green economy. And George Monbiot theorizes that a combination of private sufficiency and public luxury could represent the economic model which allows us to reconcile higher standards of living with environmental sustainability.

- Finally, Geoff Leo reports that the Wall government has ordered public servants to use private e-mail accounts to deal with sensitive issues in order to avoid any public record of their actions. And Alex MacPherson notes that the Sask Party has refused (or neglected) to provide information to allow the Auditor General to even assess the effects of its destruction of the Saskatchewan Transportation Company.

New column day

Here, on what the Wall government means when it talks about entering into "partnerships" with the corporate sector - and why Saskatchewan's citizens shouldn't stand to be cut out of the Crown assets now owned for public benefit.

For further reading...
- Others have also noted the "partnership" phrasing used by the Saskatchewan Party in identifying the future beneficiaries of its largesse. 
- Bil 40 is found here. And its effect on existing Crowns has been identified as both SGI and SaskTel have been looking to cede operations to private businesses.
- The "partnership" phrasing for SLGA is found among other places in its past annual plans (PDF).  And the latest job cuts - which are being spun as having been expected all along - were nowhere to be found when the Saskatchewan Party was announcing (PDF) and implementing its wholesaling changes.
- Finally, Adam Hunter reports on the Balgonie bypass fiasco. And in case there was any doubt that planning for a roundabout was supposed to include consideration of the needs of farm equipment, here's the information page from SaskBuilds' proudly-proclaimed partner.

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Michal Rozworski highlights how UK Labour's platform provides for a needed move toward the democratization of economic activity along with an end to gratuitous austerity. And a distinguished group of economists has signed on to support the plan.

- Charlie Skelton examines how this year's Bilderberg conference is making a mockery of issues of inclusion and fairness. And Scott Sinclair and Stuart Trew point out why there's no reason to think a free trade deal between a capital-focused Justin Trudeau and an authoritarian Chinese regime will do anything but serve corporate interests at the expense of the public.

- Meanwhile, G. Elijah Dann comments that Trudeau's legacy looks to be one of empty political theatre.

- Dean Beeby reports on the Canada Revenue Agency's calculation that the federal government lost $13.6 billion in uncollected domestic revenue in 2014 alone.

- Finally, Murray Mandryk writes that the Wall government's decision to shut down the Saskatchewan Transportation Company (among other budget cuts) looks to have caused a sea change in rural support. And the fact that the Saskatchewan Party is more focused on trying to justify continued cash-for-access fund-raisin than doing anything to benefit Saskatchewan's citizens figures to make it all the more difficult to reverse that trend.

Wednesday Evening Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Diane Cardwell points out how carbon politics are threatening renewable energy just at the point where it would win a fair fight against fossil fuels. And J. David Hughes finds that any case for Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain pipeline falls apart in the face of realistic assumptions about oil prices.

- Meanwhile, Emma Gilchrist digs into the many environmental positives of the B.C. governance agreement signed between the NDP and the Greens.

- Laurie Monsebraaten reports on the sale of a large chain of child care centres to a foreign parent which figures to result in lobbying for lowered standards and higher profits. And CBC News reveals that KPMG-linked foreign entities saw fit to destroy the evidence which could have allowed the Canada Revenue Agency to track down tax cheats.

- Taylor Bendig discusses the end of the line for the Saskatchewan Transportation Company, while Erin Weir highlights the fact that Brad Wall's desire to shut down province-wide public transportation had nothing to do with funding and everything to do with ideology - as evidenced by his refusal to see whether federal funding could help to maintain services.

- Murray Mandryk writes about Wall's complete lack of accountability surrounding the Global Transportation Hub fiasco.

- Finally, Nancy Merrill argues that sufficient legal aid funding is an essential part of a just society.

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your Monday reading.

- Paul Krugman criticizes the use of non-compete agreements to trap workers at low wage levels with no opportunity to pursue comparable employment - as well as the Republicans' insistence on pushing employer-based health care which further limits workers' options:

At this point, in other words, noncompete clauses are in many cases less about protecting trade secrets than they are about tying workers to their current employers, unable to bargain for better wages or quit to take better jobs.

This shouldn’t be happening in America, and to be fair some politicians in both parties have been speaking up about the need for change (although few expect the Trump administration to follow up on the Obama administration’s reform push). But there’s another aspect of declining worker freedom that is very much a partisan issue: health care.

Until 2014, there was basically only one way Americans under 65 with pre-existing conditions could get health insurance: by finding an employer willing to offer coverage. Some employers were in fact willing to do so. Why? Because there were major tax advantages — premiums aren’t counted as taxable income — but to get those advantages employer plans must offer the same coverage to every employee, regardless of medical history.

But what if you wanted to change jobs, or start your own business? Too bad: you were basically stuck (and I knew quite a few people in that position).
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You might say, with only a bit of hyperbole, that workers in America, supposedly the land of the free, are actually creeping along the road to serfdom, yoked to corporate employers the way Russian peasants were once tied to their masters’ land. And the people pushing them down that road are the very people who cry “freedom” the loudest.

- Jim Edwards highlights how in the wake of deliberate attacks on workers' bargaining power, low unemployment rates aren't producing the wage gains which would normally be expected. And Linda Gorman's look at global corporate savings makes it clear that the extra money kept in corporate hands is being hoarded rather than put to productive use.

- Geoff Dembicki points out how Canada's overheating real estate markets are more the result of domestic speculation than foreign investment - even if the political response has been oriented almost solely toward the latter. 

- Ashley Martin reports on the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour's call for employers to ensure that work requirements don't trap people suffering domestic violence. And L.E. Reimer points out how the Saskatchewan Party's shuttering of STC will be particularly hard on women with low incomes who will lose a needed means of transportation.

- Finally, the Star's editorial board calls for Ontario's provincial government to finally reverse a multi-decade trend of reduced access to music and arts education in public schools.

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Jordan Brennan and Kaylie Tiessen write that it's long past time to set a level of federal revenue sufficient to support the social programs Canadians want:

In the decades since [corporate-driven] reforms were undertaken, Canada experienced a significant deterioration in its macroeconomic performance: business investment has worsened and the rate of job creation and GDP growth have both decelerated. If there is no solid economic evidence to suggest that budgetary and tax reform succeeded in elevating investment levels or increasing the rate of economic growth, how are we to understand the commitment to balanced budgets and shrinking government?

The answer is, unsurprisingly, political. The Canadian welfare state grew out of the wreckage of the Great Depression. In the early postwar decades many of the federal programs that Canadians enjoy were created. As a share of GDP, budgetary revenue grew from 10 per cent in 1939 to 20 per cent by 1974 — an effective doubling of the size of the federal government during a period of exceptionally strong economic growth.

Today, after decades of proportional reductions in revenue and spending, the federal aspects of the welfare state have been significantly diminished. The political program of undoing the New Deal model of governance has largely succeeded in Canada, at least at the federal level.

But here’s the problem: cutting taxes or reducing spending will not facilitate reconciliation with Canada’s indigenous peoples, who experience a vast funding shortfall when it comes to infrastructure, education and health care. It will do nothing to make housing more affordable in Vancouver, nor will it expedite the transition to a low-carbon economy in Alberta. A balanced budget will not ease gridlock in the GTA, nor will it provide the health care resources Atlantic Canadians require to cope with an aging population.

Perhaps that’s why, after decades of the “smaller government is better” mantra, Canadians have opened themselves up to the utility of deficit financing. The next step would be to extend the conversation into the domain of taxation, to determine what level is required to solve some of Canada’s most pressing policy challenges.

- Lizanne Foster highlights how any promise of future benefits from the B.C. Libs is limited to the province's wealthy few, while Douglas Todd notes that there's broad public agreement with that expectation. And Martyn Brown offers a simple but vital formula to ensure change from Christy Clark's corrupt corporatism at the polls. 

- Meanwhile, William Yardley traces British Columbia's path from being ahead of the curve on climate change to clinging to fossil fuels. And Aurora Tejeida writes that there's been no followup at all on promises to protect the environment from inevitable oil spills.

- Sara Mojtehedzadeh reports on a push for Ontario to follow Iceland's lead in ensuring employer transparency to further the cause of pay equity. And Forum Research finds massive public support in the province for a $15 minimum wage - contrasted against not a single group polled which stands opposed to the possibility.

- Finally, Taylor Bendig questions the Wall government's choice to throw STC under the bus without any apparent planning or analysis.

New column day

Here, on how Brad Wall's costly and counterproductive decision to trash the Saskatchewan Transportation Company mirrors his government's worst traits.

For further reading...
- Jason Warick reported here on the plan to shut down STC - as well as the absurd day-long shutdown of the service for nothing more than communications purposes. And the government's excuses are found here (PDF).
- Adam Hunter followed up by examining some of the effects of taking away STC service.
- Warick also reported on the first wave of protests against library cuts, while CBC took note of protests to save STC as well.
- Meanwhile, the CP highlights Don Morgan's bizarre claim that Saskatchewan has too many libraries.
- And finally, Doug Caldwell offers his take on the Saskatchewan Party's burn-the-furniture budget.

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Jordon Cooper writes that the Saskatchewan Party's slash-and-burn budget confirms that for them, the poor don't matter. CBC reports on the devastating effect the budget will have on municipalities, while Courtney Markewitch reports that Saskatoon's city council is fighting back. And Joel Senick notes that the planned shutdown of the Saskatchewan Transportation Company is another area where the Wall government may be on shaky legal ground.

- Tom Parkin examines how the Trudeau Libs are substituting meaningless buzzwords for coherent policy and campaign promises. Rob Gillezeau and Jeffrey Ansloos highlight Trudeau's empty words when it comes to First Nations issues in particular. And Campbell Clark warns about the risks of the Libs' plans to undermine the role of Parliament.

- John O'Kane reports on Douglas Hoyes' research showing how bankruptcies are increasingly the result of income inequality.

- Kathleen Lahey studies (PDF) the gender impacts of tax policy, finding in particular that both cuts to progressive taxes (including income and corporate taxes) and joint tax laws serve only to advantage wealthier men.

- And finally, Scott Price summarizes the attacks on labour coming soon from Brian Pallister's Manitoba PCs.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Paul Krugman comments on how Republicans' cheerleading for total corporate control - which has of course been matched at every turn by Canada's Cons - has resulted in their declaring war on any policy which could possibly result in environmental improvements:

(T)he payoff to...new rules (on mercury emissions) is huge: up to $90 billion a year in benefits compared with around $10 billion a year of costs in the form of slightly higher electricity prices. This is, as David Roberts of Grist says, a very big deal.

And it’s a deal Republicans very much want to kill.

With everything else that has been going on in U.S. politics recently, the G.O.P.’s radical anti-environmental turn hasn’t gotten the attention it deserves. But something remarkable has happened on this front. Only a few years ago, it seemed possible to be both a Republican in good standing and a serious environmentalist; during the 2008 campaign John McCain warned of the dangers of global warming and proposed a cap-and-trade system for carbon emissions. Today, however, the party line is that we must not only avoid any new environmental regulations but roll back the protection we already have.

And I’m not exaggerating: during the fight over the debt ceiling, Republicans tried to attach riders that, as Time magazine put it, would essentially have blocked the E.P.A. and the Interior Department from doing their jobs.
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(W)henever you hear dire predictions about the effects of pollution regulation, you should know that special interests always make such predictions, and are always wrong. For example, power companies claimed that rules on acid rain would disrupt electricity supply and lead to soaring rates; none of that happened, and the acid rain program has become a shining example of how environmentalism and economic growth can go hand in hand.

But again, never mind: mindless opposition to “job killing” regulations is now part of what it means to be a Republican. And I have to admit that this puts something of a damper on my mood: the E.P.A. has just done a very good thing, but if a Republican — any Republican — wins next year’s election, he or she will surely try to undo this good work.

- And in other dog-bites-man news, stay tuned for another potential prosecution against a right-wing Saskatchewan political party for an alleged violation of election law.

- Dave points out the disaster that's resulted from the B.C. Libs' privatization of BC Ferries. Meanwhile, Postmedia notes that Saskatchewan's truly public model for intra-provincial transportation is doing far better than private comparators.

- Finally, Colin Horgan compares the vote mob trend which received so much attention early in 2011 to the Occupy movement which emerged later in the year:

For now, Occupy has, arguably, accomplished at least one thing. It has managed to change the conversation — something vote mobs attempted, but at which they ultimately failed.

The difference between the two is perhaps as simple as the fact that vote mobs pushed youth back to the system from which they already felt disenchanted. Occupy, on the other hand, recognized that disaffection and offered the concept of an entirely alternative system, somewhere on the other side of a few internet photos.
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Where a quasi-movement like vote mobs failed to make anyone talk about politics differently, Occupy has done exactly that. It has changed the way virtually everyone in Canada and the United States is now talking about its most specific target, the economy. Income disparity, corporate negligence, the concept of a homegrown plutocracy — these are ideas no longer relegated to fringe elements, but are beginning to be discussed widely, along with the idea that there maybe some rot developing at the core of the current system. With that accomplished, Occupy will likely hibernate happily.

As for the voting booths, they still await the day young faces start outnumbering old ones. Though perhaps not for much longer.