Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Laura Ungar reports on the message from experts that the COVID-19 pandemic is far from over. And Jon Kamp discusses the reality that COVID-19 remains one of the main direct causes of death in the U.S., while Neha Madaan reports that the main Omicron subvariant in India is mutating to become even more dangerous. 

- Meanwhile, Therese Kleim reports that the drug poisoning crisis also continues to escalate in Saskatchewan while being met with utter neglect from the Moe government. 

- Inayat Singh writes about Canada's connection to two of the key climate tipping points which we're passing with barely any effort to change course. And Annette McGivney discusses the unprecedented megadrought in the U.S. as another example of the extreme conditions being caused by the continued spewing of carbon pollution. 

- Jason DeParle notes that the U.S. has seen a little-discussed drop in child poverty which is traceable entirely to public-sector supports. And David Moscrop writes about the problem with Canadian housing policy which has been set for the benefit of capitalists who want to profit from a basic human right, rather than people who actually hold the need. 

- Finally, Emily Leedham points out how Pierre Poilievre has spent his entire career attacking the interests of workers. Michael Harris writes that he's best considered a symptom of the rot which set in under the Harper regime. And Aaron Wherry rightly identifies Poilievre as the ultimate expression of the Conservative id.