In case you didn’t catch Danielle Smith’s bizzarro Address to the Province last week, the one where she signalled what we could expect in the 2024 Budget, here’s a brief synopsis. (Smith’s comments are edited for tone and appear in bold). Premier Smith’s pre-budget address to the province We need
Continue readingTag: economy
THE FIFTH COLUMN: The Election Issue That Dare Not Speak It’s Name
What election am I referring to – whatever one is next in whatever jurisdiction you are in. Yes I am talking about that which we dare not speak – the need to change our economic system before its ultimate collapse. Karl Marx predicted the collapse of capitalism, and it was
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Cordell Jacks writes about the need for an economic model which evolves beyond the short-term exploitation of people and the planet. And Jessica McKenzie interviews Charlotte Kukowski about the importance of reprioritizing in the context of readily-apparent feedback loops between inequality and the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Claude Lavoie examines the problems with the far-too-rarely-questioned assumption that public policy needs to be oriented toward top-end economic growth at the expense of human well-being and environmental sustainability. – George Monbiot calls out how the wealthiest few have torqued the law to
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg examines why seemingly healthy macroeconomic indicators – and even positive personal expectations – haven’t translated into public satisfaction with political economic leaders. But Dougald Lamont is setting out how our economic system has been torqued at the behest of corporate robber
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Squid Game
The UCP’s “bread and circuses”* approach to government is no longer working. The “bread” (low taxes and high employment) is no compensation for our crumbling healthcare, education, and social services. The “circus” of blaming the federal government for everything is wearing thin. And to make matters worse, the folks at
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Katherine Wu discusses how the U.S. is facing a particularly grim set of winter illnesses as people have failed to get vaccinated against known threats, while Lauren Pelley reports on the low number of Canadians who got new COVID-19 vaccines this fall. Ewen
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Liberals Are Right About Conservative Intentions
But the Liberals are wrong about the solution. Their betrayal on electoral reform has given the CPC’s PP power over them. They could be working collaboratively to implement things the NDP also want, instead there’s a sword hanging over their heads according to polling. Stability in our economy as it
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Danielle Smith Addresses the UCP/TBA AGM
I watched Danielle Smith’s speech to her supporters at the UCP AGM and all I could think of was Salvador Dali’s painting of the clocks. Time was melting, the landscape was warped. Going backwards Smith told the crowd that in the next Legislative session the Smith government will
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Danielle Smith’s Alternative Reality
Albertans live in an alternate universe. How else can we explain last week’s press conference where Danielle Smith pilloried the draft electricity regulations which are designed to ensure Canada’s electrical grid is running on 100% clean energy by 2035* and unveiled a national advertising campaign of print, radio, TV, social
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Political Leadership in Crisis
“We’d like to know why we have not heard from you. Surely the suffering of our children merits more communication than a single tweet.” – Open letter to Danielle Smith from the parents and supporters of children infected in the E. Coli public health crisis The only thing worse
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – The Star’s editorial board writes that there’s still every reason to take precautions to avoid the spread of COVID-19, while Frances Ryan points out how disabled and vulnerable people haven’t been so privileged as to be able to pretend it’s ever gone away. And
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Aug 3: The day Danielle Smith kneecapped wind and solar energy
The low point of my summer (and there were many with this UCP government) came on Aug 3 when Danielle Smith announced a 7 month moratorium on wind and solar renewable energy projects—a decision that paralyses more than 100 projects valued at $33 billion—ostensibly to address policy concerns that could
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Sascha Pare reports on the growing recognition that methane emissions could trigger “termination” events which see tundra turn into tropical savannah. And Robson Fletcher reports on a drop in wheat production caused by drought which may make staple foods far more expensive. –
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Imagining A Post Capitalist World
This is not meant to be a comprehensive analysis but an imagining of some of the features of a post capitalist world. OK lets get this over with first. The first thing we will notice is the numbers we use to measure the success of a capitalist economy, GDP, GNP
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Matthew Cunningham-Cook and Andrew Perez highlight how Suncor and other dirty energy giants have poured loads of windfall profits into stock buybacks while simultaneously repudiating their environmental promises and obligations. – Jonathan Barrett discusses how Australia has seen the same spate of
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Stephanie Soucheray discusses how many patients whose senses of taste and smell have been affected by COVID-19 never fully recover, while the University of Waterloo finds new evidence of lasting impact on the brain. And Carolyn Bramante et al. study how metformin can
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: A Word of Advice…
We’re still trying to make sense of this election. There’s no question Rachel Notley’s NDP made phenomenal gains against the UCP. They pulled in 776,000 votes (157,000 more than they received in 2019) and gained 39 seats (15 more than they had in 2019), but it still wasn’t
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Martin Sandhu writes about the development of degrowth as a viable economic organizing principle. And Kevin Drum offers a reminder that the growth we’ve been trained to demand has been entirely funneled into corporate coffers for over four decades, rather than creating
Continue reading