Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Paul Krugman writes that the most frightening aspect of the U.S. Republicans is the party's commitment to climate destruction for political gain:

My sense is that right-wingers believe, probably correctly, that there’s a sort of halo effect surrounding any form of public action. Once you accept that we need policies to protect the environment, you’re more likely to accept the idea that we should have policies to ensure access to health care, child care, and more. So the government must be prevented from doing anything good, lest it legitimize a broader progressive agenda.

Still, whatever the short-term political incentives, it takes a special kind of depravity to respond to those incentives by denying facts, embracing insane conspiracy theories and putting the very future of civilization at risk.

Unfortunately, that kind of depravity isn’t just present in the modern Republican Party, it has effectively taken over the whole institution. There used to be at least some Republicans with principles; as recently as 2008 Senator John McCain co-sponsored serious climate-change legislation. But those people have either experienced total moral collapse (hello, Senator Graham) or left the party.

The truth is that even now I don’t fully understand how things got this bad. But the reality is clear: Modern Republicans are irredeemable, devoid of principle or shame. And there is, as I said, no reason to believe that this will change even if Trump is defeated next year.

- Meanwhile, the Red Deer Advocate reports on the Blackfalds school dance which was shut down due to a petro-parent's threats against any climate-related education. Geoff Dembicki examines how Imperial Oil fits among the oil giants which has spent decades denying its own scientific research about climate change. And Carl Meyer reports on the federal environment and sustainable-development commissioner's finding of a lack of coordination on environmental policy.

- Charles Mudede offers a reminder of the large number of U.S. workers making far less than a living wage. And Heidi Shierholz and David Cooper report on the Trump administration's plans to drastically increase the size of that group by facilitating the abuse of a reduced minimum wage for workers who may receive tips. 

- Scott Sinclair examines the effects of the new NAFTA, with marginal gains for workers far outweighed by dangers to the environment.

- Finally, the Broadbent Institute charts the plummeting taxes applied to Canada's wealthiest people and corporations - even as we're told that basic needs such as housing, food and medicine are beyond the means of the federal government which has engaged in decades of giveaways to the rich.

New column day

Here, on how the Libs' throne speech continues their pattern of paying lip service to climate action while using public resources to make matters worse.

For those interested in the calculations as to the climate impact of new pipelines, the numbers I've used are as follows.

Brian Jean called here for pipelines and port facilities to export an additional two million barrels per day of oil, representing 730,000,000 barrels per year.

The EPA calculates the effect of oil consumption at .43 metric tonnes per barrel - or an additional 314 MT of CO2 per year just from the consumption of the additional oil exports. And Natural Resources Canada references (PDF) the International Energy Agency's calculation that production emissions are about 25% of the total resulting from fuel consumed, resulting in another 105 MT generated on the production side, for a total of 419 MT per year. (I assume, probably too generously, that new oil sands production won't be any dirtier on the production side than oil generally.)

By way of comparison, the best-case scenario for a $50 per tonne carbon price is to reduce emissions by 90 MT per year. And even assuming a higher price results in the same incremental emission reductions (again probably too generous an assumption), that would leave Canadians to pay an additional $232.78 per tonne just to account for the effects of the additional two million barrels produced and consumed.

For further reading...
- Aaron Wherry is far too kind in claiming Justin Trudeau is putting anything at stake in setting new targets for long after he'll be out of office - but his column at least gives a strong indication of the coverage the Libs want. And Adam Radwanski is closer to the mark in noting that Trudeau isn't prepared to do anything meaningful to alleviate the climate crisis.
- Chantelle Bellerichard reports on the demand from some Indigenous peoples for an updated cost estimate on the Trans Mountain pipeline. And Robyn Allan points out how the federal government has already misled the public by concealing updated information about the soaring price.
- The New York Times reports on the "super emitter" effect of methane leaks - which Jason Kenney wants to eliminate from any tracking and reduction regulations in Alberta. And Tzeporah Berman points out the climate damage which we can expect from the Teck Frontier mine which is also on Kenney's tar sands wish list.
- And finally, Climate Action Network International offers its latest review (PDF) of countries' climate commitments - with Canada ranking again among the world's worst offenders.

[Edit: fixed wording.]

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Laurie Macfarlane writes about the interconnected economic, democratic and environmental crises facing the UK - and the opportunity voters have to address all three in today's election. And a group of political and thought leaders from around the globe lends its support to Jeremy Corbyn and UK Labour as offering needed hope for the many.

- Isabel Sawhill reviews Binyamin Appelbaum's The Economists' Hour, and points out how the dogma of laissez-faire economics has produced intolerable human costs for no apparent economic benefit. And Jim Hightower argues that the moment has come to ensure that the richest few pay their fair share through higher taxes.

- Cassandra Szklarski reports on the connection between where a person lives and their likelihood of suffering an avoidable death.

- Finally, Marc Lee calls for social housing which provides needed homes without building in a layer of profit for developers. And Brittany Andrew Amofah and Rebecca Cheff highlight how a true universal pharmacare program would make life more affordable for the people who most need it.

Wednesday Night Cat Blogging

Poised cats.

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- As affordability takes a central place in most Canadian election campaigns, Kofi Hope and Katrina Miller propose a definition based on public health:

Health is the great equalizer. No matter where we’re from, what our values are, what our age or our political beliefs, we all want to have a healthy and long life. And if we agree on that, then we can say affordability is about the amount and type of resources we need to live a healthy and thriving life.

...
To thrive means to be able to have time for family and friends, pursue a hobby and travel occasionally, along with covering the basic necessities. Individual income is only one component of a broader social safety net that supports a thriving population; employers, government and community all play pivotal roles too.

For example, if the government covers some essentials, like prescription drugs and tuition, and subsidizes others, like housing and recreation programs, its contributions would all count toward the resources needed to live a healthy life. Our government can play a critical role in closing the gap between the haves and have-nots, not only by making basic goods more affordable but also by expanding public services and supports.

Viewing affordability as a commonly shared and holistic goal of health provides stable footing to consider an important question: Is our government making a healthy life possible for the many, or for the few?

- Meanwhile, Andrew Coyne writes that the Libs' signature tax cut fails by any measure other than that of electioneering.

 - Kendall Latimer reports on Provincial Auditor Judy Ferguson's findings about the desperate need for improved mental health supports in northern Saskatchewan. Max FineDay and Doug Cuthand implore our governments to act in response to the crisis of Indigenous suicides. And Marcus Gee notes that a culture of toxic masculinity feeds into addictions and deaths for many workers.

- Yasmin Jiwani reminds us that the Ecole Polytechnique massacre represents just one example of the violence which confronts women every day.

- Finally, Alex MacPherson reports on the Saskatchewan Party's shoot first, ask questions later approach to illegal fund-raising tactics.

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Rachel Shabi writes that UK Labour's plans for universal social investments would be both more compassionate and more efficient than the Conservative-created tearing patchwork.

- Simon Jäger, Benjamin Schoefer and Jörg Heining study (PDF) the positive effects of worker representation in corporate governance. And Michael Laris and Ian Duncan report on the consequences of Boeing's obsession with short-term capital interests which led it to conceal defects on its planes.

- Fiona Harvey reports on the vast swaths of ocean facing oxygen deficiencies caused by climate change - as well as on the latest research from the European Environment Agency showing how incremental economic gains (to the extent they exist at all) are far short of being worth the destruction of a liveable environment. And Matt McGrath reports on the Global Carbon Project's conclusion that global emissions continue to rise even as the visible effects of carbon pollution become far more difficult to avoid. 

- Finally, CBC News reports on the increase in support for proportional representation in the wake of Canada's federal election. And PressProgress points out some of what's missing from the Libs' throne speech.

Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Tom Blackburn writes about the UK's rare opportunity to elect a government which is actually committed to empowering workers.

- Don Pittis writes that an effective transition toward a clean energy economy will result in far superior outcomes for workers than an insistence on propping up a dying fossil fuel sector. But Wal van Lierop points out the immense amount of lobbying the oil industry carries out to ensure it receives handouts and policy privileges over sustainable alternatives. 

- Gary Mason discusses the dangers of putting the health and well-being of seniors in care in the hands of distant foreign corporations. 

- Dina Al-Shabeeb highlights the growing number of working people struggling to survive poverty in Vaughan (and elsewhere). And Michael Spratt points out how cuts to Legal Aid systems leave everybody worse off by denying access to justice to the people who need it most.

- Finally, Graham Thomson points out both Jason Kenney's desire to create a political environment of perpetual conflict, and his utter inability to handle any punishment of his own a once he gets his wish.

Saturday Morning Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Abby Innes writes that the UK's general election reflects a decision point as to whether to discard neoliberalism to serve the public, or democracy for the benefit of plutocrats. And Trish Hennessy looks at Cleveland's move to ensure a democratic economic system, including by ensuring that the provision of services to institutions like universities and hospitals is designed to benefit local workers.

- Erika Shaker and Simon Enoch examine the oil industry's control over what's taught to Saskatchewan children. And Stephen Maher writes about Jason Kenney's outrageous diversion of Alberta pensions to try to goose the profits and share prices of fossil fuel operators.

- Jason Warick reports on Saskatchewan's unconscionable backsliding in ensuring access to urgent psychiatric care. And a new CUPE report examines the deterioration of long-term care even as an aging population stands to impose even greater needs.

- James Glave and Brendan Haley examine the importance of energy efficiency as part of British Columbia's progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. And Jim Harding points out that the Moe/Ford/Higgs nuclear sideshow is merely a diversion from the work which needs to be done sooner and more effectively to avert the worst of a climate crisis.

- Finally, Nora Loreto discusses how the 30th anniversary of the École Polytechnique massacre fits into the wider picture of violence against women in Canada.

Musical interlude

Slowdive - Sugar for the Pill

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Linda McQuaig writes about the fallout from the ideology of constant privatization - and a precedent from Canada's past as to how public institutions can meet essential social purposes:

C. D. Howe was a towering figure during the war, and he has been credited with transforming Canada from a largely agriculture-based society to an industrial one. His legacy lives on today – somewhat ironically – through the C.D. Howe Institute, a business-funded think tank that has consistently promoted pro-market ideas. While Howe shared these ideas, it was actually his development of Canada’s wartime Crown corporations with their substantial manufacturing capabilities that laid the foundation for Canada’s evolution into a modern industrial nation. Once the war was over, Howe reverted to his conventional pro-market views, pushing for privatization rather than envisioning a future for the promising public enterprises he had built.

Many decades later, we are now faced with an urgent need to evolve beyond a modern industrial nation, powered by fossil fuels.

An enormous mobilization, on a scale similar to the one orchestrated by C.D. Howe, will be essential to fundamentally redesign our economy and society for the global green energy revolution. Indeed, given the urgency of the task if we are to avert climate disaster, it’s clear that a massive campaign of government planning, oversight and ownership – along the lines of what was achieved during the war through government planning and Crown corporations – will be needed.

Once again, the task is too big and too important to be left to the private marketplace.

- And Marie Aspiazu notes that Canada's corporate telecom oligopoly is looking to ensure that the price of access to the Internet doesn't get any more affordable. 

- Alex Hemingway points out how unduly low property taxes in Vancouver lead to inequality and speculation, while depriving the city of money to provide needed services.  

- Bob Barnetson discusses how the Kenney UCP is stripping nearly all labour and employment rights from farm workers. And Brennan Doherty reports on the expectation that rail workers will function under a state of fatigue.

- Finally, Jordan Gill talks to Theresa McClenaghan about the reasons why smaller nuclear power is merely a distraction rather than an answer to our energy and environmental needs. And Jim Green's earlier post on the subject is well worth a read.

Those who will not hear

Since the Saskatchewan Party tried to push nuclear power when first elected to office, it's heard from the public about their grave (and justified) concerns.

Overall, while there is some support for nuclear power generation, the overwhelming response to this public consultation was that nuclear power generation should not be a choice for Saskatchewan, whether it is intended to serve the needs of Saskatchewan people only, or for a combination of Saskatchewan people and other provinces or states.

It's heard from international financial markets that nuclear development is seen as a major risk factor.

Moody’s Investors Services warns in its new report — “New Nuclear Generation: Ratings Pressure Increasing” — that it may view nuclear construction plans as a negative.

Moody’s worries that investment in new nuclear is so costly that it amounts to a “bet the farm” strategy. It increases business risk and operating risk.

It's heard from other Canadian provinces about the lack of any economic basis for nuclear power. 

The Ontario Energy Board has indicated that any price higher than $3,600 per kilowatt of power capacity would be uneconomical when costed against alternatives such as natural gas and renewable energy options. Bruce Power has indicated its intention to build two 1,000 megawatt reactors in Saskatchewan at a cost of between $8 and $10 billion. Using Bruce Power’s conservative price estimate, its proposal works out to approximately $4,000 per kilowatt – a price that exceeds the Ontario Energy Board’s economical cutoff.

It's seen other countries phase out nuclear altogether, while facing a reckoning from decades of generating hazardous waste without a plan to manage it.

When it comes to the big questions plaguing the world's scientists, they don't get much larger than this.

Where do you safely bury more than 28,000 cubic meters -- roughly six Big Ben clock towers -- of deadly radioactive waste for the next million years? 

This is the "wicked problem" facing Germany as it closes all of its nuclear power plants in the coming years, according to Professor Miranda Schreurs, part of the team searching for a storage site. 

Experts are now hunting for somewhere to bury almost 2,000 containers of high-level radioactive waste. The site must be beyond rock-solid, with no groundwater or earthquakes that could cause a leakage. 

The technological challenges -- of transporting the lethal waste, finding a material to encase it, and even communicating its existence to future humans -- are huge.

And faced with all those voices confirming the folly of pushing nuclear power, Scott Moe's response has been...to barge ahead based on the belief he doesn't have to listen to anybody.

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Crawford Kilian highlights how ongoing inequality is among the many factors leading to stagnant life expectancies in Canada. Jim Stanford points out that tax cuts don't do anything to help workers facing stagnant wages due to policies designed to leave them under the thumb of employers. And Jamelle Bouie discusses the folly of the U.S. Democrats - or any party seeking to win under a progressive banner - failing to properly stand for the interests of workers.

- Brent Patterson lists the glaring failures of the Trudeau Libs' climate policy as the world again meets to try to plan to ameliorate the climate crisis. And the Canadian Press reports on new research showing that severe weather is the largest contributor to soaring food prices.

- Val Avery writes about the dangers to Canada's public health care system posed by Brian Day's attempt to enshrine privatized medicine as a Charter right. And Bob Bell, Danyaal Raza and Stefan Superina offer a warning as to how a two-tiered system led to the degradation of public services in Australia.

- Neil Macdonald calls out the continued gap between the Libs' words about reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, and their actions bent on preserving discrimination and avoiding compensation as long as they possibly can. And Doug Cuthand writes that it's long past time to provide compensation for breaking up First Nations families.

- Finally, Duncan Cameron writes about the authoritarian government being imposed on Alberta by Jason Kenney.

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Dormant cats.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Rupert Neate writes about the twelve-figure tax avoidance by the U.S.' largest tech firms, while noting that Amazon stands out as the worst offender. And Meagan Day interviews Ramesh Srninivasan about the need to democratize the administration of the Internet.

- Meanwhile, Grace Blakeley makes the case to socialize the financial sector to ensure it serves the public rather than facilitating the concentration of wealth. And Anoosh Chakelian hopes that a devastating report on child poverty will offer a much-needed reality check in the course of the UK's general election.

- Animal Justice notes that Jason Kenney and Doug Ford are following in the Republicans' footsteps by planning to punish people for attempting to expose animal abuse.

- Chris Turner writes about Kenney's pursuit of modern-day McCarthyism. And Graham Thomson notes that rather than representing a necessary result of otherwise justifiable choices, the framing of large number of people as enemies is central to Kenney's political strategy. 

- Finally, Omar Washington writes that the re-election of Justin Trudeau in the wake of his blackface exploits represents a sad failure on the part of Canada's electorate. And Jordan Bober argues that Trudeau should at least recognize the need to put electoral reform back on the table after an election which has produced some of the most distorted first-past-the-post results yet.

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Will Hutton discusses how the U.S.' monopolistic economic system threatens anybody who becomes subject to its whims. And Eric Levitz points out how a wealth tax which ensures that everybody is required to contribute to the price of a functional civilization should appeal to "law and order" voters - particularly when the alternative is to be told that the wealthiest people are too rich to be subject to the rules.

- Katy Jones writes about the reality of the working homeless who can't find any housing despite holding down regular employment. And Christine Rankin reports on Feed Ontario's findings about increased food bank use and continued poverty. 

- Markham Hislop examines Efficiency Canada's provincial policy scorecards, showing Saskatchewan second from the bottom. And Bryan Eneas reports on the dozens of people out of work due to Scott Moe's destruction of the solar sector, while CBC News reports on Moe's insistence on instead pouring more public funding into nuclear power with no regard for the cost or environmental dangers.

- Meanwhile, Alex MacPherson reports that the Saskatchewan Party is also including foreign junkets on its list of spending priorities even as Saskatchewan's residents are stuck with deteriorating services.

- Finally, Mark Maslin writes about the five corrupt pillars of climate change denial.

Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Laurie Macfarlane writes that contrary to the dogma of budget scolds, the truly reckless course of action is to fail to invest public money in state capacity:

After four decades of neoliberalism, the state’s capacity has been drastically hollowed out. Key public functions have been outsourced to management consultants and private service providers, while the application of private sector management techniques to the public sphere has placed civil servants in an administrative straightjacket. Tasked with delivering such a large increase in public investment tomorrow, it’s likely that what’s left of the public sector would struggle to invest on the scale and pace required. 
 
But this is not an excuse for inaction. As the above chart shows, the public sector has delivered much higher levels of investment in the past, and many countries around the world continue to do so today. Many of humanity’s boldest advances – from the internet and microchips to biotechnology and nanotechnology – were only made possible by strategic public investments that were made by dynamic, mission-oriented public institutions. In many of these areas the private sector only entered much later, piggybacking on the advances made possible by long-term, high-risk public investment.

If the next government is to transform its economy on the scale that is required to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century, it’s clear that it must urgently rebuild public sector institutions, and increase their capacity to think and act big.

- Bob Baldwin points out the dangers of setting up comparatively small and inefficient provincial pension plans based on shaky assumptions about future demographics. And Robert Fraser argues that the provinces trying to operate in denial as to the waning future of the fossil fuel sector should take a lesson from Ontario's loss of manufacturing jobs in the wake of NAFTA.

- Meanwhile, Seth Klein and Gil McGown offer a constructive suggestion to fund a just transition away from industries which pose unacceptable threats to our climate. And Kevin Smith discusses both the desperate need to improve the capacity of our public health care system, and the importance of federal involvement in that work (including by returning to its historical commitment to 50-50 funding).

- Finally, PressProgress reports on the devastating effects of a ransomware attack on Nunavut's public infrastructure.

Saturday Morning Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Olivia Bowden reports on new research showing that the harmful health effects of air pollution are even worse than previously known.

- But in case anybody was under the illusion that we'd expect polluters to pay for the cost of their damage, Chris Varcoe points out that Jason Kenney is demanding that the oil companies who have left his province with hundreds of billions of dollars in reclamation liabilities be let off the hook in favour of federal funding. Mitchell Anderson notes that continued subsidies for the fossil fuel sector are based on nothing more than wilful ignorance about the future of energy. And Jamie Kneen examines how a tax system designed to favour mining companies produces no discernable benefit to the public.

- Julia Conley reports on the strong popularity of a wealth tax in the U.S. - including among voters across the political spectrum. But Rob Evans, Felicity Lawrence, David Pegg and Caelainn Barr expose how U.S. tycoons have been funding the UK's anti-social right. And Max de Haldevang discusses new revelations about Walmart's offshoring of profits to avoid paying U.S. taxes.

- Danilo Trist and Matt Saenz study the strong poverty-reducing effects of even the U.S.' limited income support programs.

- Finally, Derrick O'Keefe discusses the importance of treating housing as a matter of meeting residents' needs, rather than assuming it can only be built for the purpose of enriching developers. And James Wilt highlights the central role strong public transit can play in addressing both environmental and social pressures. 

Musical interlude

Meg Myers - Running Up That Hill

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Joseph Stiglitz discusses how the failure of neoliberalism to provide gains for any but the wealthiest few has led to risks to the democratic systems which have been treated as tied to laissez-faire economics. And Armine Yalnizyan challenges the false assumption that increased inequality can be justified in the name of competitiveness.

- Sarah Lawryniuk writes about the potential for Jason Kenney's wanton destruction of Alberta's public sector to produce massive social unrest along with economic damage. Rethinking Poverty writes about the importance of having policy designed by the people who experience its consequences, rather than being imposed out of ignorance by privileged people who presume anything that doesn't affect them personally must not matter. And Ash Sharkar writes that the UK's election may determine whether citizens see any hope of dealing with collective problems at the ballot box.

- Thomas Walkom puts Kenney's trumped-up complaints in perspective compared to the the enormity and importance of the global climate crisis. And Stephen Buranyi calls out the new form of conservative climate denial, which involves barely acknowledging the danger but refusing to do anything to actually cut greenhouse gas emissions.

- But Noah Smith writes that no matter how firmly oil-backed politicians remain in denial, there's no avoiding the fact that the age of fossil fuels is coming to an end.

- Finally, Jane Philpott and Danyaal Raza write that the time is now to put a national Pharmacare program in place.

New column day

Here, on the "hush memo" issued to Saskatchewan doctors, and the Moe government's eagerness to limit any voice for public servants to an ineffective whistleblower process.

For further reading...
- David Giles previously reported on the Saskatchewan Party's plan for a snitch line to centralize all concerns about the health care system. And Adam Hunter's initial report includes the original SHA memo.
- The Public Interest Disclosure Commissioner's most recent annual report is here (PDF). And the relevant legislation is here (PDF): see in particular the limited scope of "wrongdoing" under section 3 which may be addressed, as well as the Commissioner's discretion not to investigate matters of policy choice in section 16(1)(d).
- Finally, Murray Mandryk has also weighed in.

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Guy Dauncey makes the case that it's entirely possible - even if daunting - to meet the challenge posed by the climate crisis. But we need first to come to terms with the reality that emissions are still rising even as the need for drastic cuts becomes more painfully clear - and continued fossil fuel subsidies and oil industry jingoism aren't about to help matters.

- Grace Blakeley argues that UK Labour's election platform is both radical and credible.

- Rosa Marchitelli reports that one of the outcomes of an increased focus on speed in surgery has been more medical devices being left inside patients by rushed care providers.

- Finally, Stephen Kimber and John Kirk write about the Libs' selective indignation over human rights and democratic systems in Latin America (with a distinct bias in favour of right-wing dictators), while Judy Rebick laments Canada's lack of a meaninful response to the coup in Bolivia in particular. And Martin Lukacs discusses how the Libs have also chosen to whitewash the human rights abuses of Saudi Arabia in the name of profit.

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Jason Hickel observes that what progress has been made in human health and quality of life is the result of progressive policies, not leaving plutocrats to do what they will:

(S)ocial services require resources. And it’s important to recognise that growth can help toward that end. But the interventions that matter when it comes to life expectancy do not require high levels of GDP per capita. The European Union has a higher life expectancy than the United States, with 40% less income. Costa Rica and Cuba beat the US with only a fraction of the income, and both achieved their greatest gains in life expectancy during periods when GDP wasn’t growing at all. How? By rolling out universal healthcare and education.

“The historical record is clear that economic growth itself has no direct, necessary positive implications for population health,” Szreter writes. “The most that can be said is that it creates the longer-term potential for population health improvements.”

Whether or not that potential is realised depends on the political forces that determine how income is distributed. So let’s give credit where credit is due: progress in life expectancy has been driven by progressive political movements that have harnessed economic resources to deliver robust public goods. History shows that in the absence of these progressive forces, growth has quite often worked against social progress, not for it.

- Stephen Prince writes that a U.S. tax system skewed to further enrich the wealthy ultimately produces worse outcomes for everybody. And Jim Hightower discusses how Donald Trump's "opportunity zone" scheme - trumpeted as a means to encourage development in poor communities - has instead been exploited to eliminate taxes on luxury housing developments.

- While the CN strike has been resolved through successful collective bargaining, David Climenhaga pointed out how most reporting on it failed to acknowledge the safety risks representing the primary concerns of the union. And Will Evans exposes how Amazon's endangerment of worker health and safety has been enabled by governments desperate to win its approval.

- Jorge Barrera reports on the Trans Mountain Corporation's surveillance of environmental activists and Indigenous land defenders. And Sam Levin and Will Parrish report on the U.S.' labeling of protest against Keystone XL as "terrorism" to be squelched by any means necessary.

- Finally, Angus Reid finds a substantial jump in Canadian voters' support for proportional representation following this fall's election. But Karl Nerenberg notes that Justin Trudeau's elimination of the ministry of democratic reform signals his unwillingness to even consider a more fair and representative electoral system.

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Cats with company.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Joseph Stiglitz writes about the dangers of measuring economic and social progress solely in terms of GDP:

It is clear that something is fundamentally wrong with the way we assess economic performance and social progress. Even worse, our metrics frequently give the misleading impression that there is a trade-off between the two; that, for instance, changes that enhance people’s economic security, whether through improved pensions or a better welfare state, come at the expense of national economic performance.

Getting the measure right – or at least a lot better – is crucially important, especially in our metrics- and performance-oriented society. If we measure the wrong thing, we will do the wrong thing. If our measures tell us everything is fine when it really isn’t, we will be complacent.

And it should be clear that, in spite of the increases in GDP, in spite of the 2008 crisis being well behind us, everything is not fine. We see this in the political discontent rippling through so many advanced countries; we see it in the widespread support of demagogues, whose successes depend on exploiting economic discontent; and we see it in the environment around us, where fires rage and floods and droughts occur at ever-increasing intervals.

- Michael Roberts examines the need for economic transformation in the UK, while making the case that even Labour's election platform doesn't go far enough in addressing control over key sectors. And Joao Medeiros writes about Mariana Mazzucato's prescription for public involvement in - and benefits from - our future economic path.

- Joanne Seiff discusses the environmental damage done by a throw-away consumer culture. And Andrew Nikiforuk writes about the need for more sustainable economic practices - not only a conversion to new energy sources - in order to combat the climate crisis.

- Finally, Gregory Beatty highlights how the Wexit scam is being used to distract from the real and glaring failures of Scott Moe, Jason Kenney and other right-wing politicians.

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Andrew MacLeod discusses how an anti-worker campaign at the Mountain Equipment Co-op demonstrates the need for employees to be able to bargain collectively without being subject to employer interference.

- Linda McQuaig writes about Doug Ford's plans to slash what's already Canada's lowest level of per-capita health care spending. And Katie Pedersen, Melissa Mancini and David Common report on the use of "trespass orders" by private care homes to prevent relatives from documenting or raising concerns about how seniors in care are being treated.

- Eric Reguly discusses how Denmark offers a role model in shifting from reliance on dirty energy to a sustainable economy. And Emma Jackson and Ian Hussey note that Alberta's phasing out of coal power also offers some valuable lessons.

- Finally, Alan MacLeod highlights the refusal of the corporate media to call out the fascist coup in Bolivia for what it is. And Doug Cuthand points out how the exile (and threat of politically-motivated prosecution) of Evo Morales fits into the wider repression of Indigenous peoples in South and Central America.

Musical interlude

Texas King - Boomerang

Saturday Morning Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Dylan Matthews writes about the growing body of evidence showing that minimum wage increases boost pay for lower-income workers while having no effect on the availability of jobs. And Paul Karp and Amy Remeikis report on new research challenging the explanation for reducing Australian superannuation rates in the name of wages.

- The Sutton Trust's polling shows how a strong plurality of UK voters see significant deterioration both in the equality of opportunity, and in the standard of living for future generations. But Grace Blakeley highlights the massive gains which can be achieved through UK Labour's plans for a transition to a green economy.

- Sharon Riley reports on the health and environmental risks imposed on Alberta landowners by the province's existing network of pipelines - particularly ones which are intended to be abandoned by their operators. 

- Andrew MacLeod discusses the importance of accountability and responsiveness to whistleblowing in ensuring that public institutions actually serve their intended purposes.

- Finally, Glen Pearson writes about the need for progressive leaders and activists to be willing to cooperate - though it's well worth noting which parties have shown their inclination to work together toward shared policy goals, and which has stubbornly rejected the concept.

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Dan Hancox discusses how both work demands and consumerist force are causing people to lose sleep. And Jodi Dean writes about the need for a sense of comradeship to counter the impossible expectation of self-reliance.

- Anand Giridharadas argues that the wealthy few are beginning to lose their grip over the U.S. And Grace Blakeley discusses the potential for transformative change arising out of UK Labour's plan for a just transition, while Owen Jones comments on the need to draw young voters out to the polls to cast ballots based on future hopes rather than past resentments. 

- David Climenhaga rightly criticizes the Kenney UCP for planning to steal teachers' retirement funds. Jason Markusoff calls out Kenney's strongman tactics while noting the dangerous signal it would send if Albertans allow him to get away with them. And Graham Thomson highlights the importance of the effective and independent electoral oversight which Kenney considers an intolerable danger to his plans to cling to power.

- Meanwhile, PressProgress points out the connections between the UCP and extreme separatist groups, while also exposing the attacks on homeless people from both right-wing politicians and business lobby groups in British Columbia.

- Finally, the Globe and Mail recognizes that the coup and purge in Bolivia couldn't be any less peaceful or democratic.

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Sabrina Shankman discusses new research showing how the climate crisis will affect today's youth. And Bill McKibben highlights why we can't afford to delay in reining in catastrophic climate change.

- But Damian Carrington reports on fossil fuel extraction projections which far exceed what we can afford, while Justin Lavoie notes that the Canada Pension Plan is betting on the fossil fuel sector being allowed to overshoot its emission targets. And Laura Kane reports on how the Trans Mountain pipeline has received hundreds of millions of dollars in public subsidies beyond the purchase price paid by the federal government.

- The News & Observer confirms that the utter failure of top-end tax cuts to help anybody but the richest few applies to North Carolina like every other jurisdiction.

- The BBC reports on UK Labour's plans to ensure that workers take back control of their economic direction. And Dawn Foster discusses the all-too-rare phenomenon of a political party running on a clear plan to improve people's lives.

- Finally, The Loop interviews Danyaal Raza about the predictable connection between privatized health care and longer wait times for all but the wealthiest few. And The Local points out how people's health suffers as a result of the lower tier of care offered in the prison system.

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Alert cats.

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.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- The Globe and Mail's editorial board writes that Canada needs to do its part to avert as much of the impending climate breakdown as can be avoided.

- Chris Kennedy rightly points out that Canada's responsibility includes the fossil fuels we're subsidizing for export - encouraging other countries to pollute our planet while shifting the damage off our own books. And Brennan Doherty offers a reminder that the tar sands' pollution levels are increasing.

- Meanwhile, Kate Aronoff comments on the connection between climate policy and resource extraction, while noting that there are severe limits on what can be accomplished merely by substituting the resources we churn through without changing the mindset of exploitation. And Derrick O'Keefe writes about the need to fight against Bolivia's racist coup.

- Finally, Andrew Woodcock reports on research showing that UK Labour's plan to nationalize water, energy and mail would pay for itself within a mere seven years.

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Jeremy Rifkin sets out how Canada can implement a Green New Deal - while also reminding us of the costs of failing to do so. And Brett Dolter charts the path toward net zero emissions from Saskatchewan's perspective - even as Scott Moe's government confirms the sad reality that it's chosen to hit the snooze button for another decade.

- Brandon Doucet writes that it's long past time for Canada to provide universal dental care to its residents.

- Owen Jones writes that UK Labour's promise of free universal broadband access hearkens back to its great nation-building work of the past. And Miranda Hall comments on the broader social and economic benefits of making sure everybody can connect to the world.

- Jim Stanford points out that rather than representing a particularly new development, the gig economy is based on all-too-familiar principles including workers supplying their own equipment and taking the risk of work not materializing.

- Finally, Jim Tankersley, Peter Eavis and Ben Casselman report on the U.S.' precipitous drop in revenue from large corporations - including Fedex taking its taxes paid down to zero - which hasn't been matched with any discernible investment. And Robert Reich writes about the laughable attempt by billionaires and their paid flunkies to pretend that fair taxes on the wealthy would lead to anything but a more equitable distribution of income and wealth.

On unreliable suppliers

There's been plenty of bluster between Jason Kenney and Yves-Francois Blanchet over equalization and its relationship to the oil industry. But it's worth pointing out that to the extent Quebec (or any other province or jurisdiction) currently relies on fossil fuels from Alberta, Kenney himself has gone out of his way to make that an unacceptable risk. 

After all, Kenney's very first act in office was to declare that any supply of oil to a province which has concerns about pipelines can be cut off at any moment - taking what was already a dangerous symbol, and turning it into an immediate threat.

For the moment, there's a temporary injunction preventing Kenney from acting on it. But there's no indication he's backed off of the initial inclination to try to blackmail his province's customers into further endangering their own environment as the price of having any access to Alberta oil.

That represents an obvious reason why any Canadian province should be hesitant to make itself any more reliant on the tar sands than it can possibly avoid - particularly in deciding whether to accept the construction of long-term oil infrastructure. And even independent of the climate dangers of avoidable fossil fuel consumption, the safe course of action for any province looks to be to wean itself off the supply of an unscrupulous pusher as soon as possible.

Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Chris Hedges writes about the damage oligarchs are doing to humanity and the planet. And Dominic Rushe points out how whiny the people who have rigged the economy toward their own concentration of obscene wealth become when they face the slightest hint of being asked to contribute to the common good. 

- David Roberts writes that Donald Trump's impeachment proceedings represent what may be the most important clash of truth against the Republican noise machine. And Drew Anderson discusses how any talk about Alberta separation mirrors the U.S. Republican instinct to try to choose an electorate willing to endorse policies which will never be supported on a national scale.

- Duncan Cameron calls out Jason Kenney's fake populism. And Scott Schmidt writes that Kenney's posturing against Ottawa is intended as a distraction from the harm he's doing to his own province.

- Speaking of which, Ali Hogg's discussion of how "religious freedom" laws serve as a cover for bigotry is entirely applicable to the UCP's introduction of Bill 207 to deny health care based on religious dogma.

- Finally, Andy Beckett writes that Labour's forceful progressive push is redefining what's possible in the UK. And Meagan Day points out that American voters have a much-needed option to vote for more freedom from bosses both in terms of work hours and personal control.

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- PressProgress highlights the latest example of the obscene concentration of wealth in Canada, as a mere 45 people own more than the GDP of over half the country's provinces and territories.

- Paul Precht dispels any myth that Alberta's anti-tax ideology has anything to do with its economic development. And the Canadian Press confirms with the former CEO of AIMCO that any move to withdraw from the Canada Pension Plan has nothing to do with pension security or efficiency.

- Gary Younge comments on the unfair advantage the UK Cons get from that country's corporate media. And Aditya Chakrabortty notes that the Cons have also used public money to lie about the damage done by their cruel austerity measures.

- Mehreen Khan reports on the Netherlands' shift away from exceptionally high speed limits due to their climate impact. And Ben Parfitt points out the large public subsidies for fossil fuels in British Columbia - largely due to the continuation of credits which were once intended to spur unproven types of development, but became seen as an entitlement by the industry.

- Finally, Jerry Dias and Andrew Bernhard write that it's long past time for foreign media corporations which make massive profits in Canada to start contributing - both by paying taxes, and by generating Canadian content.

Musical interlude

Tame Impala - Patience

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Rylan Higgins argues that it's long past time to move beyond a boom-and-bust oilpatch economy. And Ryan Meili writes that workers and residents alike stand to benefit from a shift to clean energy - including through the solar industry which was so abruptly shut down by the Moe government.

- But Wal van Lierop highlights how the fossil fuel sector is instead being subsidized - with the effect of stalling the transition to cleaner energy. And Mia Rabson reports that a promised federal inventory and review of fossil fuel subsidies is behind schedule.

- All of which means that it's no surprise that Canada is far behind our international peers in addressing greenhouse gas emissions - even as the global trends and goals fall short of what's needed to avoid catastrophic climate breakdown.

- Paul Krugman points out how the Trump administration's promotion of pollution will result in easily-preventable deaths. And the Price Of Oil project has mapped out the tens of thousands of documented oil spills in Saskatchewan as a vivid indication of the damage done by poorly-regulated polluters.

- Finally, Moira Wyton reports on the Kenney UCP's biased survey intended to grease the skids to remove protections for workers. And Mark Thompson and David Fairey make the case for British Columbia to launch an inquiry into gig work to ensure that workers aren't exploited by corporations avoiding the normal responsibilities of an employer.

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.

New column day

Here, on how Scott Moe has been left alone and isolated by the supposed "resistance". (Though I'll admit I underestimated his willingness to declare his unthinking support for anything suggested by Jason Kenney.)

For further reading...
- Jacques Poitras reported that Blaine Higgs' sensible response to the federal election has been to stop fighting carbon pricing and get to work on developing a plan for New Brunswick.  The Canadian Press reported on Brian Pallister's rejection of Western separatism - though he deserves to be called out for misleadingly implying that provinces can't already avoid the federal carbon price by having a climate plan of their own. And Robert Benzie and Rob Ferguson noted that even Doug Ford started toning down his posturing toward the federal government since the election.
- Dave Cournoyer puts Kenney's "autonomy panel" in historical context.
- Joel Dryden discusses what a province forgoing the Canada Pension Plan would actually look like, while David Climenhaga points out that any scheme to take existing money away from the CPP is on shaky ground. And the Canadian Press confirms that Kenney's talk about endangering his province's pension security is purely a matter of spite.
- Finally, Norm Farrell discusses how Alberta has been suffering for its decision to use resource revenue to avoid making rational plans for the future.

On rejected applications

Let's see what Scott Moe is demanding from the federal government now...

On the immigration file, one goal is to “assert provincial control over the [Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program] (SINP).”

Interesting. Now, there's certainly reason to question Moe's governance in a lot of areas. But surely he wouldn't be so foolish as to push for additional power over the exact program where his government is currently embroiled in a scandal...

Zhang said her consultant told her she wouldn't even have to live in Saskatchewan or personally run the business. She said a representative of the GTEC developer, Brightenview International, promised the same thing.

However, an arrangement like that is against the rules. The entrepreneurial category of the Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program (SINP) requires applicants to actively run their own business and live in the province.

...

In an email to CBC, Saskatoon lawyer Clara Bitzer, who has worked on several GTEC-related immigration files including Zhang's, said the project was "wholeheartedly endorsed by the government of Saskatchewan which went out of its way to encourage these applications."
...

(S)ince GTEC was launched, SINP has written letters of support for one hundred applicants. Sixty of those have been approved by Ottawa to start their business at GTEC. He said that so far the province has nominated one of those applicants for permanent residency.

MacFadden said he doesn't know the status of the forty that have not been approved by Ottawa. Brightenview acknowledges that some of them, like Zhang, have received denial letters from the federal government.

In other words, Scott Moe is loudly standing up for Saskatchewan scams, demanding that the federal government step aside from its jurisdiction over immigration to make sure nobody discovers his government's incompetence or the fraud it enables.

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- PressProgress examines the damage Doug Ford wants to inflict on children in Ontario's education system. Fareed Khan calls out the right-wing politicians acting like spoiled children rather than responsible decision-makers. And Rick Smith discusses how to develop public policy to withstand the vandalism of today's conservatives:

(A) tangible connection to people’s daily lives is key.  Amongst their frenzy of repeal aimed at environmental policy and regulation, Doug Ford and his cronies have decided that the Greenbelt is untouchable.  One reason for this is doubtless that the Greenbelt is a physical place on the map, demarcated by numerous signs on the highway.  Ontarians have become accustomed to its presence and value it highly.  Similarly, in Alberta, Jason Kenney doesn’t dare attempt a full-blown repeal of the minimum wage, even if he hopes to chip away at it.

A second and related lesson is that policies that entrench rights in a universal manner are more enduring and far harder to undo. The Ford government doesn’t dare meddle with full-day kindergarten in the same way that it’s eliminating many other kinds of programmes. Why?  Because full-day kindergarten has become an integral part of our publicly-funded school system, available to all, and is now regarded by Ontario families as an essential service.

These lessons are every bit as applicable in a federal context.

Given the ease with which Ford eliminated Ontario’s partial, means-tested experiment with Pharmacare, the Trudeau Liberals would be doing Canadians a huge disservice to repeat this experience at the federal level.  The example of Medicare demonstrates better than anything the resilience of universal programs over small-scale reforms that are easily reversed after a single change of government.  We need universal Pharmacare now, not some piecemeal and underfunded half-measure.  In a recent Abacus poll for the Broadbent Institute, 78% of Canadians (and, interestingly, two-thirds of Conservative voters) support the federal government moving forward with universal, not partial, Pharmacare as a top priority.

With respect to climate change:  Carbon taxation, even when fully implemented, will be bickered over and — like all taxes, increased and decreased — by different governments over the next few decades.  Yes, we need to price carbon, but a massive green jobs creation program and rapid scale-up of permanent electric vehicle infrastructure would be impossible for even the most ardent climate-denier to demolish.

- Thera Kumar likewise calls for the Libs to follow through on a national pharmacare program - though it's worth noting they've been more slippery in any "promise" than Kumar implies. Aaron Carroll notes that even relatively small co-pay requirements can cause severe harm by preventing people from accessing needed medication. And Nicola Davis reports on the increase in childhood pneumonia under the UK Cons as a painful example of the price of social neglect.

- Grant Cameron reports on the CCPA's research showing that P3s only add to the price tag for infrastructure. And Ian Mulgrew reports on the progress of British Columbia's money laundering inquiry as a vivid example of a laissez-faire attitude run amok.

- Finally, Vaughn Palmer writes about the unexplained exploitation of B.C. consumers when it comes to gasoline prices. And David Leonhardt comments on the $5,000 annual cost to consumers arising from corporate consolidation in the U.S.