Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Wednesday Afternoon Links

This and that to pass the time...

- PCS has released a "pledge to Saskatchewan" in an apparent effort to pressure possible bidders. But while the most obvious point of criticism is the fact that most of the pledges are themselves based on actions which are still only in the planning stages, I'd think the larger issue is the fact that the pledge itself is utterly unenforceable - that is, as long as its conditions aren't imposed as part of the federal investment review process. (Which may actually provide some argument in favour of approving a sale.)

- Greg has already pointed out one serious problem with John Ivison's column on the Cons' UN Security Council seat defeat. But the more fundamental flaw seems to me to be Ivison's complete failure to note what I noted earlier: the Cons managed to muster far more votes in the purchased-commitment first ballot than the subsequent one - signalling that part of their fault was in wrongly accepting the premise that votes could be bought and paid for.

- Meanwhile, Murray Dobbin notes that the rejection should serve as an opportunity to agitate for policy that can actually restore some of Canada's lost reputation with the world:
The humiliating rejection of Canada's bid provides a unique opening for civil society organizations working on issues embraced by the UN. Activists now have to move quickly to take advantage -- on bio-diversity, asbestos, Palestinian rights, and on Indigenous rights, the right to water, poverty reduction and climate change -- exposing the now undeniable fact that Canada's policies on these fronts and others have gained us the status as recalcitrant, reactionary state.

Stephen Harper has humiliated us internationally and we need to make him pay for it.
- Finally and on a lighter note, Paul Krugman's Theory of Interstellar Trade makes for a surprisingly hilarious read.

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