This and that for your Sunday reading. – Gary Mason worries that Canada has become so accustomed to prioritizing fossil fuels over the habitability of our planet as to make impossible any action to avert a climate crisis: (H)ere we are, more than a third of the way through the
Continue readingTag: canada 2019
Accidental Deliberations: On private determinations
Paul Willcocks has previously pointed out why there’s reason for skepticism about Andrew Scheer’s attempt to play both sides as to whether or not the Cons will try to limit access to abortion. But it’s worth looking at a case study as to how the Harper Cons flouted any distinction
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
This and that for your weekend reading. – Keith Gerein writes that Alberta’s petro-state can’t mask the fact that climate denialism is leading to governance failing its own province’s children. Murray Mandryk notes that Scott Moe and company are far more childish than the teens leading the climate justice movement.
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Manfred Bienefeld writes about the gap between the urgent problems we face, and the sad excuses for policies on offer from the Libs and Cons as Canadians go to the polls. And Andrew Jackson discusses how little point there is to the tax
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Sarmishta Subramanian writes that messages of exclusion and division tend to be amplified for political purposes rather than because they actually reflect broad public opinion. And Christopher Cheung discusses how the PPC in particular has chosen to use the language of selective inclusion
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Peter Gowan and Thomas Hanna write about the urgent need to free people from the market forces which currently trap them in precarity and debt: A flourishing and prosperous society that works for all, not just a privileged few, requires a foundation
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Assorted content to start your week. – Dennis Gruending discusses the significance of the climate crisis in Canada’s federal election. And Sarah Jones interviews Ann Pettifor about the importance of a Green New Deal – and the barriers corporatists have placed in the way of every previous effort to develop
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – The Initiative on Global Markets finds substantial agreement among economists that inequality poses a threat to democracy. And Paul Krugman writes about the concerted efforts of corporate-funded Republicans to undermine the successes of California and other states implementing progressive policies. – Andray Domise
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Evening Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Martin Regg Cohn writes that Doug Ford’s brutal austerity against the people who most need social support has been based on entirely made-up numbers. And David Climenhaga points out that Alberta’s civil service has been shrinking over the past decade, showing that
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Ann Pettifor discusses how a Green New Deal will pay for itself while making use of readily available sources of financing. And Clive Thompson points out the positive social impacts of Dunkirk’s decision to offer free transit. – Meanwhile, Emily Holden reviews
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Kerri Breen reports on the public’s understandable frustration with Canada’s political system. Don Martin offers a prime example as to why that’s justified, as Justin Trudeau has cynically concluded that it would be counterproductive to stand up for people facing religious discrimination
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Of pots and kettles
A genuine advocate for ethical politics could certainly find reason for concern with the Libs’ cynical use of government announcements to build the profile of unelected candidates. But the Pod People’s Party deserves nothing but mockery for having the gall to complain that it constitutes anything other than plagiarism.
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On abandoned responsibilities
The prelude to Canada’s federal election campaign has brought several parties’ views of human rights and government responsibilities under scrutiny. Maxime Bernier has only exacerbated Stephen Harper’s past anti-minority messages, building his PPC campaign largely on criticism of immigration generally. Andrew Scheer has apparently recognized at least a political problem
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Derrick O’Keefe highlights how Canada’s election would look if coverage focused on the issues which feature strong public support, rather than the two painfully unappealing perceived front-runners who ignore them: (T)he Ipsos poll results released Thursday…show an enormous potential for class-based demands
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Paul Krugman weighs in on the scam that is trickle-down economics, particularly in the form of tax-free zones which encourage domestic tax evasion. – Timothy Taylor writes about the changing nature of work – while highlighting that workers who value secure and
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – David Lazarus writes about the fundamental dishonesty needed to keep purveying trickle-down spin in the face of all evidence. And Richard Rubin discusses how U.S. Democrats are having a serious discussion about the merits of progressive income and wealth taxes – even
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – John Nichols interviews Bernie Sanders about the importance of resurrecting the principle of economic rights. Gallup examines how the American public is again recognizing the value of unions. And Simon Goodley writes about the positive effects of shortening the work week to 4
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: In plain sight
Robyn Urback is rightly concerned about the lack of discussion of Quebec’s systematic discrimination by most of Canada’s federal parties – only to gloss over the strong position taken by Jagmeet Singh and the NDP. Matt Gurney laments the lack of a remotely reasonable climate debate between the Libs and
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On mixed signals
Cam argues that the Libs’ latest messaging on carbon pricing is a mistake in the sense of a political gaffe. And watching only the headlines today, that take would appear to be borne out. But I’ll respond that while a posture of studied ambiguity about carbon pricing may represent an
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Bottom lines and shifting goalposts
I noted last night that there’s no validity to complaints about the NDP ruling out support for a Con government. But if anybody wants to point out which party’s stance on supporting anybody else as a possible government does seem problematic, there’s yet more odd spin coming from the Greens:
Continue reading