Shares of the Week: Canada, Land of the Monopolies Edition
The City That Rhymes With Fun
'Slacker' Paul Dechene holds Regina city council to account - He might just be Regina’s most underrated citizen. Democracy at any level crumbles without proper transparency and accountability, and Dechene is doing his best to singlehandedly ensure our city is acting on our behest.
When Two Shitty Corporations Become One
Rogers seeks to buy Shaw for $20.4-billion in deal that would transform Canadian telecom market - No, it is not April Fools Day and two of the four largest telecoms in Canada really did just announce their plans to merge. If this is allowed to happen, then Canada has truly become a country of corporations for corporations. It’s amazing that Rogers can still claim with a straight face that this would bring new jobs when the point of every merger is to create efficiencies, capture a market, and increase profits, resulting in less competition for jobs and for products and services, which drives down wages and drives up prices, respectively. The merging of these two monopolies, who I have had a terrible time dealing with in the past as customers of theirs, is truly some dystopian-level bullshit that will see even more money syphoned out of Western Canada.
Bonus: Merger Review Process and Feedback Form - Please use this simple form to let the federal government know that this merger is terrible for Canadians.
The Truth About Equalization
Is Equalization Still Essential for Canada? Video - The federal equalization program continues to be a common cultural grievance pushed by conservative politicians in Alberta and Saskatchewan, taking advantage of people's ignorance of the program. This short discussion of equalization is a must watch for all Canadians but especially those of us on the prairies.
Corporate Welfare
Alberta covered $20 million in unpaid land rent for oil and gas operators in 2020 - Are you a person who can’t pay their rent? Well, that’s your personal responsibility and you better figure it out before you get evicted. Are you an oil and gas company who can’t pay their rent or their taxes? Well, here’s a socialized bailout for you!
Canada is drowning in plastic waste — and recycling won't save us - We focus too much on the individualistic activity of recycling and not nearly enough on the responsibility of producers to reduce the amount of waste they are creating. The wealthy corporations that profit from the use of cheap and abundant plastics need to be held accountable for the amount of waste that ends up polluting our parks and our waterways, as it is clear that personal responsibility isn't working. It's almost like our disposable way of life was manufactured by those same companies.
Buyer beware: Massive experiment shows why ticket sellers hit you with last-second fees - Retailers have fought to not include taxes and fees in advertised prices because they know it’s a lot harder to say no to a purchase at checkout, as this experiment shows. Our entire economy is set up to benefit business and hurt the consumer. This is the price we pay for making the free market king.
The Culture War
Amanda Gorman's Catalan translator dropped because of 'profile' - Its bullshit identity politics like this which is why the Left keeps losing the culture war to the right. Conservative politicians push their own identity politics (i.e. guns, patriotism, 'support our troops', 'support our oil', etc.) but us on the Left are always held to a higher standard. This is why we must instead focus on the class war and be careful to not devolve ourselves into decrying everything as racist or sexist or anything-else-ist, lest we continue to be defeated as actual oppression and exploitation goes unaddressed.
Alberta ‘war room’ says Netflix kids movie ‘Bigfoot Family’ disparages oil industry - This is the kind of laughable stuff conservative politicians are crying about today in an attempt to win voters over since their economic policies are unpopular with most people. This is another reason why the Left must stay on track and not get pulled into a culture war tit-for-tat that we cannot win against the disingenuous right. There is room to win working class voters back to our side if we instead stick to class warfare and offer voters a popular, progressive economic agenda to fight the consolidating power of the ownership class.
Alberta municipalities face 25 per cent infrastructure funding cut - This is the price of putting all your eggs into one basket for decades. Conservatism is killing Alberta and there is no doubt about it. It’s sad so many people are buying into the conservative culture war and continue to vote against their own best interests.
The Class War
Joe Biden and the Democrats Are Your Ruling Class, Not Your Friends - If anyone thought America was going to suddenly be saved by a Biden administration and a Democratic Congress, one would be remiss to forget that the majority of these people are still part of the same corporate ruling class that seeks to push personal responsibility and free market approaches to solving the same problems the free market itself has created. The most-recent battle against fascism has been won but the war against the ruling class that is dividing America, and the rest of the world, continues.
