Saturday Morning Links
This and that for your weekend reading. – Mark Leiren-Young shares Corky Evans’ perceptive take on how the B.C. NDP has lost its way – and the message is one…
P3s
New column day
Here, on how the City of Regina’s wastewater treatment referendum campaign is based on either a major omission as to the costs of privatizing services, or a dangerous assumption that…
Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your holiday reading. – Paul Buchhelt discusses eight areas where privatization has proven to be a disaster in the U.S. – with one holding particular interest for…
New column day
Here, on Regina’s wastewater referendum as just the first step in encouraging regular citizen engagement in the decisions that affect us all. For further reading…– Again, Hugh Mackenzie’s analysis of…
To the polls!
Needless to say, it’s great news (as well as a pleasant surprise) that Regina will get a referendum on a proposed P3 wastewater treatment plant. And kudos to Regina Water…
On double standards
Simon Enoch, Paul Dechene and Stephen Whitworth have already weighed in on the City of Regina’s choice to blow its nose on a petition that reflects citizen engagement in action.…
Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – The Globe and Mail weighs in on the Lac-Mégantic tragedy by pointing out that we should be far more concerned about public safety…
Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Eric Dolan discusses Paul Piff’s research showing that wealth tends to lead to antisocial behaviour – and that even the beneficiaries of a…
Regina Hosed by P3 Waste Water
Regina City Council has voted to proceed with a 30-year public-private partnership (P3) in which a private company would design, build, finance, operate and maintain the city’s new waste water…
Sunday Morning Links
Assorted content for your Sunday reading. – Aviva Shen looks at Monsanto’s history of regulatory capture – with the recent “Monsanto Protection Act” serving as just a minor example in…
Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – George Monbiot comments on the outsized influence of advertisers on children: How many people believe this makes the world a better place?…
Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Michael Harris takes aim at Stephen Harper’s thugocracy: There is little that Stephen Harper has done that other prime ministers before him have…
Sunday Morning Links
Assorted content for your Sunday reading. – Frank Graves’ review of the current state of Canadian politics focuses in on the growing gap between the Cons’ waning interest in listening…
Privatization Via Blackmail
If you want to see why there isn’t much of a real left wing in the USA, this graph of those seeking the White House in 2008 pretty much covers…
Quality Problems Plague Britain’s Largest Privatized Laboratory
The Guardian newspaper reported a decline in quality at the Kings College Hospital trust and the St. Thomas Hospital trust’s recently privatized pathology services. The report cited in the article…
Bad week for private companies mining for profits in health care
This hasn’t been a good week for private companies mining big profits in Canada’s health system. Quebec police are probing a hospital private-public partnership deal awarded to SNC Lavalin Group…
Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Jeffrey Simpson criticizes the Cons for killing off the National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy as punishment for telling the…
Canada’s Self-Imposed Crisis in Post-Secondary Education
On June 7, I gave a keynote address to the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees Education Sector Conference. My PowerPoint presentation (with full references) can be found at this link.…