Alberta government rejects commission’s proposed changes to province’s electoral map
This would upend Alberta’s long-standing way of updating the boundaries of its constituencies for provincial elections. The shift drew condemnation from the leader of the Alberta New Democratic Party, who said the ruling United Conservative Party’s attempt to seize control of the process was an assault on democracy.
THE CANADIAN URBAN CONDITION: Promise, Crisis, and the Future of the Canadian City
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/44871793 [https://lemmy.world/post/44871793] > > https://curmudgeonlycanadian.substack.com/p/the-canadian-urban-condition [https://curmudgeonlycanadian.substack.com/p/the-canadian-urban-condition] > > The Canadian Urban Condition: From Promise to Policy Failure — and Back. A critical essay on Canada’s urban crisis — housing, homelessness, zoning, transit, fiscal federalism. Not fate: policy. > > Canada’s cities didn’t fail by accident. For thirty years we made policy choices that produced scarcity—and then tried to manage the optics. > > For decades, Canada treated its cities like ATMs and battlegrounds — without giving them the tools to build. The result is a housing crisis we can see from every park encampment to every impossible lease renewal. > > This essay lays out what a serious city‑building agenda would require: real supply, rebuilt non‑market housing, zoning reform near transit, and fiscal tools that match responsibilities. Would value your perspective from the ground. > > https://curmudgeonlycanadian.substack.com/p/the-canadian-urban-condition [https://curmudgeonlycanadian.substack.com/p/the-canadian-urban-condition] > > #Urbanism #CanadaHousing #HousingPolicy #Transit #ZoningReform > > urbanism, housing policy, Canada, homelessness, zoning, transit, political economy, non-market housing, fiscal federalism, land value tax > > [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/e8972b57-370c-4c96-8f97-189a6dbe6fad.png]
CANADA’S LOW-WAGE TRAP: The political economy of low wages, the affordability crisis, and what it would take to build a Canada where work pays enough to live on.
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/45696772 [https://lemmy.world/post/45696772] > cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/45696771 [https://lemmy.world/post/45696771] > > > > > https://curmudgeonlycanadian.substack.com/p/canadas-low-wage-trap-the-political [https://curmudgeonlycanadian.substack.com/p/canadas-low-wage-trap-the-political] > > > > CANADA’S LOW-WAGE TRAP: The political economy of low wages, the affordability crisis, and what it would take to build a Canada where work pays enough to live on. > > > > The economy that runs on cheap labour and the policies that keep it running, where a full-time job no longer guarantees a livable life. A Seven-Part Series > > > > Canada’s affordability crisis is often treated as separate problems: housing supply, wage stagnation, immigration pressure, and an overburdened safety net. This series argues those aren’t separate failures — they’re the visible surface of a single political economy with reinforcing incentives. Canada’s Low‑Wage Trap traces how an economy can “function” while leaving full‑time workers unable to afford a basic life in most cities: wage floors anchored below living costs, housing treated as an asset class, public transfers that stabilize low pay, weakened private‑sector bargaining power, and migration systems that can suppress wage signals while creating dependency and abuse risks. > > > > Across seven articles, the series lays out: (1) the architecture of the system, (2) the structural forces that keep wages low, (3) the policy mechanisms that appear to help but lock the problem in place, (4) how temporary labour regimes can predictably produce exploitation, (5) the low‑wage business model and the “zombie firm” landscape it supports, (6) what higher‑wage countries actually built, and (7) what an integrated reform would require — wages, housing, transfers, labour rights, and the institutions to sustain change. > > > > If you want a Canada where work reliably pays enough to live on, you need more than incremental tweaks. You need a redesign of the institutions that decide who gets bargaining power, who captures the gains, and who carries the costs. > > > > Read all articles 👇 > > https://curmudgeonlycanadian.substack.com/p/canadas-low-wage-trap-the-political [https://curmudgeonlycanadian.substack.com/p/canadas-low-wage-trap-the-political] > > > > [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/30e08311-ef92-4dfb-b304-a8822319cee4.png] > > > > [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/99eb823f-6c8e-4aeb-be71-a84237fa76d6.png] > > > > #Canada #CostOfLiving #Wages #Housing #Labour #Inequality #LivingWage #Rent #Policy #Workers > > > > Canada low wages wage stagnation Canada affordability crisis Canada living wage Canada housing financialization Canada rent vs wages Canada temporary foreign worker program Canada union density Canada private sector income transfers wage subsidy
CANADA’S LOW-WAGE TRAP: The political economy of low wages, the affordability crisis, and what it would take to build a Canada where work pays enough to live on.
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/45696771 [https://lemmy.world/post/45696771] > > https://curmudgeonlycanadian.substack.com/p/canadas-low-wage-trap-the-political [https://curmudgeonlycanadian.substack.com/p/canadas-low-wage-trap-the-political] > > CANADA’S LOW-WAGE TRAP: The political economy of low wages, the affordability crisis, and what it would take to build a Canada where work pays enough to live on. > > The economy that runs on cheap labour and the policies that keep it running, where a full-time job no longer guarantees a livable life. A Seven-Part Series > > Canada’s affordability crisis is often treated as separate problems: housing supply, wage stagnation, immigration pressure, and an overburdened safety net. This series argues those aren’t separate failures — they’re the visible surface of a single political economy with reinforcing incentives. Canada’s Low‑Wage Trap traces how an economy can “function” while leaving full‑time workers unable to afford a basic life in most cities: wage floors anchored below living costs, housing treated as an asset class, public transfers that stabilize low pay, weakened private‑sector bargaining power, and migration systems that can suppress wage signals while creating dependency and abuse risks. > > Across seven articles, the series lays out: (1) the architecture of the system, (2) the structural forces that keep wages low, (3) the policy mechanisms that appear to help but lock the problem in place, (4) how temporary labour regimes can predictably produce exploitation, (5) the low‑wage business model and the “zombie firm” landscape it supports, (6) what higher‑wage countries actually built, and (7) what an integrated reform would require — wages, housing, transfers, labour rights, and the institutions to sustain change. > > If you want a Canada where work reliably pays enough to live on, you need more than incremental tweaks. You need a redesign of the institutions that decide who gets bargaining power, who captures the gains, and who carries the costs. > > Read all articles 👇 > https://curmudgeonlycanadian.substack.com/p/canadas-low-wage-trap-the-political [https://curmudgeonlycanadian.substack.com/p/canadas-low-wage-trap-the-political] > > [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/30e08311-ef92-4dfb-b304-a8822319cee4.png] > > [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/99eb823f-6c8e-4aeb-be71-a84237fa76d6.png] > > #Canada #CostOfLiving #Wages #Housing #Labour #Inequality #LivingWage #Rent #Policy #Workers > > Canada low wages wage stagnation Canada affordability crisis Canada living wage Canada housing financialization Canada rent vs wages Canada temporary foreign worker program Canada union density Canada private sector income transfers wage subsidy
The Credential Cartel: How degrees replaced competence — and scarcity replaced skill
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/45695799 [https://lemmy.world/post/45695799] > cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/45529251 [https://lemmy.world/post/45529251] > > > > > 👇 > > https://curmudgeonlycanadian.substack.com/p/the-credential-cartel-how-degrees [https://curmudgeonlycanadian.substack.com/p/the-credential-cartel-how-degrees] > > > > The Credential Cartel: How degrees replaced competence — and scarcity replaced skill > > > > Degrees, licences, and the hidden economics of gatekeeping, where modern work rewards credentials more than competence, and legitimacy costs years, debt, and permission > > > > A new essay: The Credential Cartel > > It explores a question that has become harder to ignore: when did credentials stop being narrow tests of competence and start becoming broad mechanisms of access control? > > > > The piece examines: > > > > degree inflation > > occupational licensing > > labour mobility barriers > > competency vs institutional filtering > > the productivity costs of over-credentialing > > > > The core argument is not that standards should disappear. It’s that we should be more honest about what many credential requirements are actually doing — and more willing to distinguish real public protection from simple gatekeeping. > > > > If you work in education, hiring, workforce policy, regulated professions, or labour economics, I think you’ll find something here worth debating. > > > > 👇 Read Essay: > > https://curmudgeonlycanadian.substack.com/p/the-credential-cartel-how-degrees [https://curmudgeonlycanadian.substack.com/p/the-credential-cartel-how-degrees] > > > > [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/1f72665a-6436-4e88-97b9-c8cd4f14a730.png] > > > > #Credentialism > > #DegreeInflation > > #LabourMarket > > #PublicPolicy > > #HigherEducation > > #Gatekeeping > > #OccupationalLicensing > > #FutureOfWork > > #Skills > > #Competence > > #LabourMobility > > #Workforce > > #Productivity > > #EducationPolicy > > #Meritocracy
The Credential Cartel: How degrees replaced competence — and scarcity replaced skill
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/45529251 [https://lemmy.world/post/45529251] > > 👇 > https://curmudgeonlycanadian.substack.com/p/the-credential-cartel-how-degrees [https://curmudgeonlycanadian.substack.com/p/the-credential-cartel-how-degrees] > > The Credential Cartel: How degrees replaced competence — and scarcity replaced skill > > Degrees, licences, and the hidden economics of gatekeeping, where modern work rewards credentials more than competence, and legitimacy costs years, debt, and permission > > A new essay: The Credential Cartel > It explores a question that has become harder to ignore: when did credentials stop being narrow tests of competence and start becoming broad mechanisms of access control? > > The piece examines: > > degree inflation > occupational licensing > labour mobility barriers > competency vs institutional filtering > the productivity costs of over-credentialing > > The core argument is not that standards should disappear. It’s that we should be more honest about what many credential requirements are actually doing — and more willing to distinguish real public protection from simple gatekeeping. > > If you work in education, hiring, workforce policy, regulated professions, or labour economics, I think you’ll find something here worth debating. > > 👇 Read Essay: > https://curmudgeonlycanadian.substack.com/p/the-credential-cartel-how-degrees [https://curmudgeonlycanadian.substack.com/p/the-credential-cartel-how-degrees] > > [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/1f72665a-6436-4e88-97b9-c8cd4f14a730.png] > > #Credentialism > #DegreeInflation > #LabourMarket > #PublicPolicy > #HigherEducation > #Gatekeeping > #OccupationalLicensing > #FutureOfWork > #Skills > #Competence > #LabourMobility > #Workforce > #Productivity > #EducationPolicy > #Meritocracy
RE: https://techhub.social/@manlycoffee/116415429272342259
When Pierre Poilievre said that Mark Carney is badly educated on economics, sure, I don't think Poilievre should be the one saying this, but I still held back from hopping on the dogpiling bandwagon of laughing at Poilievre.
To quote Nassim Taleb on this "I don't care if we have 15 PhDs or 500 PhDs", in reference to people criticizing Taleb of unhedged risk moments that lead up to the 2008 recession, many of them claiming "these PhDs disagree with Mr. Taleb".
The Parliament of Estonia is orders of magnitude smarter than whoever is in the Parliament of Canada (including Mark Carney).
"Europe should regulate Big Tech instead of banning kids from social media, Estonia says"
RE: https://techhub.social/@manlycoffee/116392790748705158
Canada needs more talented technical people who think from first principles.
My biggest concern is, no matter how much tech use feels liberating, the rollouts are far from it.
Something that will 100% not be liberating: technical rollouts mandating mobile phone use. Tech is supposed to make things more convenient (such as faster database lookups). It shouldn't lock people into forcing them to get a mobile phone that mandates the creation of an account with either Apple or Google.
The liberal party has adopted a motion to ban social media use for anyone under the age of 16.
Perhaps it is a good idea.
I don't know. Perhaps not, due to privacy concerns.
But personally, I'd push for first banning infinity-scrolling video functionality that has been plaguing social media, not just TikTok, but YouTube (via YouTube Shorts), Instagram (via Reels), Facebook (also called Reels), X (formerly known as Twitter has full-screen video scrolling down to another arbitrary video), Snapchat (gotta make money somehow; vanishing messages aren't gonna keep the lights on), Reddit (which has full screen video scroll to more videos).
https://globalnews.ca/news/11797286/liberal-party-adopts-motion-social-media-ban-kids/
CobraChicken3000
Sal Rahman
