#ndpldr Links

I haven't yet put together the candidate profiles and other posts I'm planning for the ongoing NDP leadership campaign. But for now, I'll take time to survey a few noteworthy developments.

- Theresa Lubovitz takes a look at the fund-raising numbers to the end of Q4 2025, and notes that Avi Lewis has a lead over the other two primary candidates combined in both funds raised and donations received. (And on the latter front, Heather McPherson's lead in Alberta makes for the only single province where any other candidate has managed to lead the pack - signalling that Lewis' support base is widespread as well as responsive.)

- Meanwhile, McPherson has been identified as having leads in name recognition within the general public, as well as support by description among potential NDP voters (though Ashton's description interestingly holds a lead among actual NDP supporters).   

- Adam King reviews Lewis' labour platform as identifying and addressing issues far beyond the traditional sphere of labour policy which affect worker solidarity and the balance of class power. 

- Ali Terrenoire writes about the problems with Canada's left being limited to trying to boost the NDP as a parliamentary party. And Martin Lukacs makes the case for leftists to join the party and throw their support behind Lewis. 

- Finally, David Thurton reports on Naheed Nenshi's message seeking to have the federal leader defer to provincial interests. But it's worth noting how the difference he points out may actually signal one of the concerns with McPherson as an alternative: the federal NDP isn't able to limit its ambition to trying to flip swing voters through government fatigue in a two-party system, and any leader who relies on that model where it doesn't apply figures to make little progress in the effort to rebuild. 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Jakub Hlavka and Adam Rose examine the $14 trillion just in direct economic costs of COVID-19 in the U.S. - making clear how much long-term damage is being done even on an economic front in a futile attempt to avoid taking responsible steps to protect public health. And Geoffrey Johnston writes that the resurgence of tuberculosis reflects both structural inequality and a failure to provide targeted resources which could eradicate it altogether.

- Kathleen Dean Moore discusses how the fossil fuel industry has manipulated public opinion about climate change, while Jessica Scott-Reid reports that industrial meat producers are following the same playbook. But Emily Lowan reports on new polling showing that the Canadian public isn't buying the oil industry's demand to expand carbon pollution - meaning that the main effect of its lobbying has been to pressure governments to act contrary to both the interests and wishes of their citizens. 

- Marc Lee examines British Columbia's new housing plan - including some steps toward availability and affordability, but also a continued failure to build non-market housing at the necessary scale. And Cory Doctorow points out the ample evidence that rent control is both viable and essential to ensure people have homes. 

- David Climenhaga discusses the Parkland Institute's new study showing that the UCP's privatization of surgical procedures has actually reduced Alberta's surgical capacity at massive expense (while doing nothing to improve wait times).

- Finally, David Macdonald and Martha Friendly point out that the promise of $10 per day child care remains an illusion for many parents in child care deserts. 

Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- The Globe and Mail's editorial board reminds us of the continued choice between taking reasonable precautions to minimize the damage from continued waves of COVID-19, or letting wishful thinking lead us until avoidable harm to people's health. And Shalini Saksena writes about the emergence of long COVID as a parallel pandemic, while Elizabeth Payne highlights how Canada's public health care system is woefully unprepared to respond to it.

- Joshua Chung reports on the disappearance of some of the breaks lower-income Canadians were able to seek out at discount grocers, while noting the need for more secure incomes. And Jaele Bernstien reports on some of the changes Canadians are making in response to higher prices in both lower-income and middle-class households.

- Robin Sears reminds us that decriminalization along is far from enough to step the carnage of drug poisoning deaths.

- Amanda Follett Hosgood discusses the sudden loss of phone and Internet services in northwest British Columbia as another example of how we're setting ourselves up to face dangerous and avoidable risks. And Michael Lee reports on new research showing the emergency of "plastitar" as a new threat to marine life.

- Finally, Abacus Data has released polling showing the large number of Canadians expressing their agreement with dangerous and racist conspiracy theories.

Sunday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Sam Gindin discusses the need to push back against the narrative that inflation caused by supply chain disruptions and corporate greed will somehow be ameliorated by punishing the working class. And Adam King writes that the response to inflation represents just another facet of the distributive battle between the rich and the rest of us. 

- Monia Mazigh argues that the Libs' minimal steps on housing are doomed to fail as long as we allow the housing sector to serve the interests of financial institutions rather than the people who need homes. And Julia Kane reports on new research connecting the number of oil and gas wells to racial discrimination in zoning. 

- The New York Times notes that the U.S. is looking at antitrust law as a means to challenge corporate collusion to lower wages. 

- Ted Rutland reports on the Libs' use of public resources to push poll against the appetite of the Canadian public to defund police forces. 

- Finally, Evan Scrimshaw examines the utterly dishonest attempt by the Cons and their right-wing allies to stoke fear about a "truck tax" whose only treatment by the federal government was to reject it, along with the media's mindless repetition of the talking point. 

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Supriya Dwivedi writes about the Groundhog Day-style loop we're trapped in due to a pandemic which is being allowed to continue and evolve. And while Daniel Wood and Geoff Brumfiel point out how the politicization of the pandemic is resulting in systematically higher death rates among Trump-supporting counties, Gaby Galvin reports on new polling showing that even in the U.S. a strong majority of the public favours doing far more to keep people healthy and safe - making the continued reluctance to do anything other than cater to the anti-social few all the more inexcusable. And Roni Caryn Rabin discusses how the pandemic has led to higher blood pressure among the public beyond anything traceable to the spread of the coronavirus.  

- Meanwhile, Karl Nerenberg calls out Canada's refusal to lift a finger to make vaccines more available around the globe. And Adeoluwa Atayero reports on Scott Moe's choice to put gratuitous barriers in the way of vaccinating children in schools. 

- Heather Rust exposes how the U.S.' corporate health care system is using worker burnout as an excuse to make conditions even worse for those trying to continue caring for patients, while Francis Racine reports on a warning from the Ontario Health Coalition that the Ford government is only increasing reliance on the private long-term care businesses who have caused so much avoidable suffering and death. And David Helps and Alexander Stephens point out that increased union organization and better conditions for workers are musts in order to rebuild a function economy and society. 

- Andrew Leach discusses how Alberta is past perceiving temporary oil price spikes as actual booms - suggesting that the fossil fuel industry's spin about being a source of wider prosperity has run its course everywhere but in the halls of power. Taylor Noakes rightly argues that we should be investing in a transition to a clean economy, rather than permitting and even subsidizing the continued destruction wrought by the existing oil and gas industry. And Kyle Bakx reports on the grim choice between maintaining the tailings ponds which have done so much damage to Alberta's land and wildlife, and allowing the companies responsible to release the water back into the broader environment.   

- Finally, Garret Ellison reports on the EPA's developing conclusion that there may be no safe level of several commonly-used bio-persistent chemicals. And Sasha Abramsky warns that the western U.S. may be on the verge of a drought that never ends. 

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Jill Filipovic discusses how the mounting toll in human lives and health from COVID should leave no room for controversy about modest responses such as vaccine mandates. Andre Picard writes that there's no prospect of moving from a pandemic to an endemic state without active intervention to control the spread that's now being allowed to run wild. And in case there's any doubt that vaccinated people have plenty to lose from avoidable community transmission, Will Stone writes about the realities of even a mild "breakthrough" case of COVID. 

- Meanwhile, James Keller and Carrie Tait report on warnings from Alberta's doctors about the imminent collapse of their health care system, while Leyland Cecco connects that reality to Jason Kenney's deliberate choice not to apply public health restrictions. 

- Jillian Horton expresses rightful frustration at "kindness gaslighting" intended to allow for bad actors to engage in wanton destruction in the name of kindness and civility.  

- Brady Dennis and Adam Taylor report on new polling showing strong recognition of the need to combat a climate breakdown through global action. And it's well worth noting that the resulting demand that the world's largest economies take the lead in that effort has major consequences for any plan to export fossil fuels to the U.S. and China for any sustained period of time. 

- Finally, Sara Mojtehedzadeh and Omar Mosleh report on the certification application at Amazon's Nisku warehouse which may create an important precedent for the prospects of bringing collective bargaining to new types of jobs. 

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Michael Atkinson and Haizhen Mou discuss their new polling showing that Canadians are particularly concerned with climate change and good jobs as part of our recovery from the pandemic - making a Green New Deal an obvious win-win. And Seth Klein writes about both the opportunity for the Alberta NDP and other parties to offer a clear path toward a just transition from fossil fuels to clean energy, and the risks in both political outcomes and policy results if they fail to do so.

- Peter Hotez writes about the damage being done to people's lives by the anti-science movement and its right-wing adherents and enablers around the globe. And PressProgress reports on the social conservative takeover of the Cons' national council as a vivid example of organized ignorance translating into substantial power. 

- Marc Lee writes about some of the ancillary policy changes which may help public and non-profit housing developments to succeed. And Kate Bezanson, Andrew Bevan and Monica Lysack note that when it comes to child care, funding is the primary hurdle standing in the way of a national system.

- The New York Times' editorial board points out how third-party verification of business income could go a long way toward ensuring that corporations and wealthy individuals pay their fair share of taxes. 

- Finally, Andrew Jackson reviews Mark Carney's new book - and highlights how it only confirms the strict limits of neoliberal politics in which the role of elected governments is merely to shape the distribution of private capital:

It is refreshing to see recognition of the limits of private ownership and markets by such a prominent establishment figure, especially when it comes to dealing with financial excess, the climate crisis and rising economic inequality. However, Carney, while recognizing the need for government regulation and a non market sphere, emphasizes most the need to shift to stakeholder capitalism and socially responsible investment. Indeed he does so to the point of naivete.

...

Realists will doubt with good reason that stakeholder capitalism and social investment amount to much more than corporate PR. One can readily point to manifestly predatory corporate behaviour when it comes to price gouging monopolies, speculative finance, corporations undermining health and safety standards and promoting dangerous goods and practices (as in the opioid crisis), or profiting from intellectual property ownership of medically necessary vaccines and drugs, denial of labour rights and standards and resistance to unions, wilful denial of climate change by large energy companies over many years, pervasive corporate tax evasion, systemic discrimination in employment, and so on.

In fairness, Carney does not deny the need for government supervision and regulation to balance corporate capitalism with broader social goals. But his faith in socially responsible capitalism is excessive.

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Thomson Reuters reports on the latest UN research showing that planned fossil fuel production far exceeds what we can afford if we want to avoid catastrophic climate change. And the Canadian Press reports on a study by the Institute for Climate Choices documenting Canada's failure to prepare for the harmful effects of a climate breakdown. 

- Bruce Campbell discusses how corporate obstructionism has contributed to the gap between what we need to do and what's currently on offer. And Evan Dyer reports on the back-door agreement struck by the Libs with the Trump administration to evade an international treaty on plastic waste.

- And in case there was any doubt what we stand to gain by pushing back against the self-serving statements of corporate actors, Binnu Jeyakumar highlights how contrary to the spin of fossil fuel lobbyists, Alberta is set to reach the goal of a coal-free electrical grid years ahead of schedule and at a cost savings to the public.

- Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman offer a reminder of the need for a wealth tax as the most effective way to reduce the dangerous concentration of money and power. And Brett Wilkins points out the US.' strong public support for taxes targeted at the 1%.

- Finally, Louise Champoux-Paillé, Anne-Marie Croteau and Steven Appelbaum discuss the need for more women leaders - as borne out by the pattern of effective responses to COVID-19. And Scott Payne writes about Alberta's choice between responsible government, and the exact opposite under the UCP.

Sunday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Erica Alini reports on Canada's K-shaped recovery on metrics including employment, debt and housing. And Bill Curry reports on polling showing that two-thirds of Canadians recognize the need to borrow money to keep people afloat through the coronavirus pandemic, rather than rushing into gratuitous austerity.  

- Meanwhile, Jon Roozenbeek, Claudia R. Schneider, Sarah Dryhurst, John Kerr, Alexandra Freeman, Gabriel Recchia, Anne Marthe van der Bles and Sander van der Linden study how susceptibility to misinformation is one of the main drivers of anti-mask sentiment and other behaviour which creates needless risks to public health.

- Bill Curry and Chris Hanay report on the millions of dollars in termination pay distributed by the Canada Infrastructure Bank as it's manifestly failed to meet its intended purposes. 

- Enrique Dans examines how solar power has moved to the front of the line as an affordable and effect option for energy production. And Susan O'Donnell rightly questions why the federal government is pouring money into the development of new nuclear reactors when renewable technology has long since overtaken nuclear.

- Tiffany Duong reports on new research documenting the damage air pollution does to young brains.

- Finally, Luke Savage discusses how establishment Democrats are ill-suited to meet the needs of the U.S. even if they're able to win power in this fall's elections. And Umair Haque writes that U.S. voters will be deciding not only whether to re-elect Donald Trump, but whether they'll have any future to speak of as a developed country.

On starting points

It's certainly been interesting to see Saskatchewan's local corporate media go out of its way to trample coverage of the leadership debate with a poll which was outdated from the moment it was released. And I'll have plenty more to point out about the coverage of the campaign generally.

But for now, let's start from the assumption that it's important to know where polling stood prior to the event most likely to change people's minds - and take a look at what that actually included.

In the week before the debate, two polls of voter intentions had been released. One showed the Sask Party ahead among decided voters, but the NDP cutting into a third of the margin of victory from the previous two elections; the other showed the NDP making up about a sixth of the ground needed to get back to even.

Obviously that's not where a party would want to be at this stage of the campaign. But the fact that the top-line numbers hadn't yet moved far enough doesn't represent a valid reason to presume they couldn't continue to move in the right direction. 

Meanwhile, CBC's Vote Compass has also been providing information about where people stand on specific issues (in a context where all of the polls show policy as a primary driver of voter intentions). And its survey of over 4,000 respondents shows majorities in favour of the NDP's positions on issues including class sizes, child care, safe consumption sites and an increased minimum wage.

In other words, it's not hard to see where the polling released to date shows ample room for the NDP to make up ground: both in the debate as the one event offering a direct contrast between the two main leaders and platforms, and in the prospect that people would shift their focus to issues where the NDP is offering what they want to see. (And that's aside from the reality that an election with two first-time leaders represents an obvious opportunity for public perceptions to change.)

Presumably, there will be additional polling on its way which will help us see exactly where the parties stand as people have had the opportunity to learn more about their options during the campaign. But the pre-debate starting point was already one which showed some progress and a ready opportunity for more - and there's every reason to keep pushing toward an NDP government, rather than accepting anybody's view that there's no point in trying.

[Edit: fixed typo.]