Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Stephanie Dubois reports on the growing body of research showing that the risk of COVID-19 reinfection is worsening due to the Omicron variants. Troy Charles talks to Ayisha Kurji about the multiple viruses hospitalizing Saskatchewan children as public health rules have been eliminated, while Gail Lethbridge points out the web of contradictions in COVID-19 messaging which is causing massive outbreaks in Nova Scotia. Sarah Wildman writes that vulnerable people stand to be left out as public health protections are removed in the name of returning to an exclusionary "normal". 

- Michael Marmot writes about the lives being endangered by the UK Cons' refusal to provide any help to people whose existing poverty has only been exacerbated by soaring costs of living. And Doug Nesbitt comments on the failure of wage levels to come anywhere close to keeping up with prices - even as anti-inflation rhetoric is used to try to ensure workers are left behind. 

- Meanwhile, Stephen Vance discusses how Ontario's "sunshine list" - based on a far outdated standard - facilitates right-wing rhetoric against front-line public sector workers. 

- Donya Ziaee discusses how the agreement on pharmacare between the NDP and Libs leaves many open questions as to what a system might look like - and argues that we'll need to work to ensure the result actually helps people rather than locking in corporate profits. And Andrew Jackson takes note of the many ways in which the federal budget falls short of the shift toward more progressive policy that people may have expected both as a result of the confidence and supply agreement, as well as the lessons learned in the course of the pandemic.

- Finally, Clem Nocos writes that the Libs' financial commitment and actions fail to match their rhetoric when it comes to housing policy. And Sabrina Maddeaux points out how what's included in the federal budget is particularly insufficient for young people who don't have the advantage of already owning a home.