Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Embedded cats.

 

#Elxn44 Roundup

News and notes from Canada's election campaign.

- Mohy-Dean Tabbara and Garima Talwar Kapoor examine what the parties are offering to combat poverty, while noting the need for more ambition in the effort. 

- Alex Hemingway points out that while the NDP's platform offers a start, there's plenty of room to raise far more money by taxing the rich with somewhat more (if far from unlimited) zeal. 

- Zoe Yunker examines where the parties stand on renewable energy, noting in particular that the NDP is the only party committed to closing carbon pricing loopholes for fossil-fuel-fired power plants. 

- The Globe and Mail's editorial board contrasts the promise of actual child care spaces from each of the NDP and the Libs against the Cons' belated tax bauble. And Bill Blaikie writes that Erin O'Toole's weasel wording on health care is intended to distract from his plans for increased privatization. 

- Finally, David Beers interviews Chris Tenove about the often-toxic social media environment - and a few ways to try to move toward more positive and productive forms of discussion. 

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Naël Shiab charts COVID case rates by province - showing in stark relief how Alberta and Saskatchewan are in a worse position than at any point in the pandemic, with cases still rising sharply. Phil Tank reports on the large number of Saskatchewan daycares now facing outbreaks, while Leslie Young reports on the widespread pattern of schools having to close across the country. And Robson Fletcher reports on Alberta's record high ICU usage levels. 

- Jason Warick reports on warnings from Alabama officials to Saskatchewan about the devastating human toll when pandemic decisions are dictated by politics rather than evidence, while Murray Mandryk notes that Scott Moe bears full responsibility for choosing exactly that course of action with its inevitable results (while sadly going out of his way to demand that people not comment on the actual consequences). And Tess McClure reports that COVID Zero continues to be an extremely effective strategy in New Zealand, which is managing to stifle case numbers and fully trace and manage any spread. 

- David Gorski and Gavin Yamey discuss how science denialism cultivated in other contexts has complicated the fight against COVID-19, while offering some strategies to try to maximize cohesion in the effort. 

- Gaby Hinscliff writes that lockdowns have resulted in UK families demanding far better from their government in ensuring the availability of child care. And Moira Wyton discusses the British Columbia labour movement's continued push for sick leave as the dangers of working while ill are all the more obvious. 

- Finally, Roger Harrabin reports on a new Avaaz survey showing widespread climate anxiety among young people around the globe. 

#Elxn44 Roundup

The latest from Canada's federal election campaign.

- Khalden Dhatsenpa and Gavin Armitage-Ackerman write about the need to treat housing as a human right rather than a commodity. 

- PressProgress reports on an internal Health Canada report showing how the NDP's plan for dental coverage would remove crucial barriers to access to dental care while also reducing health costs.  

- Andrea Perrella and Brian Tanguay make the case to follow through on ending the first-past-the-post electoral system in favour of a proportional system. 

- Markham Hislop highlights the parties' positions on a just transition to a clean economy - with particular attention paid to the failure of either the Libs or the Cons to make anything of the sort a priority at what may be the best possible time to plan the transition. And David Climenhaga reports on the Alberta Oil War Room's apparent breaches of election financing requirements in demanding indefinite fossil fuel production and data mining for Conservative-connected groups. 

- The Care Economy offers a fact sheet on care issues in the election, as well as questions worth raising with candidates. 

- Finally, Leyland Cecco writes about Jagmeet Singh's growing appeal - along with the NDP's ability to influence policy in another likely minority Parliament. And Nick Taylor-Vaisey examines where the parties stand after last week's debate - with Singh emerging as the victor in public perceptions. 

Monday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to start your week.

- Cory Neudorf writes about the need for layers of COVID-19 protection now to avoid extreme measures like lockdowns due to the collapse of our health care system. And CBC News reports on the necessarily appalled reaction by public health experts in response to a recording of Jason Kenney's COVID denialism and declaration that Alberta is "open for good" regardless of the harm to health and well-being. 

- Adrian Blundell-Wignall writes that Australia can't escape responsibility for the "Stage 3" carbon emissions from the products it exports abroad - representing a point which Canada also needs to reckon with. 

- Bethany Lindsey writes about the massive conflict of interest of doctors who assess workers about drug issues while standing to profit from the testing regimes they can order. 

- Angela Sterritt reports on the drastically different treatment of privileged white anti-vaxx protesters compared to Indigenous land defenders. 

- Finally, Umair Haque discusses the impossibility of building a society out of an amalgamation of sadists - and the dire situation facing the U.S. as it attempts to respond to multiple crises while conservatives react with violent rage to any concept of social responsibility or empathy. 

On narrow targets

At this stage of the federal election campaign, the seemingly wide range of outcomes is entirely an artifice of a first-part-the-post system with multiple parties contending for seats. Barring a drastic change in the last week of the campaign (which will likely need to overcome votes already locked in as well as significant inertia), we figure to see the Libs and Cons relatively close to each other in the popular vote, with the NDP a relatively strong third in what would be a minority Parliament in all but the most extreme possible outcomes.

The most significant point of uncertainty looks to be the Bloc - which seemed to have fallen from its earlier support levels earlier in the campaign, only to have ticked upward more recently. And as the campaign has played out it's worth wondering whether the NDP may have limited its ability to capitalize on opportunities - in Quebec in particular, and to some extent across the country.

On the Quebec front, the NDP has been explicit about limiting its focus to 6-10 ridings. And while it might be understandable not to launch a high-resource offensive into all of the terrain included in the 2011 Orange Wave, it has to be a disappointment to treat even seats which the party held in 2015 as secondary considerations.

After all, the result is that voters who have supported the party under multiple past leaders will perceive the lack of attention even after party finances have stabilized. And even in the ridings which are specifically targeted, the sense of limited aspirations from a strategic standpoint is particularly dangerous for a campaign based on asking voters to dare to imagine more than the status quo. 

Moreover, there's reason for concern about the same phenomenon playing out across the country and setting a ceiling on party support which caps the plausible seat count in double digits (again lower than levels the NDP has already reached), and limits the prospects of pushing aside either of the Libs or the Cons.

There is reason for optimism that the NDP is back on its 2000s trajectory of building from one election cycle to the next, including by being able to close its campaign strongly in close seats. But if the NDP wants to be able to put its ambitious platform into effect, it needs to be no less daring in the seats it contests - and it will be a severe disappointment if an opportunity to make far larger gains is lost to an overly cautious campaign plan. 

[Edit: fixed typo, wording.]

On concealed motivations

Martin Lukacs worked for years documenting and explaining the Libs' concealed raison d'etre...

Whenever discontent builds up, the Liberals have always been there to safely channel it, like a political shock-absorber.

They’ll wink to the elite, and then pose as anti-establishment to the broader population.

And...Trudeau just...he blurted it out.

#Elxn44 Roundup

The latest from Canada's federal election campaign.

- Jeremiah Rodriguez reports on the omission of Canadians with disabilities from much of the election campaign, while pointing out the priorities which should be part of our discussion.

- Justin Ling brings the receipts as to what became of the Libs' promises of pharmacare and prescription drug affordability, and finds that industry lobbying has completely overridden any interest in ensuring Canadians have the medication they need.

- Jim Stanford discusses how the election will shape the future of Canadian labour and employment laws, particularly in determining whether gains which the Libs have reluctantly accepted under NDP pressure will last past the immediate moment. And Katrina Miller and Jamie Kirkpatrick write that the Cons' refusal to accept a just transition away from fossil fuel reliance would have dire consequences from a labour standpoint as well as an environmental one.

- Gregory Beatty calls out the Cons' attempt to portray themselves as moderate while assuring extremist supporters they'll get their way and ignoring some of the most important issues facing the country - along the willingness of far too much of Canada's media to repeat the lies.

- Finally, Ryan Patrick Jones reports on the NDP's costed platform which combines important investments in social priorities with a progressive tax system to keep the books healthy.

Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Graham Thomson discusses how the UCP has put politics over public well-being in choosing to let COVID run rampant (while now seeking to fund-raise off of opposition to even the most basic measures to let people reduce their own risk). And Carrie Tait discusses how Alberta parents are scrambling in the face of a new policy to refuse to inform people of positive cases in schools.

- Raiyan Chowdhury offers an ICU doctor's voice in speaking to the unvaccinated people who have made the choice to pose a danger to themselves and others. And Karen Howlett reports on Saskatchewan's choice to follow Alberta in putting essential surgeries and other medical treatment on hold to make room for preventable COVID cases.

- Armine Yalnizayan writes about the need to focus on the care economy, particularly as its workforce faces both a wave of retirements and massive burnout.

- Stephanie Hughes reports on new research showing the different faces of financial precarity in Canada - with homeowners generally carry larger debts, but renters being twice as likely to be unable to keep afloat.

- Finally, Matt Stoller discusses how predatory capitalism has undermined the supply chains necessary to ensure people actually have access to the goods they need. And Michelle Cyca interviews JB MacKinnon about the problems with consumption for its own sake.

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Umair Haque discusses how the COVID-19 pandemic has been turned into a cash cow to be extended for profit, rather than a public health emergency to be ended for the sake of people's safety. And Jay S. Kaufman notes that science alone can't fully answer a pandemic where social trust and cohesion have broken down in ways that prevent people from working toward a common end.

- Don Braid writes that both the UCP's political plans and the provincial health care system are collapsing in Alberta, while PressProgress points out the shortage of ambulances in Calgary and Edmonton as one example of how the COVID crisis is affecting the health care system as a whole. 

- Guy Queeneville reports on Scott Moe's cuts to contact tracing just as the fourth wave began to rise, while Jessie Anton reports on the Saskatchewan Health Authority's restrictions on services due to the unchecked pandemic. Zak Vescera reports on the existence of modeling showing that mandatory masking could reduce community transmission by 50%. And Jason Warick discusses why Scott Moe can't be bothered to take even that basic step to keep people healthy and safe, while Phil Tank points out the giant load of nothing that was Moe's announcement yesterday.

- Luke Savage rightly makes the case for John Horgan's government to take the lead in legislating paid sick days for all.

- Finally, Peter Kalmus writes that both halves of a "net zero emissions by 2050" target represent grossly inadequate levels of concern for the preservation of our living environment. And Umair Irfain summarizes the IPCC's main scenarios for climate change going forward - with the "middle of the road" scenario in which countries fulfill their existing commitments and cooperate somewhat on environmental goals resulting in a catastrophic 2.7 degrees of warming.

#Elxn44 Roundup

The latest from Canada's federal election campaign.

- The Climate Emergency Alliance highlights the crucial climate change question which was left out of the federal debates - which is what parties will to do keep fossil fuel reserves in the ground when we manifestly can't afford to exploit them.

- Gordon Cleveland compares the Cons' tax bauble to the positive effects of an actual child care system which the Libs are promising and the NDP plans to deliver. Antony Hodgson looks at what's on offer for electoral reform, finding both the Greens and the NDP to have strong proposals. And PressProgress examines what the parties have on offer for workers and the labour movement.

- Tanya Talaga discusses how the Libs have utterly missed the point of reconciliation. And Kristy Kirkup and Bill Curry report on Justin Trudeau's unfathomable hesitancy to ensure fire safety for First Nations.

- Ben Cohen reports on Oshawa Lib candidate Afroza Hossain's pay-for-access policy for community appearances.

- Finally, Matthew Green offers his vision for a just recovery:

"There are still some people who would prefer to return back to the status quo, to the way things were, when what we're presenting in this #Elxn44 is a compelling vision for the way things could be and should be."

Join us for a #JustRecovery https://t.co/gF6333ymUz #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/eIdXYP35qW

— Matthew Green 🍊📈✊🏾 (@MatthewGreenNDP) September 10, 2021

Musical interlude

Jax Jones. feat. Ella Henderson - This Is Real

#Elxn44 Roundup

Assorted content from Canada's federal election campaign. 

- Seth Klein examines the considerations to take into account in casting a ballot for real climate action. And Michelle Gamage compares the parties' positions on fossil fuel subsidies. 

- Andre Picard asks whether voters will actually be motivated by health care - a key question given the NDP's commitment to head-to-toe health care while the other parties try to keep their plans as vague as possible. And Ken Dryden theorizes that the key issue for voters should be child care. 

- Linda McQuaig calls out Erin O'Toole's blatant bullshitting as a means of smuggling anti-social policy into the halls of power. And the Canadian Labour Congress points out his dishonesty on pensions in particular. 

- Meanwhile, PressProgress fact-checks Justin Trudeau's indignant refusal to accept he's engaged in litigation against Indigenous children against his track record. And Kristy Kirkup reports on the increased risk of fire-related deaths on reserve as one more area in which Indigenous people are facing unnecessary dangers due to a lack of policy action. 

- Samantha Reusch writes about the importance of engaging young voters - even as Elections Canada has made their participation more difficult by eliminating its campus voting program. And Menaka Raman-Wilms reports on Jagmeet Singh's work in meeting younger voters on their platforms of choice. 

- Finally, Alex Marland laments the tendency of voters to cast ballots based on party affiliations rather than local candidates. 

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Kevin Maimann discusses how Alberta's health care system is on the brink of collapse due to a complete COVID governance failure. Zak Vescera reports on the health care workers begging Scott Moe to make some effort to avoid the same in Saskatchewan, while Yasmine Ghania reports on the people trying to do their part by getting tested who are facing unconscionable delays due to the lack of testing capacity. And CBC News reports that public support for vaccine passports is soaring in both Saskatchewan and Alberta despite provincial governments taking the side of COVID. 

- Meanwhile, in case there was any thought that the Delta variant would be the last source of further COVID waves, Kenyon Wallace reports on the spread of the Mu variant in Ontario. And Katharine Wu discusses why people who may have given up on wearing masks while being told the pandemic was over should be rethinking that course of action. 

- Amy Westervelt calls out the oil industry's "discourses of delay" as a means of pushing for continued fossil fuel extraction and avoiding the action we need to avert a climate catastrophe. And Martin Lukacs discusses how the Trudeau Libs have eagerly served Canada's oil barons while attempting to greenwash themselves and the industry. 

- But Carbon Tracker points out how anybody looking past the short term will need to reckon with the inevitability of leaving fossil fuel assets unexploited. And Adam Hoverman and Melissa Lem weigh in on the increasing calls among health care professions to end our reliance on fossil fuels.

- Finally, as we plan pandemic and energy transitions, David Beers offers a reminder of the roads that were open to us after 9/11 - and the loss we've suffered by accepting violent imperialism rather than a more caring society. 

#Elxn44 Roundup

The latest from Canada's federal election campaign.

- David Miller discusses the steps Canada needs to take to help avert climate disaster - as well as the differences in the federal parties' plans to achieve them (or not). And Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood writes about some crucial climate myths, with the overall message that we can't pretend we're doing enough or on the right track already. 

- David McLaren rightly criticizes the Cons' attempt to entrench precarious gig work as a permanent trap for workers. 

- Elise Stolte discusses how the financialization of the housing market has made it impossible for many people to find affordable and acceptable rental homes. And Patrick Condon highlights the need for far more ambition in ensuring the right to housing is met, while also noting the crucial differences among the parties. 

- Christine Dobby takes a look at voters' choices on telecommunications, with particular attention to the Libs' broken promises to make connections to the world more affordable. 

- Brett Forester examines the parties' platforms on issues facing Indigenous people. 

- PressProgress contrasts the well-known answers to the opioid crisis (including ensuring a safe supply) against Erin O'Toole's insistence on pushing only access to private institutional rehab facilities. 

- Finally, Our Politics offers a slick (if necessarily simplified) look at the policies on offer from the major federal parties. And the Courage Coalition provides its take on the choices facing progressive voters and activists. 

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Steven Lewis writes about the increased COVID risk Saskatchewan is facing as a result of Scott Moe's refusal to govern. And Duane Bratt discusses how Jason Kenney has proven himself to be far out of touch with Alberta's values, while Charles Rusnell points out the combination of negligent government and inaccurate modeling which has pushed Alberta's health care system into a state of crisis.

- Sam Mellins highlights how the U.S. could be sharing vaccine manufacturing information with the world to prevent untold amounts of human suffering. 

- Dan Welsby, James Price, Steve Pye and Paul Ekins study the realities of the climate crisis, and find that only a small fraction of the planet's fossil fuel reserves can be used without producing calamitous consequences. 

- But Walker Bragman discusses how fossil fuel corporations are trying to wriggle out of any responsibility for the damage they've done to our living environment. And Drew Yewchuk notes that Alberta is using money supposedly collected for climate remediation to fund oil propaganda. 

- Finally, Binyamin Appelbaum writes about the workers fighting to exercise their collective strength in the face of a U.S. economy that's been rigged against them for decades. 

#Elxn44 Roundup

The latest from Canada's federal election campaign.

- PressProgress offers some background on the agitators disrupting Justin Trudeau's campaign events, while Max Fawcett points out why there's no reason for us to lend any undeserved credence to anti-vaxxers. But Meshall Awan notes that we also shouldn't allow posturing over fringe views to distract us from fundamental issues including the climate crisis.  

- Gillian Steward is rightly appalled at Erin O'Toole's willingness to follow the Kenney/Moe road to disaster in responding to COVID-19 and handling our Medicare system. 

- Adam Radwanski takes note of the seemingly unanimous agreement on the need for a rapid transition to electric vehicles. 

- Camellia Wong criticizes Elections Canada's refusal to allow for on-campus voting as a failure for democracy - which is particularly unacceptable when concentrated within a population which is about to set habits defining its level of participation for decades to come. 

- Finally, Luke Savage discusses why Justin Trudeau's attempt to manufacture a majority for himself is backfiring as voters decide they're ready for change. 

On false tax freedoms

The past few Canadian election cycles have seen plenty of discussion of the realities of tax-free savings accounts. And for the most part, their critics have been proven right: a scheme pitched at enabling savings by lower-income individuals has instead served mostly as a means of redirecting more free money to the already-rich. And in 2015, the Cons' doubling of existing TFSAs was rejected by voters. 

Which makes it striking that the Libs are now the ones pushing a TFSA scheme as part of their housing platform.

As Nick Falvo notes in his brief comment, there's an obvious danger that the Libs' plan - like other TFSA systems - will merely allow the wealthy to drain money from federal coffers, while accomplishing little for the people who are supposed to benefit (but who don't have spare money to stash away in the first place). And the Libs' throwaway line about including "integrity measures to deter tax avoidance" rings entirely hollow coming from the same party trying to criticize the NDP's plan for a more progressive tax system based on the claim that better tax enforcement isn't possible. 

As is the case in so many policy areas, voters will need to choose between policies which actually address the right to housing, and ones which serve only to inflate the wealth of existing homeowners and people with money to burn. And it's especially damning that the Libs are so bereft of ideas as to be copying from the Harper playbook toward the latter end.

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Frank Addario asks how any politician can claim to be a leader while taking a mulligan on the COVID-19 pandemic. Amy Kaler writes that Jason Kenney's decision to pay off non-vaccinated people while doing virtually nothing to limit community spread has only made matters worse in trying to make any case for collective action. And Adam Hunter points out Scott Moe's choice to do nothing and point fingers while Saskatchewan careens into disaster.  

- Meanwhile, Greg Sargent points out the potential for a strong political response to the "Jonestown Republicans" (and similarly destructive Conservatives in Canada) encouraging an antisocial response to a social crisis. 

- Paul Krugman welcomes us to to autumn of anxiety as a COVID wave driven by the most dangerous variant yet is accompanied by the removal of the supports which enabled people to survive its earlier incarnations. Hayes Brown warns that one of the virtually certain results is an escalation in poverty levels which dipped when somewhat better income supports were available. And the Houston Chronicle's editorial board notes that it's entirely understandable that workers aren't eager to endanger themselves and their families for precarious and low-paying work. 

- Sarah Zhang notes that the ventilation improvements which are being demanded by forward-looking people as a means of reducing the spread of COVID would carry the side benefit of stopping all kinds of respiratory viruses. 

- Nick Toscano writes that temporary price hikes aren't fooling most investors into thinking there's any real future in fossil fuels. But Carlos Joly points out that in the midst of its election, Norway (like Canada) is seeing most of its political parties continue to push carbon pollution exports rather than transitioning to a clean economy. 

- Jasmine Banks documents how the Koch brothers' dark money empire is behind the contrived U.S. uproar over "critical race theory" - making for a particularly stark example of how capital stokes racism in order to preserve its position of privilege. And John Tattrie reports on the the apparently race-motivated killing of Truro taxi driver Prabhjot Singh Katri as an ugly example of the consequences of letting racism fester.

- Finally, Arwa Madhawi writes that it's long past time to start paying attention to the people accurately warning of the dangerous consequences of anti-social neglect, rather than allowing the people who benefit from maintaining it to tell us there's nothing to worry about. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Keen cats.