Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Elizabeth Kolbert comments on the psychology of inequality, and particularly how the current trend in which a disproportionate share of gains goes to…
Alberta
The Lion proposes to his Princess.
We read that it was the Tenth Sikh Guru Gobind Singh, who determined that Sikh men could identify as Singh (lion) and Sikh women as Kaur (princess). This happened more…
New column day
Here, on the positive natural effects of minimum wage increases – and why we shouldn’t lose them to the threat of artificial problems being created by employers looking for excuses…
On Fildebrandt: I nominate Fildebrandt for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation 2018 Teddy Awards
For over two decades, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation has described what their vision of good public policy should be. One of the best symbols, descriptors, of their view has been…
Who will pay the cost for Digital Security? On the regulation of Uber and large digital companies
In 2006, when I came to Calgary, Identity Thief was something that we all heard about. While, I did not have RFID sleeves for my credit cards yet, I was…
Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Matt Bruenig writes about the U.S.’ alarming growth in student debt – which combined with diminished career prospects is leading to dim…
Ten considerations for the next Alberta budget
On November 17, the working group of the Alberta Alternative Budget (AAB) sponsored a one-day workshop at the University of Alberta. The event’s main purpose was to discuss recent developments…
Is Tesla a Death Sentence for Conventional Power Utilities?
Elon Musk wagered he could build s 129 megawatt battery in Queensland within 100 days or it was free. Tesla built and installed the battery with plenty of time to…
Policy over Partisanship
Two decades ago, I was involved with a student newspaper. It was called the Calumetro and it was published by the Calumet College Student Government. It was one of many…
Evidence says that a merger makes sense: The reasons why together the Alberta Party and the Alberta Liberal Party have the capacity to change Alberta.
“He won because he went to the people. I myself knocked on ~30,000 doors for that election. The team raised $424k, had a volunteer team of ~500 people, and on…
Excessives beat Progressives in Alberta.
Friends in Alberta have been asking why this commentary had nothing to say about the race to run that province’s United Conservative Party? It was not because we did not…
New book on Indigenous homelessness
I’ve recently reviewed a new book on homelessness among Indigenous peoples. The book, published by the University of Manitoba Press, was edited by Evelyn Peters and Julia Christensen. My review…
Book review: Social policy in Canada (second edition)
Oxford University Press has recently released the second edition of Social Policy in Canada, co-authored by the father-daughter duo of Ernie Lightman and Naomi Lightman. I recommend this book as…
Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Naomi Klein examines how climate change has contributed to a summer of extreme weather disasters, while David Suzuki highlights how we can work…
Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Crawford Kilian writes that Donald Trump’s presidency is merely a symptom of the wider disease of undue deference to wealth. And Matt Karp…
Alberta’s Carbon Tax Brings Cash to Great Programs
The Canadian province of Alberta is best known for the tar sands and the damage extraction of the bitumen has done to the planet. The province is now aware that…
The marriage of Alberta’s Alt-right.
Can you not just visualize Stan Laurel, in the person of Brian Jean, saying to Oliver Hardy, in the person of Jason Kenney, “Well here’s another nice mess you’ve gotten…
Ten Things to Know About Social Assistance in Alberta
I’ve just written a blog post about social assistance in Alberta. Points raised in the post include the following: -It’s very difficult to quality for social assistance in Alberta (this…
Book review: Understanding spatial media
I’ve just reviewed a new book about spatial media (and have written it from the vantage point of somebody working in Canada’s homelessness sector). Points raised in the blog post…
New column day
Here, on Ottawa’s Canada 150 event which was planned solely for the benefit of VIPs and businesses rather than mere people – and how that reality fits the Trudeau Libs’…