Saturday Morning Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- The Globe and Mail's editorial board laments the choice of far too many provincial governments to sacrifice tens of thousands of lives rather than treating a pandemic with the seriousness and focus it deserves. Philip Pizzo, David Spiegel and Michelle Mello examine how governments which have taken science seriously rather than bending medical decisions to political ends have been far more successful in limiting the harm from COVID-19. Murray Mandryk takes note of the deadly wager the Saskatchewan Party is making on vaccines as a magic bullet. And Helen Rosner writes that there's no rational argument in favour of in-restaurant dining at this point - no matter how much public money the Regina Chamber of Commerce spends encouraging people to be irresponsible.

- Phil Tank reports on Scott Moe's choice not to use 98% of the rapid COVID tests provided to Saskatchewan by the federal government - which looks particularly dubious given that the province has promoted a pay-to-play testing option instead of actually using the tests on hand. Marc Smith reports that Saskatchewan's standard testing system is also operating far beyond its supposed capacity despite large amounts of federal funding. And Lauren Pelley notes that a responsible provincial government would be using a lull in vaccine shipments to build capacity for the foreseeable surge in availability, rather than spending all of its time whinging about the feds.

- Julia Peterson reports that Saskatoon is looking at filling the vacuum in support for solar energy left by the Sask Party (and matching the success that's been seen elsewhere). And Danton Unger reports on Winnipeg's study of fare-free transit as another example of cities showing leadership due to a right-wing provincial government's failures.

- Finally, Dave Cournoyer writes about the nearly universal opposition against Jason Kenney's plan to strip-mine mountaintops and endanger major water sources for a vanishingly small amount of coal profits while slashing regulation generally. But it should come as no surprise that the only exception is the Saskatchewan Party, which is too obsessed with cheerleading for resource extraction generally to show even the slightest concern for the impact on Saskatchewan's water and environment.