New column day

Here, on the need for progressive leaders to treat consultation processes as a path to goals worth achieving rather than an excuse not to pursue them - particular in the face of right-wing politicians determined to reverse progress at the first opportunity.

For further reading...
- Ian Bailey notes that Quebec and Prince Edward Island represent the next hopes for electoral reform in Canada after the failure of British Columbia's referendum. And Crawford Kilian raises the possibility that a party merger may be the best short-term option in B.C. now that electoral reform has failed - though that would of course only worsen the problem with a limited range of choices.
- Katy Balls discusses how the UK's Brexit referendum may have turned some voters off for life (while also causing massive damage to the citizenry).
- The Globe and Mail has been tracking the massive damage being inflicted by Ontario based on Doug Ford's belief that having won power without a platform, he's entitled to radically alter policies without any regard for anybody but his cronies and donors. And Emma Graney reports on Jason Kenney's choice to pretend Alberta's next election is a formality - and to impose as much shock treatment as he can on the province if proven correct.
- Finally, Harry Cheadle writes about the Republicans' use of lame-duck sessions to undermine democracy where their opponents might otherwise be able to make use of popular mandates for change. And Ari Berman discusses how in addition to undermining specific elected officials, Republicans are also eliminating the availability of referendum processes after deciding they were being used too effectively to pass progressive policies.

Saturday Morning Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Jerry Dias writes that the holiday season will be a difficult one for far too many Canadian workers facing precarious employment and hostile governments. And the Economist discusses the long hours expected of workers in the U.S. and the UK.

- PressProgress highlights Scott Moe's condescension toward workers as part of his Christmas message. And Nora Loreto maps out at the big money and anti-worker animus behind Ontario Proud's astroturf campaign.

- Sarah Niedobl discusses the massive public demand for federal action to ensure housing is available and affordable.

- Mario Canseco examines the results of British Columbia's disappointing referendum on electoral reform, and finds that confusion with the choices represented a significant factor.
 
- And finally, Michael Erman and Robin Respaut report that big pharma is once again jacking up prices after temporarily holding them down in an effort to hand Donald Trump some political talking points.

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Trish Hennessy discusses the connection between child care deserts and child poverty, while pointing out the importance of eradicating both:

While the evidence shows the importance of greater learning and socialization opportunities in the early years, it also shows that Canada is home to extremely high child care fees—which is a barrier to low- and middle-income families. The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) documents how some families pay child care fees the size of a monthly mortgage payment.

Some families simply don’t have child care options: the CCPA estimates 776,000 children (44 per cent of all non-school-aged children) live in what it calls child care deserts—a notion similar to food deserts, where some communities lack access to licensed child care spaces.
...
Back in 1999, the now-defunct National Council of Welfare put the importance of child care this way in its Preschool Children: Promises to Keep report: “Many social programs support families, but child care is the backbone of them all.”

What if Canada replaced its child care desert with an adequately funded national, universal, public child care program that is both high quality and affordable?

Mothers of young children would take up paying work, contributing to the family’s economic bottom line while ensuring their children have access to great socialization opportunities.

- Meanwhile, Jeffrey Sachs points out the numerous revenue tools available to ensure that funding is available to meet social needs. Melanie McFarland notes that the tax evasion and avoidance documented in the Panama Papers has direct consequences for everybody. And PressProgress exposes the offshoring connections of some of the big-money funders of British Columbia's anti-electoral reform campaign.

- Ken Kimmell and Brenda Ekwurzel write that Donald Trump's attempt to suppress and deny facts about our climate breakdown can't change the reality of a planet on the brink. And Fiona Harvey reports on a new UN report showing a need to triple even what's been promised to rein in greenhouse gas emissions in order to avoid a catastrophic outcome.

- Meanwhile, Climate Justice Saskatoon studies the concerns of communities who currently rely on coal as a major economic driver, and notes how it's possible to achieve a just transition by taking into account the people affected by changes in energy sources.

- Finally, Christo Aivalis discusses how the Trudeau Libs have chosen to trample on labour rights in their pursuit of corporate convenience.

Thursday Evening Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Richard Waters and Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson report that five large tech companies alone turned the Trump corporate tax cuts into tens of billions of dollars in share buybacks benefiting nobody other than those who already had the most. And Caroline Haskins writes about the inequality in firefighting services which has left only a few wealthy California residents with any hope against wildfires.

- Jorge Barrera reports that the Libs have added an Indigenous rights framework to the list of campaign promises now being pushed past the next federal election. And Jenelle Davies discusses how many young adults are disillusioned with politics as they stand, but have reason to hope for better with a proportional electoral system.

- On the bright side, Chris Arsenault reports on a new foreign aid experiment to benefit poor people with direct cash transfers - though it would make sense to try the same strategy to combat poverty at home as well.

- Robert Booth relays the stories of exclusion and deprivation told by young Britons to the UN's rapporteur on extreme poverty.

- Finally, Josha McNab points out the health benefits of acting to fight climate change. And Fernando Arce discusses how Doug Ford's attacks on worker protections stand to make all of Ontario ill:

When asked about the rationale for eliminating paid sick days, the Ministry of Labour offered in an email response to NOW that “these eight days... would be in line with Alberta and British Columbia, and could be taken without fear of termination.”

But as studies have shown, paid sick days can make a crucial, sometimes even fatal difference, when workers choose to stay home or work through their sickness.

“A lot of specialists don’t have availability in the evening, so having sick days allows patients to get to those appointments during the day,” says Raza. Employees without paid sick days also tend to get fewer flu shots, mammograms, pap smears and blood pressure checks.

The changes proposed by the Ford government mean that Ontarians will be at greater risk of contracting diseases when workplaces become inundated with sick workers unable to afford a day off to see their physician or get well. Raza says schools could soon follow when sick children are forced to attend because their parents or guardians can’t stay home with them.

Two years ago this scenario came to pass, with tragic consequences, when two-year-old Jude – described by his mother Jill Promoli as an otherwise “perfectly healthy child” – succumbed to influenza B, which had begun with a fever the day before. His sister had first caught the bug in her kindergarten class. Said Promoli at last week’s press conference: "One sick child came to school, and basically, it became an entire classroom full of sick children."

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Trish Garner comments on the need to acknowledge the humanity of people living in poverty - which leads to the inescapable need to use readily-available resources to ensure a reasonable standard of living. And Arindrajit Dube studies the effect of an increased minimum wage in helping to pull people out of poverty.

- Meanwhile, Robert Benzie reports that Doug Ford's choice to attack workers is leading to a substantial drop in public support.

- Jim Tankersley and Matt Phillips report that the Trump Republicans' giveaway to the wealthy has produced negative results on multiple fronts - including a net reduction in the workforce of the large employers targeted for extra freebies. And Derek Thompson discusses why it's long past time to put a stop corporate relocation incentives. 

- Helen-Maria Vasiliadis points out the important returns - in both fiscal and human terms - from investing in universally-accessible mental health care.

- Tom Perry discusses how a proportional electoral system can lead governments to reflect and listen to a wide range of voices, rather than being motivated solely to stick to a single party line. 

- Finally, Don Braid weighs in on the demonization of minority groups - and particularly LGBTQ people through John Carpay's consistent attacks - in Jason Kenney's United Conservative Party.

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Wayne Swan writes that it won't be possible to take necessary steps to combat climate breakdown without ensuring that corporations pay their fair share. And the Guardian argues that exorbitant executive pay needs to be restrained.

- Sam Pizzigati discusses how the uber-wealthy can disproportionately influence the U.S.' public discourse under the cover of dark money. And Mariya Hake and Christian Belabed examine the relationship between income inequality and distrust in public institutions.

- Crawford Kilian offers a reminder of the devastating effects of other diseases which can be eradicated through vaccinations - but which are threatening to return due to both policy and personal choices.

- Maryse Zeidler reports on the tens of billions of dollars worth of food wasted in Canada every year. And Matt Humphrey reports that Raise the Rates has had to cancel its Vancouver welfare challenge because there's simply no hope for participants to find food for even a week a based on what social benefit recipients receive.

- Finally, Ken Boon makes the case for British Columbia to try a more fair and proportional electoral system, rather than resigning itself to a system which has produced far too much inequality and corruption.

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Roger Eatwell writes that the rise of anti-immigrant sentiment can be traced back largely to the sense that elite-dominated governments have failed to take care of citizens generally, while David Leonhardt likewise notes that inequality can all too easily lead to easily-exploitable resentment. And Geoff Sharpe is rightly worried that Canada's regressive conservatives are destroying any consensus on the value of cultural diversity.

- Richard McKellar offers his list of reasons why British Columbia voters should cast a referendum ballot for proportional representation. David Suzuki points out the importance of reflecting an increased diversity of viewpoints. And Seth Klein discusses why a proportional and cooperative system stands to produce improved policy outcomes.

- Stephen Tweedale argues that the NDP's focus should be on good policy more than populism. And the Notley government's move to ensure that social assistance keeps up with inflation represents a small but useful example.

- David Climenhaga points out how large tar sands operators have booked tens of billions of dollars in profits even while continuously extending demands to governments for still more giveaways and concessions. And while Diego Arguedas Ortiz' observations as to what every person can do about climate change are worth a read, they shouldn't take away from the urgent need to break free from political control by the resource sector.

- Meanwhile, Alex Hern reports on new research showing the gross waste of resources resulting from the "mining" of bitcoin and other alternative currencies.

- Finally, Eric Newcomer discusses the hidden costs of working in the gig economy.

On strategic implications

One of the most worrisome aspects of first-past-the-post politics is the reality that a party can take what amounts to unaccountable power for an election cycle based on frivolous and/or misleading messages which just barely nudge public opinion against another option around election day. And parties which don't have any interest in the concept of honest government to begin with have been particularly unscrupulous in pushing the envelope.

It shouldn't then be any surprise to see the same dishonest tactic emanating from the billionaire-funded forces trying to avoid electoral reform in British Columbia. But for voters, the referendum should be seen as an opportunity not only to ensure that votes are fairly counted, but also to ensure that political parties have an incentive to prove themselves as trustworthy to voters and competing parties alike - rather than counting their ability to game a system which allows them to gaslight their way to power.

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Jean Swanson writes about the success of Vancouver tenants in pushing to limit the rent increases which can be forced on them. But any win for collective action will come attempts to stifle more of the same - and Dan Taekema reports on the move by a landlord in two Hamilton high-rises to wall off the common rooms which had served as gathering places for striking tenants.

- Alex Therrien reports that for the first time since the UK began keeping track, overall life expectancy is stagnating rather than increasing - with some areas seeing decreases. And Lucie Russell and Carl Packman comment on the need for fairness by design to ensure that people living in poverty don't face inflated expenses.

- Douglas Todd discusses the problem of wasted votes as one of the main issues to be solved by a proportional electoral system.

- CBC News reports on the inability of smaller, community-based liquor retailers to compete with large corporate chains due to the selective availability of supplier discounts.

- Finally, Sara Mojtehedzadeh reports on the pay equity victory achieved by Ontario midwives. But Andre Picard writes that there's still plenty to be done to address pay equity in health care work.

Tuesday Evening Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Gary Mason discusses how politicians are fiddling while our planet burns. And Jonathan Watts reports on the strongest sea ice in the Arctic breaking up for the first time in recorded history, as well as the likelihood that Arctic warming bears part of the blame for exceptionally hot summer weather getting "stuck" elsewhere.

- CBC News reports on the Libs' choice to set unambitious poverty reduction targets - yet also positioning themselves to fail by refusing to commit a single nickel to the cause in the next dozen years. And PressAssociation takes note of new research from the UK showing that a family with two minimum-wage earners will still fall short of a bare minimum "no frills" lifestyle, while Caitlin Morrison reports on the explosion of household debt that's temporarily papering over insufficient wages.

- Trish Hennessy and Ricardo Tranjan point out that skilled professionals are vulnerable to the forces causing precarity and economic insecurity.

- Seth Klein and Vyas Saran make the case for electoral reform in British Columbia:

Our current two-party system narrows our political choices and limits our discourse, discouraging bold and long-lasting policies. FPTP can only reflect so many viewpoints in the rooms where policies, laws and other important decisions are made—and what does get through tends to be heavily shaped by elite interests, if not catering to them outright. When we limit our capacity to consider a wider range of views and evidence, it takes years to address serious issues like climate change and unaffordable housing, and change only happens when we’re deep in crisis-mode, if at all.

British Columbians cannot afford to wait until we are unbearably deep in poverty, priced out of our cities, and experiencing the full impact of climate change for our representatives to take action.

- Finally, Travis Lupick offers a simple reminder that the elimination of supervised injection sites will result in people dying.