On creative reinterpretation
Shorter Bill Morneau:Pay no attention to trifles such as a "platform". In fact, our only election promise was to draw up budget plans on the back of a napkin if…
libs
Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week.- Susan Delacourt writes that the Libs' federal budget is best seen as requiring an overriding "to be continued". And Don Martin flags a few…
New column day
Here, on what the Trudeau Libs' first budget tells us about the difficulty turning around a government - and how Saskatchewan voters should take the lesson to heart in deciding…
Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.- The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives rounds up some noteworthy responses to the federal budget. Barbara Sibbald and Laura Eggertson write that while a…
Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading.- David MacDonald argues that the federal budget should focus on desperately-needed public investments - with any revenue issues dealt with by raising taxes…
Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week.- James Ayre points out Radoslaw Stefanski's study as to how cutting off fossil fuel subsidies subsidies (among other public policy preferences) would go a…
Sunday Morning LInks
Assorted content for your Sunday reading.- Peter Moskowitz highlights why we shouldn't be counting on crowdfunding or other private sources to address social needs. And Lana Payne calls out the…
Saturday Morning Links
This and that for your weekend reading.- Nicholas Kristof points out how important a stable and effective public service looks from the standpoint of a country which doesn't benefit from…
Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading.- Tim Harford discusses John Maynard Keynes' failed prediction that workers would continue to win increased leisure time over the past few decades:(I)t is…
Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading.- Jim Stanford offers a warning to Australia about Canada's history of gratuitous corporate tax giveaways:(S)uccessive cuts reduced combined Canadian corporate taxes (including provincial…
Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading.- Glen Pearson makes the case for transcending cynicism in our politics, including the choice to stay involved once an election is done. And…
Monday Evening Links
Miscellaneous material for your Monday reading.- Tom Parkin writes about the tendency of far too many Canadian governments to put the wealthy at the front of the line, and leave…
Friday Afternoon Links
Assorted content to end your week.- Sean McElwee examines how the wealthy control the U.S.' political system, while public opinion plays far too little role in policy choices:A comprehensive study…
Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading.- Elaine Power discusses how a basic income can build both individual security and social solidarity:We work for lots of different reasons, not just…
Shocked, I say
Surely nobody could have predicted that a federal climate change plan of doing no more than every province would accept would be doomed as long as Brad Wall has anything…
Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week.- Larry Elliott writes that the OECD is calling on its member states - including Canada - to stop pushing destructive austerity and instead focus…
On permanent campaigns
Luke Savage is right to point out that Canada's permanent campaign has merely taken on a different dynamic under the Trudeau Libs, rather than actually coming to an end with…
New column day
Here, expanding on this post as to Nathan Cullen's proposal to make sure the outcomes of all plausible electoral systems are taken into account in designing a new one. For…
Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading.- Sally Goemer writes that extreme inequality is a cause of economic instability for everybody. And Tom Powdrill discusses the importance of organized labour…
Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading.- Alice Martin offers three basic reasons why unions are as necessary now as ever, while PressProgress weighs in on the IMF's findings showing…