Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Carol Off interviews Andre Picard about the cultural factors and policy choices that have led to an avoidable fourth wave of COVID-19 in Saskatchewan and Alberta. And Yasmine Ghania talks to Alex Wong about the need for immediate gathering size restrictions to prevent calamitous results, while Guy Quenneville highlights the modeling showing how Scott Moe is instead choosing to crash Saskatchewan's health care system.

Key slide. 5 scenarios. #skpoli pic.twitter.com/8f2wbJtddk

— Guy Quenneville (@gqinsk) October 20, 2021

- Meanwhile, Armine Yalnizyan takes a look at possible economic scenarios as we eventually emerge from the COVID pandemic - though it's hard to share her optimism that we'll see substantial renewal at a point when nearly all attention seems to be focused on entrenching existing wealth and power. And Andrew Jackson discusses how Nobel Prize recipient David Card's research fits into the recognition that living wages result in better outcomes for everybody. 

- The Stockholm Environment Institute examines (PDF) how we're continuing to burn far more fossil fuels than we can afford while maintaining a liveable climate, while the Chalmers University of Technology highlights the concurrent need for a far more rapid transition to clean energy. And Drew Yewchuk points out that Alberta is once again failing to secure the cost of remediation from resource exploiters even as soaring prices set up what may be the last, best opportunity to ensure the public isn't stuck with the bill for environmental disasters. 

- Toby Sanger highlights how Canada's tax system currently foundations and charities to shelter massive amounts of money without either making tax contributions or fulfilling their supposed purposes.  

- Finally, Kristy Kirkup reports on the push by several sections of the Canadian Bar Association to have the federal government stop its campaign of litigation against Indigenous children. 

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Karl Nerenberg notes that taxes on the wealthy represent an excellent starting point in ensuring that it's possible to pass progressive policy in a minority Parliament. And Katrina Miller, Toby Sanger and Alex Hemingway point out the role the provinces can play in developing a more progressive tax system while funding the services and social investments we need.

- But Michael Roberts warns that there's little indication yet that we'll change course from an economy dangerously reliant on dying resource industries and zombie corporations. 

- Meanwhile David Roberts, points out that Illinois is setting new standards in developing an equitable transition plan to a clean economy.

- Kandist Mallitt calls out the increasing use of violent police force to displace homeless people based on the view they have no place in a commercialized housing market. And Jesse Jenkinson and Stephen Hwang write that we should be making tent encampments unnecessary rather than illegal.

- Finally, Umair Haque discusses Britain's continuing failure to realize that it's shot itself in the foot by pushing through Brexit in the absence of any coherent reason or rational plan.

#Elxn44 Roundup

The latest from Canada's federal election campaign.

- Victoria Nicolau reports on the Native Women's Association of Canada's campaign scorecard, showing the NDP well ahead of other parties in addressing the issues facing Indigenous women. And Omayra Issa and Theresa Kliem talk to young Indigenous people in Saskatchewan about what they want to see - and how the establishment parties are falling short.

- Katrina Miller and Jamie Kirkpatrick discuss how the Cons' refusal to even countenance a necessary transition to a clean economy stands to endanger the future of young Canadians both in polluting their planet and denying them a place in the global economy as it develops. 

- Toby Sanger writes that the Cons' economic plans predictably involve taking services away from people who need them in order to hand money to those who already have more than enough. And Patrick Brethour notes that the Libs' tenure in office has fallen short of Justin Trudeau's promises of economic growth.

- Catharine Tunney discusses why it may take several days to learn conclusive results from tomorrow's election. And John Brewin explores what we might expect in the Parliamentary session to follow.

- Finally, Nancy MacDonald examines what's new in the NDP's campaign. And Christian Paas-Lang wonders whether the 10th anniversary of the first Orange Wave in Quebec might see a resurgence - in part due to some familiar faces who have returned to the political fray.

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Emma Paling discusses the reasons why repeated warnings about Canada's third wave of the coronavirus went largely unanswered. And Rachel Bergen reports on another national call among doctors for a COVID-19 circuit breaker, this time with a focus on stopping the spread of variants of concern while vaccinations take place. 

- CBC News reports on Dr. Andrew Bond's eminently sensible suggestion that the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine be used to reach unhoused people and others who may have difficulty following through with a second dose. And Nick Dearden notes that the need for vaccines to protect the health of all of humanity has only exposed the greed of the drug companies prioritizing profit over access.

- Doug Cuthand discusses how the pandemic has further exposed the dangerous effects of white privilege in Saskatchewan.

- Taylor Balfour writes about her sister as one of the victims of the opioid crisis. And Morgan Modjeski reports on a stark increase in the number of violent deaths of children under the province's care in 2020.

- The Canadian Press reports on the push by the NDP opposition parties across the prairies to ensure that provincial governments properly cushion farmers against drastic declines in income. 

- Finally, Toby Sanger examines (PDF) how much revenue Canada could bring in merely by matching Joe Biden's rate increases on corporations. And MercoPress reports that Bolivia has actually been bringing in twice as much revenue as initially anticipated from its wealth tax.

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Toby Sanger points out how Canada could gain tens of billions of dollars annually by working with Joe Biden to apply a global minimum corporate tax. And Linda McQuaig reassures us that a wealth tax can have a profound impact on inequality without collecting from anybody but the richest of the rich.

- Mae Watson Grote writes about the need to address structural causes of inequality and poverty, rather than pretending that "financial literacy" is of any use compared to the systemic barriers which keep people in precarious circumstances. And Paul Krugman discusses the importance of public policy which allows for the growth and strengthening of the labour movement.

- Simone Tagliapietra discusses the impossibility of trying to rein in the climate crisis without simultaneously improving the conditions facing vulnerable people.

- Jim Stanford highlights how corporate-funded opposition to a fair minimum wage depends on obsolete economic theory which has been proven wrong in practice.

- Bruce Arthur slams Doug Ford for his reckless games of chicken against the coronavirus, while Matt Gurney takes note of the complete lack of thought or responsibility behind Ontario's pandemic response. And the Globe and Mail's editorial board writes that all levels of government have failed Canadians by not ensuring workers have paid sick leave available in order to protect against the spread of COVID-19.

- Finally, Molly Bernstein and Sean McElwee point out the strong support in the U.S. to redirect resources from police to alternative emergency response mechanisms.

Wednesday Evening Links

Assorted content for your mid-week reading.

- Christine Boyle, Penny Gurstein, Matthew Norris and Jim Stanford make the case for a public option in housing. And PressProgress documents how for-profit seniors' homes are dominated by board members with no knowledge or experience in caring for people's health.

- Toby Sanger discusses how the pandemic has exposed how Canada's tax system excludes people with low incomes.

- I.F. Mason contrasts Doug Ford's rhetoric about supporting workers against his government's action in unfailingly forcing people to stay on the job in the face of unsafe work.

- Chad D. Cotti, Bryan Engelhardt, Joshua Foster, Erik T. Nesson and Paul S. Niekamp study how forced in-person voting caused an increase in the spread of COVID-19 in Wisconsin. 

- Andrew Nikiforuk points out that Jason Kenney is trying to turn the trashing of environmental protections into the new normal.

- Finally, Gary Mason writes about the need to address the additional pandemic of domestic violence.

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Jane McArthur and Filipe Duarte discuss how the response to the coronavirus pandemic is confirming the importance of collective responsibilities. Amanda Harvey-Sánchez writes about the need to shift toward a more caring social model. And Andrew Longhurst and Kendra Strauss point out the need to take the profit motive out of our model for seniors' housing, while Matt Gurney notes that the current catastrophic outbreaks are the result of decades of systemic neglect.

- Emily Pasiuk highlights the Moe government's refusal to address the safety of essential workers - which of course continues in today's push to reopen which places mandatory obligations on workers but not employers. Noam Scheiber reports on the Trump administration's choice to put employees entirely at the mercy of their bosses rather than enforcing health and safety standards. Dahlia Lithwick discusses the problem with treating essential workers as heroic martyrs rather than people who deserve protection, while Karlie Frisbie Brogan notes that grocery store workers (and others) can see through the insincerity of the attempt. And Michelle Paquette and Doug Yearwood write about the need for improved ages and working conditions which last long after the end of the immediate crisis.

- Bill Bostock reports on France's move to join the group of companies ensuring that bailout funds aren't siphoned off into tax havens. But Marco Chown Oved takes note that the Trudeau Libs refuse to provide similar reassurances about Canadian relief funding.

- Josh Taylor reports on Australia's move to ensure that online multinationals are required to share advertising revenue with local media, rather than taking windfall profits from their content. And John Ivison makes the case for Canada to finally do the same.

- Emily Flitter and Stacy Cowley discuss how the U.S.' business support program was set up to allow banks to offer "concierge service" for their wealthier clients, rather than actually ensuring that funds flowed based on need.

- Finally, David Macdonald highlights the growing number of jobless Canadians excluded from income support benefits as the COVID-19 epidemic continues. Toby Sanger makes the case to extend tax filing deadlines to ensure people with lower incomes actually receive the benefits that have been set up. And Zoe Christmas argues that we'd be far better off with a universal CERB than with the Libs' partial, separate program since set up for students and graduates.

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Michael Valpy and Frank Graves take a look at public opinion in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, and conclude that Canadians are rightly eager to see our leaders do whatever is necessary to ensure our survival and health. And Laila Yuile notes that the failure to act quickly and strongly enough is far from a new one - as many of the difficulties we're facing in responding to COVID-19 were studied then ignored in the wake of the SARS outbreak.

- Leigh Phillips and Michal Rozworski discuss how the pandemic shows the importance of central planning toward the public good.

- Sheila Block and Simran Dhunna argue that we need to be doing far more to protect the frontline workers providing us with the essentials of life in a public health emergency. And Steven Greenhouse reports on the workers taking matters into their own hands by walking off the job to ensure their health and safety are respected by employers.

- Meanwhile, Toby Sanger points out some of the risks involved in the federal government's wage subsidy program.

- Karen Howlett reports on the provinces which are setting up temporary hospitals to deal with the rise of COVID-19. Drew Anderson reports on Alberta's stunning refusal to allow people in need of housing to have even a modicum of privacy, deliberately choosing convention centres over hotels in the midst of a contagious disease crisis. And Zak Vescera reports on the insufficiency of the Saskatchewan Party's belated response to the need for secure housing and incomes.

- Finally, Annie Lowrey makes the case for governments to provide income using a helicopter drop model, rather than delaying and restricting needed support when people can't afford to wait.

New column day

Here, on the new year's early reminders of the generous treatment of corporations and their CEOs compared to workers.

For further reading...
- David MacDonald's look at CEO pay is here (PDF).
- And Toby Sanger's study of corporate tax freedom day is here (PDF). From that, I'll particularly highlight this figure as to the accumulation of corporate cash in comparison to the total amount held in machinery, equipment and intellectual property:

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Alexandra Zannis discusses the need to treat the end of poverty as a core policy goal. Peter Gilmer highlights how voters motivated by Christian ethics should be particularly focused on improving the condition of marginalized people. And Lynn Giesbrecht reports on Cindy Blackstock's work to call needed attention to the continuing systemic discrimination against Indigenous people in Canada.

- Meanwhile, Toby Sanger comments on the glaring need to crack down on tax havens and the wealthy few who abuse them to avoid contributing to the social good.

- Jason Markusoff examines the glaring flaws in the attempts of tar sands operators to paint themselves as environmentally responsible even by the standards of oil producers. Fiona Harvey, Damian Carrington, Jonathan Watts and Patrick Greenfield offer some suggestions to rein in the fossil fuel industry. Bruce Wilson writes that energy sector workers are well aware of the life-and-death stakes involved in carbon pollution. And Don Pittis rightly questions whether anybody trying to invest for the long term should want to bet on a dying sector.

- Eric Beinhocker writes about the need for a carbon abolition movement. And Polly Toynbee discusses the change in culture already flowing from growing activism against the climate crisis.

- Finally, Derrick O'Keefe writes that a strong turnout among young voters could result in a massive change to Canada's political status quo. And Laird Cronk and Sussanne Skidmore argue that voters should support an NDP government to end economic insecurity and precarity.

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Tom Parkin talks to Toby Sanger about the utter failure of corporate tax cuts to produce anything other than concentrated wealth and increased inequality.

- Steven Greenhouse offers suggestions both as to how governments can level the playing field between workers and employers to reduce inequality, and how workers can have a voice even before those structural fixes are made.

- Alan Freeman examines the dangers associated with the Boeing 737 Max as a prime example of the consequences of deregulation.

- Robert Benzie reports that groups helping people with disabilities in Ontario are the latest to find out that Doug Ford isn't prepared to provide the funding needed to perform their work. And the Canadian Press reports that the same municipal cuts which were hastily reversed due to their devastating effect on communities are now set to be imposed again beginning in 2020.

- Martin Regg Cohn points out the absurdity of Ford ordering gas stations to display political propaganda.

- Finally, James Cairns writes about the selective nature of right-wing "free speech" messaging - which is in fact designed to do nothing but silence anybody other than their own reactionary movement.

Monday Morning Links

Assorted content to start your week.

- Eric Levitz exposes the unsoundness of the right-wing excuses for allowing the accumulation of obscene wealth. And Toby Sanger weighs on the effect of increased tax rates on extremely wealthy individuals - along with the other policies which need to accompany more progressive taxation:

(T)here isn’t much evidence that raising top income tax rates actually leads to a large out-migrations. Significant differences in income tax rates in the New York City region haven’t led to many people moving to take advantage of lower tax rates, except for those in retirement age. Other lifestyle factors, including the quality of life and public services, tend to be much more important for people, especially for those with higher incomes.

There’s also little convincing evidence that those with top incomes significantly reduce their work efforts in response to higher income tax rates to the degree that it would result in lower revenues.  Instead, most economists agree that by far the largest behavioral response to higher top income tax rates involves tax avoidance (and evasion) by income shifting. When there’s income shifting for tax purposes, the income often shows up in other places, although taxed at a lower rate.

For those with the money and means, this can be achieved in many ways, some legal and others illegal, including by taking advantage by the lower rates of tax for private corporations, lower rates of tax on stock options, capital gains, and investments, use of private family trusts, tax evasion and taking advantage of tax havens.

Canada’s wealthy are already so proficient at using these loopholes and other means to reduce their taxes that the average reported income tax rate on the very top 0.01% is actually lowerthan the income tax rate on the top 0.1%. If we included the offshore and other unreported income of the wealthiest, their tax rates would be even lower still.

What this all means is that there is considerable room to increase top income tax rates, but it must be combined with much more significant actions to eliminate tax loopholes and preferences that overwhelmingly benefit the wealthy, by more serious action to crack down on use tax havens and by more aggressive enforcement and penalties against wealthy tax evaders and those who profit from them.

- Francine Kopun reports on a proposal to alleviate Toronto's housing crisis by developing currently-unused properties. And CBC News discusses Daniel Dutton's observation that investment in social supports produces immense returns in the form of reduced health care costs.

- Meanwhile, Sarah Giles, Danyaal Raza and Rupinder Brar remind us why a privatized health care system produces worse outcomes for everybody except profiteers. 

- Mitchell Anderson warns against being distracted by populist theatre by governments working against their citizens in substance.

- Finally, George Monbiot writes that any genuine crisis of masculinity lies in the culture of fear and repression which has caused readily-avoidable harm to men and women alike.

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Anna Bawden reports on new research from the Health Foundation showing the multiple ways in which young people face the burden of growing economic inequality. And Owen Jones points out that working-class children have borne the brunt of the UK's financial crisis and subsequent austerity:

(R)eal per-pupil spending in English schools has fallen by 8% since 2010. One all too little discussed scandal has been a reduction in funding for sixth formers of more than a fifth.

This is vandalism. It inflicts damage not just on the young people directly affected but on the nation’s future. Think of the unnecessary poverty created later in life by the failure to offer support to struggling pupils. It’s a false economy, too: the state will have to spend more, later, to support those let down at school. But it is more profound than that: think of the lost talents that would otherwise have enriched our society and culture.

The children of the most privileged will be fine, of course, not least the top 7% sent to private schools. Those in comfortable, rather than overcrowded houses; who have good diets; who don’t suffer the stress of poverty when young; who have the “cultural capital” of university-educated parents – they will generally continue to realise their potential. So the bankers who threw Britain into crisis, and then kept their shiny limousines, multiple homes and luxury holidays, will have forced other people’s children to pay for what they did, not their own.
...
Consider the full gamut of this government’s impact on young people. The scrapping of the educational maintenance allowance, a small amount of money to support aspirational young working-class people, and the trebling of university fees. The decimation of youth services: in London alone, 81 youth clubs and council youth projects have been cut since 2011, and a real-terms cut on children and youth services of nearly a billion pounds in just six years. A generation driven into an unregulated, rip-off private rental sector, lacking basic security, dependent on their landlords’ whims. The explosion of insecure jobs, at a time when living standards for young people have fallen most steeply. It is a list as incriminating as it is long.

It has become almost a cliche that Brexit sucks the oxygen out of the political conversation, depriving growing social crises of the attention they need. The irony is that many of the injustices that helped fuel the Brexit vote in the first place have been even more ignored since, despite the pathetically empty promise by Theresa May at the start of her term in office to cure the “burning injustices” in modern society.

- Similarly, Brad Hershbein writes that the 2008 economic meltdown presented a double whammy for much of the U.S.' middle class, including both initial losses and a lack of much recovery compared to other groups of workers.

- David MacDonald and Toby Sanger examine the savings to be achieved through a universal pharmacare program. And the Wall Street Journal reports on the predictable failure of the Trump tax giveaway (among other corporate giveaways) to do anything to make drugs more affordable in the U.S.

- Guy Verhofstadt argues that after far too many broken promises that corporate choices will protect consumer privacy, it's time for stronger public regulation of social media platforms.

- Finally, Hassan Yussuff discusses the importance of paid employment leave to enable people to break cycles of domestic violence.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Ed Broadbent examines how Doug Ford's platform (such as it is) would only further enrich the wealthy, while causing catastrophic results for everybody else:

Just imagine waking up on Friday morning and having to hear the phrase “Premier Doug Ford” for the next four years.  His record as an enabler of the irresponsible and chaotic mayoralty of his brother in Toronto, and the clear ethical failings of the Progressive Conservative Party under his leadership, point to dark days for this province should he win the June 7^th election.

Mr. Ford has campaigned on a promise to slash $6-billion from the provincial budget but has refused to specify how or where.  The mathematical inevitably of this scale of cuts could involve closing 36 hospitals, firing 28,000 nurses, closing 780 schools, and firing 20,000 teachers.

In addition, Mr. Ford’s commitment to “leave no stone unturned” when it comes to privatization, means all of our health care, schools and other vital public services are at risk.

The result of these cuts and privatization will be a much more expensive life for Ontario families.  Other damaging aspects of his plan include ignoring climate change, giving big corporations a $5 billion tax cut, and providing a huge tax benefit to the richest individuals in the province.

Mr. Ford’s extraordinary support from the most extreme of social conservatives and white supremacists should make us all concerned about any administration he would lead.  I have no doubt that electing Ford as Premier would bring divisive and destructive Trump-style politics to Canada.

- Toby Sanger takes a look at the tens of thousands of jobs which stand to be lost if Ford gets his way. And Tom Parkin writes that the NDP represents the responsible progressive alternative to know-nothing right-wing populism. 

- Daneil Summers discusses how predatory pricing is making an HIV prevention medication developed largely through public research funding inaccessible to the people who need it. And Julia Lurie exposes the lurid manipulations used to push opioids.

- Thomas Gunton highlights the irrationality of the Trudeau Libs' decision to waste public money on a Trans Mountain expansion.

- Finally, Chris Terry takes a look at British Columbia's electoral reform referendum - and its place in the pattern of making electoral results fairer and more proportional.

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Harriet Agerholm comments on the connection between income inequality and a growing life expectancy gap between the rich and the rest of us.

- May Bulman notes that after a generation of austerity, children of public sector workers are increasingly living in poverty in the UK. Miles Brignall reports on the UK's latest example of workers seeing their pensions sucked dry by the financial sector. And Bryce Covert writes about the stagnation of wages in economies where workers have perpetually options due to corporate concentration and monopolization. 

- Toby Sanger discusses the need to start ensuring that multinational digital empires start paying their fair share. And Iglika Ivanova and Alex Hemingway offer a reminder of how British Columbia's tax system (like so many others) became less fair by design under a corporate-controlled government, while Hemingway counters the Fraser Institute's inevitable griping that never is too soon to start sharing any economic development beyond the privileged few.

- Ian Hussey rightly points out that the era of easy windfall profits from the oil sands is over. And Linda McQuaig writes that climate change marches on no matter how far behind we fall in responding politically.

- Finally, Ryan Cooper makes the case for the complete abolishment of student loan debt.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Bernie Sanders comments on the need to take back political power from the wealthiest few:

Now, more than ever, those of us who believe in democracy and progressive government must bring low-income and working people all over the world together behind an agenda that reflects their needs. Instead of hate and divisiveness, we must offer a message of hope and solidarity. We must develop an international movement that takes on the greed and ideology of the billionaire class and leads us to a world of economic, social and environmental justice. Will this be an easy struggle? Certainly not. But it is a fight that we cannot avoid. The stakes are just too high.
...
A new and international progressive movement must commit itself to tackling structural inequality both between and within nations. Such a movement must overcome “the cult of money” and “survival of the fittest” mentalities that the pope warned against. It must support national and international policies aimed at raising standards of living for poor and working-class people – from full employment and a living wage to universal higher education, healthcare and fair trade agreements. In addition, we must rein in corporate power and prevent the environmental destruction of our planet as a result of climate change.

Here is just one example of what we have to do. Just a few years ago, the Tax Justice Network estimated that the wealthiest people and largest corporations throughout the world have been stashing at least $21tn-$32tn in offshore tax havens in order to avoid paying their fair share of taxes. If we work together to eliminate offshore tax abuse, the new revenue that would be generated could put an end to global hunger, create hundreds of millions of new jobs, and substantially reduce extreme income and wealth inequality. It could be used to move us aggressively toward sustainable agriculture and to accelerate the transformation of our energy system away from fossil fuels and towards renewable sources of power.

Taking on the greed of Wall Street, the power of gigantic multinational corporations and the influence of the global billionaire class is not only the moral thing to do – it is a strategic geopolitical imperative. Research by the United Nations development programme has shown that citizens’ perceptions of inequality, corruption and exclusion are among the most consistent predictors of whether communities will support rightwing extremism and violent groups. When people feel that the cards are stacked against them and see no way forward for legitimate recourse, they are more likely to turn to damaging solutions that only exacerbate the problem.

- Tom Parkin examines the woeful track record of neoliberal economic predictions, as low taxes and wages and constant austerity have done nothing but ensure stagnation for most and growing inequality. And Toby Sanger discusses the problems with the federal Libs' plan to privatize infrastructure development, while the AP reports on how Carillion's unraveling will affect the services of Canadian jurisdictions who bought the false promise of transferring risk.

- Jen Gerson looks at Sears' history of privatizing profits while dumping risks on the public (along with their longest-serving workers). And Erica Johnson exposes how telecommunications workers are pressured to pressure and cheat customers.

- Meanwhile, Sara Mojtehedzadeh reports on the franchise arrangements such as the ones used at Tim Hortons which serve to concentrate corporate control while leaving workers with little prospect of following suit.

- Finally, Geneva Abdul points out that we shouldn't let the successes of the minimum wage movement paper over the continued lack of pay equity. And Alan Jones discusses how inequality in the UK is being driven by a hollowing out among male workers.

Saturday Morning Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Toby Sanger discusses how the Trudeau Libs' obsession with privatized infrastructure only stands to put control over public services in the hands of corporate predators:

Corporations are sitting on hundreds of billions of excess cash in Canada and trillions worldwide — money they aren’t putting into productive investments. So corporations and other investors (including pension funds) desperately want to achieve higher returns. But economic growth is slow (because wage increases are so low and profits so high), which leads to fewer private-sector investment opportunities. So corporations are now turning to the cannibalization of public-sector assets and infrastructure through public-private partnerships or other forms of privatization, including the new infrastructure bank.

The great attraction of these public infrastructure investments for private finance is that high returns are effectively guaranteed for decades through ongoing government payments, and/or through tolls and other user fees. Most forms of public infrastructure involve some form of natural monopoly. This allows private owners to exploit them for monopoly profits — which is why they were established as public assets in the first place!

In another sordid twist, the briefing notes and presentation about the bank that were prepared for delivery by Trudeau and his ministers at a session for foreign investors were developed in conjunction with Blackrock officials, as Globe and Mail reporter Bill Curry revealed, using documents obtained through access to information. In effect, the Liberal government turned over the design and development of this bank to the very people who will profit most from it: the largest private sector and pension investment funds in the world.
...
Numerous critics have outlined major problems with the proposed bank

• it will lead to massive privatization of public infrastructure;
• projects will cost much more, so Canadians will get less bang for their buck;
• projects will require significant increases in user fees, which will restrict access, and punish middle and lower-income earners;
• there will be little transparency and public accountability required of the bank and its projects or for its use of public funds. Information will be kept secret and will not be subject to the more stringent transparency and accountability rules that govern public projects, while those who disclose information could be subject to fines and jail time;
• the bank is restricted from having any representation on the board from the federal or any other governments, which means the bank will be controlled by private-sector interests, even though the legislation claims it will act in the public interest.

...
It is important to resist each privatization proposal and expose each project for who it will benefit and who it will hurt, but ultimately the pressure to privatize and cannibalize the public sector won’t abate until we achieve a more profound shift of power from concentrated private capital to a much more equitable economic order.

- Meanwhile, Rick Smith highlights the importance of modernizing our social programs to fit an economy in which workers are treated as disposable. And PressProgress examines how some of the same businesses extracting more profits than they know what to do with are simultaneously underfunding the pensions they've promised their workers.

- Miriam Katawazi reports on the persistent and widespread gender pay gap in Canada. And while the Star's editorial board hopes that transparency will make a difference, it's well worth noting that mere awareness of the gap has done little to reduce it in the absence of meaningful policy steps.

- Paul Krugman writes about the fundamental dishonesty behind the Republicans' looting of the U.S.' 99%. But on the bright side, Dogwood notes that British Columbia's NDP/Green majority has ended the type of disproportionate donor influence which has polluted American politics.

- Finally, Tabatha Southey comments on the reactionary right's false assumption that media outlets (and people in general) are as uninformed as its audience.

[Edit: fixed typo.]

Monday Evening Links

Miscellaneous material for your Monday reading.

- Jordon Cooper rightly argues that Brad Wall's plan to slash education will only doom Saskatchewan to be further trapped in boom-and-bust resource cycles. And Toby Sanger discusses (PDF) how Saskatchewan can get back on track without imposing cruel cuts on the people who can least afford them.

- Jason Warick reports on the community-based organizations who stand to see both reduced funding and increased needs as a result of the Wall government's austerity. And Sandro Contenta highlights how poorly-designed social supports can lead to worse results at a higher cost - featuring the sad example of children being placed in a foster home due to unsafe living conditions at a cost far greater than the price of repairing their grandmother's house.

- Nick Purdon and Leonardo Palleja note that in the face of designed precarity, even a university degree doesn't come close to ensuring access to stable employment. And Pamela Cornell identifies both economic uncertainty and health risks as the key reasons to demand a basic income.

- Finally, Jeremy Nuttall and Christo Aivalis offer their takes on the first NDP leadership debate. And Ed Broadbent challenges us to renew Canada's social democratic vision:

Social democracy can be defined as the full application of democratic and social justice principles, not simply to our political institutions, but also to our economy and society.

Social democrats believe in a market-based economy, but not in a market-shaped society. In addition to traditional liberal political rights, individuals have economic and social rights. These must be secured in part by taking some services such as health and education out of the market.

And genuine equality of opportunity requires a high level of substantive economic equality. This can only be achieved by redistributing wealth and income through taxation or by means of universal social programs, which are rights of citizenship.

Social democrats also support a strong government role in the economy to secure economic stability, full employment and decent, well-paid jobs and to counter concentrated corporate power. A more fair and efficient economy is built upon public regulation of the market, a diversity of forms of ownership, including public ownership, and worker representation on boards and other means of participating in economic decision-making through trade unions.
...
Celebrating past successes is clearly not enough. In a very real sense, social democracy will have to be fundamentally renewed if it is to regain momentum and be fully relevant to today’s challenges. This means, among other things, rebuilding social democracy as a social movement closely linked to other progressive forces in society; articulating an economic agenda that will regulate rather than abandon a globalized economy; and finding effective policy levers to create decent jobs for all, to promote greater equality, and to build an environmentally sustainable economy.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Toby Sanger offers some important background to the federal government's expected plan for privatized infrastructure by noting that the anticipated result would be to double the costs. And Luke Kawa notes that the Libs are already having trouble spending the money they've budgeted for infrastructure - leaving no excuse for agreeing to higher prices and worse services in order to bring private money in.

- Meanwhile, Simon Enoch responds to the Wall government's attempt to play word games with the definition of "privatization".

- Vaughn Palmer comments on the B.C. NDP's plan to win the province's next election by making bold commitments to improving citizens' lives. And Postmedia reports on a $10 per day child care plan as one of the most important promises John Horgan is offering to his province.

- Martin Regg Cohn writes that in order to avoid the influence of big money on our politics, we need to be willing to ensure enough public funding to support vibrant parties. And Emma Graney reports on the millions flowing from corporate Alberta to the Saskatchewan Party - which surely goes a long way toward explaining Brad Wall's lack of focus on the province he's supposed to be governing.

- Finally, Taylor Jackson and Lydia Miljan discuss why an alternative vote electoral system would only exacerbate the problems with first-past-the-post. PressProgress finds that even Conservative MPs are reporting substantial support for proportional representation after consulting with their constituents. And Marie-Danielle Smith notes that Justin Trudeau's own consultation reached the same result - though you'd never know it given the Libs' insistence on telling PR supporters that their opinions shouldn't count any more than their votes.

Saturday Morning Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Jim Stanford writes about the obvious problems with globalization as it's currently structured - and the need to meaningfully take into account the public interest before anybody other than the investor class can be expected to participate in the process:

The reality is that hundreds of millions of people across the developed world (and in many developing countries, too) have been hurt by globalization as presently practised: whereby mobile private companies decide what to produce and where, and every jurisdiction can only bow down to business in hopes of capturing a slice of scarce investment and jobs.

We must remember that the economic theory underpinning free trade assumes that all resources (including all workers) will be productively employed, that trade flows will be balanced and mutually beneficial, and that the efficiency gains from trade will be shared throughout society. In the quantitative economic models routinely trotted out to “sell” each new trade deal, these assumptions are embodied in mathematical equations imposing full employment, balanced trade and the existence of a “representative household” (portraying each country as one big family, happily sharing all its wealth). None of these assumptions has any connection to reality; they are all imposed for the mathematical (and ideological) convenience of the economists.

...

Going to those devastated communities, the fodder for Brexit and Mr. Trump, and telling them they aren’t really unemployed, and are in fact better off than they think they are, will hardly turn the tide of this debate. If we want to avoid the isolationism, xenophobia and worse that Mr. Trump and his ilk portend, we must start by recognizing that there is indeed a downside to free trade.

Acknowledging that modern free trade produces losers as well as winners allows us to start developing and implementing policies to moderate those downsides – and purposely share the upsides. This means actively managing trade flows, limiting beggar-thy-neighbour trade surpluses, supporting incomes for all workers, ensuring sensible and fair exchange rates, and actively fostering domestic investment in desirable, trade-intensive industries.

All this implies a much bigger role for government in managing globalization than free-traders imagine. But it would be an infinitely more effective response to the gathering backlash, than trying to convince suffering people that they have nothing to complain about.

- Owen Jones highlights the need for Labour (like other progressive parties) to offer a voice to the working class - particularly given the dangers of allowing real insecurity to provide an opening for false populists. And Chris Kahn identifies a contrast in views about avoiding taxes as a key fault line between the likes of Donald Trump and the people whose votes could bring them to power.

- Richard Kozul-Wright weighs in on the problems with an economy built to enrich executives and shareholders at the expense of society at large. And Sara Mojtehedzadeh discusses the importance of workers' rights in the face of employer efforts to make employees' lives more precarious. 

- Brendan Haley points out that Nova Scotia's knee-jerk resistance to a federal carbon price was utterly misguided. Bruce Johnstone informs Brad Wall that a climate obstructionist has no credibility when it comes to criticizing any attempt to solve a global problem. Andrew Coyne observes that the Libs' actual announcement was a modest one. And Toby Sanger offers plenty of suggestions as to how to address any complaints about the effect of a carbon price.

- Finally, Cory Doctorow writes that the Libs' supposed consultation on security policy has turned into little more than a sales pitch for total surveillance. And Alison Crawford notes that a roundtable on the community effects of security policy has been left behind even as the state has become more intrusive over the past couple of years.