Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Robert Reich comments that Democrats who failed to recognize and respond to a rigged economic system share in the blame for the rise…
Health Care
Ernst & Young review of Alberta Health Services gives UCP cover to do lots, flexibility to do little
We’re not closing any rural hospitals, have you got that? Alberta Health Minister Tyler Shandro strove to make that point perfectly clear at his news conference in Edmonton yesterday on…
Arbitrator’s decision awarding 1% pay increase to some AUPE members undermines UCP austerity arguments
An independent labour arbitrator yesterday awarded unionized Alberta government employees and health care support workers a modest 1-per-cent pay increase for 2019. Having gone into wage-reopener negotiations in the final…
Worried about coronavirus? Ideology trumps expertise when Conservatives meddle with health care
If the world is on the cusp of another deadly coronavirus outbreak, this might seem like a peculiar time to be signing up for a high-risk experiment in health care…
New column day
Here, on the Saskatchewan Party’s dangerous focus on privatization and photo-ops rather than the public infrastructure the province needs. For further reading…– Alex MacPherson reported on both the Moe government’s…
My review of Robert Clark’s book on Canada’s prisons
Robert Clark has written a very good book about Canada’s prison system. Mr. Clark worked from 1980 until 2009 in seven different federal prisons, all located in Ontario. The book…
Brace yourselves, Alberta, Premier Kenney’s promising us another spring of renewal!
Good Lord, can Alberta survive another spring of renewal like the last one? Another springtime of renewal — that’s what Government House Leader Jason Nixon and the United Conservative Party’s…
Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your year. – Armine Yalnizyan writes about the ongoing struggle for workers’ rights a century after the Winnipeg General Strike: Most workers have no channels for…
Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Chris Hatch discusses the glaring contradictions between Canada’s lip service to the fight against climate change, and its actions in pushing to expand…
Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Abby Innes writes that the UK’s general election reflects a decision point as to whether to discard neoliberalism to serve the public, or…
Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Crawford Kilian highlights how ongoing inequality is among the many factors leading to stagnant life expectancies in Canada. Jim Stanford points out that…
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…
Groundhog Day on Black Friday! With 5,000 job cuts planned, perpetual chaos returns to health care in Alberta
With yesterday’s announcement the Alberta Government intends to wipe out close to 5,000 jobs in public health care by 2023, and another 2,500 or so in other parts of the…
New column day
Here, on the “hush memo” issued to Saskatchewan doctors, and the Moe government’s eagerness to limit any voice for public servants to an ineffective whistleblower process. For further reading…– David…
Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Guy Dauncey makes the case that it’s entirely possible – even if daunting – to meet the challenge posed by the climate…
Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Andrew MacLeod discusses how an anti-worker campaign at the Mountain Equipment Co-op demonstrates the need for employees to be able to bargain collectively…
Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Sabrina Shankman discusses new research showing how the climate crisis will affect today’s youth. And Bill McKibben highlights why we can’t afford to…
Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Joseph Stiglitz discusses how decades of laissez-faire economics and deference to the rich have undermined any effective democratic decision-making. Bruce Boghosian observes…
Ten things to know about the 2019-20 Alberta budget
I’ve just written a ‘top 10’ overview of the recent Alberta budget. Points raised in the post include the following: -The budget lays out a four-year strategy of spending cuts,…
Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – In an excerpt from his new book, Martin Lukacs examines the disappointment Justin Trudeau has inflicted on anybody who thought his carefully-cultivated…