This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Simon Enoch traces the COVID-19 spending that’s taken place in Saskatchewan – finding that most of the support has come from the federal government, while Scott Moe has combined a refusal to lift a finger (and indeed a failure to make use
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Accidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Jason Warick reports on Steven Lewis’ blunt conclusion that Scott Moe and his government have been “really stupid” in taking “half-assed” steps in response to the fall wave of COVID-19. And Adam Hunter contrasts Moe’s refusal to consider any meaningful steps to
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Afternoon Links
Assorted content to start your week. – Jim Harding writes about the Saskatchewan Party’s politically-driven lack of action to get COVID-19 under control. Gillian Steward discusses how empty any bleating about “freedom!” sounds when it means needlessly exposing people to a deadly virus. And David Climenhaga calls out Jason Kenney
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On jurisdictional barriers
Scott Gilmore rightly points out the need for a far more clear national response to COVID-19. But I’d think we can expand on the point with reference to a couple of other familiar jurisdictional disputes – even as those also highlight which provincial governments need to be called out as
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On negative contributions
I’ve previously noted how the Saskatchewan Party’s platform diverts money to the people who need it least. But it’s worth taking a closer look to see exactly how little Scott Moe is willing to put into even his supposed priorities when one examines how much of the Sask Party’s plan
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Chris Arnold reports on the many Americans facing the impossibility of paying for the necessities of life as supports run out in the midst of a pandemic. And Carmina Ravanera and Sarah Kaplan point out that expanded EI and child are are among
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Hannah Aldridge writes that we should be expecting far more from the provinces in taking care of people in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic – particularly since the federal government has absorbed so much of the fiscal cost of relief: The EI
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Martin Birt writes that we can never again ignore the importance and value of the people performing essential work. And Jennifer Keesmat argues that the patterns of life made necessary by the coronavirus point the way toward a far greater focus on building
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Laurie Macfarlane writes that contrary to the dogma of budget scolds, the truly reckless course of action is to fail to invest public money in state capacity: After four decades of neoliberalism, the state’s capacity has been drastically hollowed out. Key public
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: New column day
Here, on the problems with the Saskatchewan Party’s mismanagement which deserve far more attention than Scott Moe’s attempts to pick fights with the federal government for show – including the need to plan for a future in which fossil fuel extraction won’t be the basis for a viable economy. For
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: New column day
Here, on how Jason Kenney, Scott Moe and other right-wing leaders make a habit of substituting futile complaints about other levels of government for action in the public interest in the jurisdiction where they pursue power. For further reading…– Kenney’s Alberta campaign has focused heavily on whinging about pipelines and
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Never mind the facts of Canadian history: Brian Jean says … Make Confederation Great Again!
If former Wildrose Party leader Brian Jean established anything on Monday with his Epistle to the Albertans, wherein he set out his “agenda to move Alberta forward,” it’s that he remains a man desperate to be taken seriously. Much mocked in circles that no longer take Mr. Jean very seriously
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: New column day
Here, following up on this post about the potential for a truly federal carbon pricing system if right-wing provincial governments keep griping about having the ability to develop alternatives. For further reading…– Anna Desmarais reports on the NDP’s push for climate change policy to meet the standards set out in
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Evelyn Forget makes the case for a national basic income which would provide a more stable fiscal base for Canada’s provinces as well as its citizens. And Dennis Raphael writes about the social murder resulting from the wanton destruction of income supports and
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On necessary measures
I’ve previously linked to columns by Paul Wells and Jen Gerson on the coordinated right-wing attack on carbon pricing. (And even the Notley government has made a show of withdrawing from a coordinated federal climate change plan, though without abandoning its own climate change policy.) But let’s not assume that
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Matt Bruenig discusses how UK Labour’s plans to ensure workers have an ownership stake in major corporations fits into the wider principle of common wealth: The Labour Party’s John McDonnell recently unveiled a policy that would require large corporations with more than 250
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Stephen McBride offers some important lessons on austerity from government responses to the 2008 economic crisis. – Zoe Drewett reports on the rising level of poverty in the UK. Andrew Jackson points out how the Libs’ measuring stick for poverty seems aimed at
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: New column day
Here, on how Scott Moe’s equalization bluster ultimately shows only that he’s more interested in political posturing than responsible governance. For further reading…– Gregory Beatty reviews how Saskatchewan’s effort to remove renewable resource revenue from the equalization formula was abandoned when Brad Wall decided it was inconvenient to remind the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Ashley Renders reports on the Canadian mining companies which are using corporate trade deals to threaten developing countries with billion-dollar claims to stifle environmental protections. And Mike Blanchfield and Andy Blatchford report that China wants any trade deals to similarly privilege investors
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On structural barriers
As the NDP’s federal leadership race approaches its conclusion, Tom Parkin has been doing some noteworthy writing on some of the issues which voters may want to keep in mind. And I’ll start with Parkin’s discussion as to how some of the systems which most deserve to be modeled may
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