Assorted content to end your week. – Nicola Davis, Pamela Duncan and Carmen Aguilar Garcia report that the toll of long COVID in the UK has surpassed a million people. And Jane Dalton reports on the UK’s massive increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations – which in past waves had tended to
Continue readingTag: Panama Papers
Accidental Deliberations: Tuesday Evening Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Aaron Wherry discusses how the pandemic response across far too much of Canada has been (increasingly) marked by political calculation and triangulation rather than decisions aimed at fighting a deadly disease in the public interest. And Philip Preville writes about the added
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Ben Parfitt comments on the dangers of captured regulators such as B.C.’s Oil and Gas Commission who end up serving corporate “clients” rather than the public interest. And Bryan Walsh discusses the discounting effect which makes it all too frequent for people
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Alex Hemingway and David Macdonald point out the appalling wealth gap between British Columbia’s privileged few and most of the population. – ProPublica reports that the IRS is being used to exacerbate the similar gap in the U.S. by focusing its limited
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Trish Hennessy discusses the connection between child care deserts and child poverty, while pointing out the importance of eradicating both: While the evidence shows the importance of greater learning and socialization opportunities in the early years, it also shows that Canada is
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Robinson Meyer rightly criticizes the Trump administration for trying to bury a devastating national climate assessment on Black Friday. – David Leonhardt discusses the U.S.’ increasing corporate concentration and monopolization of nearly every major industry – and the resulting pressures on communities and
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: New column day
Here, on how Canada is falling further behind the rest of the world on ensuring corporate transparency and recovering income stashed offshore. For further reading…– Transparency International’s most recent report on beneficial ownership is here.– Zach Dubinsky reported on both the UK’s move toward transparency in its offshore territories, and
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Canada’s financial system one of the most secretive in the world: Report
The Tax Justice Network’s 2018 Financial Secrecy Index says Canada’s financial system is less transparent than that of notorious tax havens and countries often portrayed as corrupt by the mainstream media, such as China, Russia and Kenya. That makes Canada one of the key facilitators of illicit financial flaws, global
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Jerry Dias writes that a new year has already seen far too many examples of corporate greed rampaging out of control. Elizabeth Bruenig highlights the contrasting treatment of poor people who face increasingly stringent requirements to access even meager benefits, and the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your weekend reading. – Brian Jones rightly argues that a fair tax system would go a long way toward eliminating any serious concerns about government deficits. And Marco Chown Oved offers some reason for optimism in the Canada Revenue Agency’s response to the Panama Papers. – David
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Bruce Campbell points out how Donald Trump’s blind hatred toward any type of regulation can impose costs in Canada and elsewhere to the extent we’re bound by trade deals which make “harmonization” an expected standard. And Pia Eberhardt recognizes that there’s no point
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading.
– Branko Milanovic examines whether the U.S.’ tax system is actually progressive all the way to the top of the income spectrum – and finds that there’s not enough data about the treatment of the extremely wealthy to be sure. And Robert Cribb and Marco Chown Oved discuss the latest Panama Papers revelations showing the large-scale stashing of Canadian assets in the Bahamas.
– Laura Wright reports that Canada’s federal government has approved secret surveillance technology which leaves the public in the dark as to which of its communications are subject to eavesdropping.
– Meanwhile, the federal government is rather less interested in the public safety concerns involved in documenting the fires on the First Nations reserves within its jurisdiction – having abandoned that task in 2010.
– Ross Belot writes that there’s no point in approving and building new pipelines at the moment other than political posturing. And the CP reports on the connection between air pollution from tar sands developments and the health of residents of the area.
– Finally, Adnan Al-Daini is encouraged by Sweden’s move toward a repair-not-replace mindset, and suggests the idea should spread further:
Continue readingIf more countries followed the Swedish example, think of the impact that would have globally on our CO2 emissions. Manufacturing goods is energy intensive. The website “Fix it-Don’t replace it” gives the example of the iphone6 where 85% of its lifecycle’s carbon footprint is from manufacturing it, not using it and another 3% from shipping it.
Climate change is with us already and such measures are needed as a matter of urgency. Such a proposal should not be a party political issue. Good quality jobs would be created in the country where the appliance is used. It would save the consumer money, and it is good for the environment.
Could we do something similar in Britain? Does this have to be a political issue and parties have to have it in their manifestos before it could happen? I don’t see where disagreement between parties could arise.
Michal Rozworski: “Investment” versus investment
Surprise! A new investigation by the Toronto Star and the CBC found that recent treaties with tax havens like the Bahamas and Panama aimed at more “transparency” have just made it easier for corporations to evade ever more taxes. And Canadian corporations have obliged this golden opportunity. “Investment” abroad has ballooned all the while the […]
Continue readingAkaash Maharaj - Practical Idealism: TVO’s The Agenda: A Culture of Corruption?
Is corruption endemic in the political and economic classes? I joined TVOntario’s The Agenda with Steve Paikin, to discuss the extent and potential remedies to corruption in Canada’s public institutions.
Continue readingAkaash Maharaj - Practical Idealism: Huffington Post: An Open Letter from the World’s MPs to David Cameron
The Panama Papers starkly revealed that Britain’s Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies have become the venues of choice for the anonymous corporations that facilitate tax evasion, organised crime, and terrorist financing. Indeed, more than half …
Continue readingAkaash Maharaj - Practical Idealism: An Open Letter from the World’s MPs to David Cameron
The Panama Papers starkly revealed that Britain’s Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies have become the venues of choice for the anonymous corporations that facilitate tax evasion, organised crime, and terrorist financing. Indeed, more than ha…
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Tax havens have no economic justification, 300 economists tell world leaders
“There is no economic justification for allowing the continuation of tax havens,” 300 economists told world leaders ahead of the Anti-Corruption Summit, hosted by UK Prime Minister David Cameron in London on Thursday.
The post Tax havens have no econom…
Accidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading.- David Akin reports that MPs from multiple parties are rightly challenging offshore tax evasion – though it remains to be seen how many will actually demand a change to the practice. And Tanya Tagala notes that it…
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Assange on #PanamaPapers
This is a great interview, it’s really thoughtful.
What will journalism look like in 5 years? Wikileaks created a whole new model that’s being used in the production of stories about tax avoidance by the wealthy class, while the middle and…
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Whistleblowers and leak activists face powerful elites in struggle to control information
The Panama Papers leak proves, once again, that whistleblowers and leak activists’ role of exposing hidden information is very much alive.
The post Whistleblowers and leak activists face powerful elites in struggle to control information appeared first…