"Having a guy like Musk telling us via … Twitter that he thinks Alberta, Saskatchewan & Quebec should all separate … is almost as persuasive as he and his fellow[s] telling us that all those energy- & water-sucking AI data centres are gonna be really … good for us. Really. Some day.

… Musk’s dislike … is probably rooted in the fact that his [grandpa] was arrested by the Cdn govt in 1940 for membership in an org. … subversive to the war effort … against Hitler." #cdnPoli

https://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2026/10/09/Elon-Musk-Makes-Clear-Hates-Canada/

Having a lazy Thanksgiving Monday?
A good day to curl up outside with a blanket, to read?

There are so many interesting reads in today's The Walrus newsletter. Rather than link them separately, I encourage you to have a look at their home page & see what grabs your attention!
#canadianJournalism

I wish they were on Fedi but I can't find them. Best alternative, to follow them here, seems to be: @thewalrus 🤷‍♀️

Which explains why I signed up for their newsletter. 😁
#cdnPoli #ABpoli #whatToRead

Over the past decade, rents in Spain have almost doubled, while wages have not. Rent is estimated to constitute almost 99% of a young (under 30) person's salary.

Citizens have had enough. The eviction of an 87 year old pensioner, nicknamed Maricarmen, has become a tipping point. Folks took to the streets demanding action on housing.

So the Prime Minister called a snap election.

(Short narrated video from the CBC)
https://youtube.com/shorts/4Rpgof79y_M?si=vA60Xb6BCsK8fBkU
#housingCrisis #spain #espana

… Btw: you can subscribe to The Breach newsletter here, for solid Canadian journalism: https://breachmedia.ca/subscribe/

They also have RSS and social media accounts, including @TheBreach, which you'll see on their website. But I like newsletters and the subscribe page was hard to find, so now you have it 🤗 .

a historic court ruling ⋆ The Breach

"Last week, the B.C. Supreme Court made a stunning announcement: the two harm reduction organizers who risked imprisonment to save drug users’ lives won’t be going to jail, & the government has six months to rewrite Canada’s drug laws. 

The judge said Canada needs a legal pathway for 'compassion clubs,' organized in Vancouver by the Drug User Liberation Front, … to reduce overdose deaths by supplying safer drugs."

(Audio or video)
https://breachmedia.ca/bc-activists-risked-jail-time-to-provide-safe-drugs-and-won-a-historic-court-ruling/

There are still tickets to see Norway's star singer-songwriter Tina Dico when she's in Toronto at the end of this month! It's a smallish venue, so you should be able to really feel the music.
I quite enjoyed her when we saw her in the EU. (She sings in English, moody and truthy songs).

Just sayin' 🤗.

Apparently, the DC National Guard has now issued a statement* that the troops, pictured, were not "guarding" that election dropbox … it seems to suggest their location was inadvertent.

Truth or spin? Either way, it doesn't make it any less threatening.

… Or any less illegal.

The Guard is explicitly barred from electoral intervention, I believe.

Via @nullagent https://partyon.xyz/@nullagent/117414873813939279

#usPol #voterIntimidation #voterSuppression

* EDIT re: statement by National Guard: https://archive.is/WU153

Again, first-past-the-post fails to represent the people:

"Parti Québécois win with record-low vote share revives calls for electoral reform.

With only 28% of the popular vote, the party secured 59 seats — enough for a minority government."

(The party came within a few votes in a few swing ridings of winning a majority government & 100% of the power.)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-parti-quebecois-electoral-reform-9.7373016
#cdnPoli #cdnPolitics #quebecpol #quebecpoli #quebecpolitics

I love how a prosaic piece of equipment here also became an artistic message. Thanks @minouette

#NASA #dareGreatly https://spore.social/@minouette/117411294379605785

"‘It’s way beyond an epidemic’: Food demand is surging across Canada as non-profits struggle to keep up.

Organizations in the Second Harvest [food bank] Network say growing demand is leaving some with waitlists, while others have been forced to turn people away due to a lack of food.

#housingCrisis #affordabilityCrisis #cdnPoli #cdnPolitics

9 in 10 Canadian non-profits report rising food demand: study
https://nowtoronto.com/news/canada-nonprofits-food-demand-second-harvest-study/

Translated: "The US has placed the International Criminal Court in The Hague on its sanctions list. ‘This is an unprecedented escalation.’

Previously, individual staff members were on the US sanctions list. With sanctions against the International Criminal Court as a whole, the Court’s functioning will become nearly impossible."

Oh, FFS. #ICC #usPol

De VS zetten het Internationaal Strafhof in Den Haag op hun sanctielijst. ‘Dit is een ongekende escalatie’ | Trouw
https://www.trouw.nl/buitenland/de-vs-zetten-het-internationaal-strafhof-in-den-haag-op-hun-sanctielijst-dit-is-een-ongekende-escalatie~bfa9ff4c/

#Toronto The Nutcracker Prices Increase Next Week! Don’t Delay

https://nationalballetca.prospect2.com/index.php

"Brad Bradford and Olivia Chow clash over AI data centres in Toronto

Brad Bradford says AI data centres belong in Toronto, while Olivia Chow says she has paused approvals to assess their impact on the city’s water, electricity grid and communities … "

Bradford muddies the issue: "Every bank transaction, email, … depends on a data centre …"

BUT those differ widely from *AI* data centres, which can use 10x the resources.

https://nowtoronto.com/news/brad-bradford-olivia-chow-ai-data-centres-toronto/

#noAI #TOpoli

Star article comparing Bradford & Chow.

Here with gift link: https://www.thestar.com/gift-redeem?t=3a92c0f3-15d5-415f-8ea3-c332b42813fb
#guliftArticle #TOpoli

OP Via @nev https://status.nevillepark.ca/@nev/statuses/01M4F6045SP32ENYHXBHBBR7RV

Bradford proposes to remove Scarborough bus lanes
#Toronto

https://nowtoronto.com/news/toronto-election-2026-bradford-proposes-scarborough-bus-lane-removal/
#TOpoli

"closing arguments have begun in one of the largest defamation cases in Canadian media history.

In 2019, PressProgress reported on the words of a political candidate during Alberta's prov. election. [It] was factual & in the public interest. It led to a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against … #PressProgress reporters, CBC, Toronto Star, & others.

… this is about whether anyone with deep enough pockets can make honest reporting too expensive to publish."

journalismdefence.ca/donate

How to explain this nonsense to your non-techie relatives:
https://mastodon.social/@jwz/117395494032574822

#noAI

The city has (finally) been building affordable housing again, but …

"More GTA tenants falling behind on rent as housing costs outpace incomes.

Data from the LTB of Ontario shows increasing eviction applications for non-payment."

… "when people applied for the rent bank, their arrears would be a few thousand dollars. … right now it's not uncommon to see … over $10,000 or even $15,000."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/more-gta-tenants-falling-behind-on-rent-9.7370972

#TOpoli #housingCrisis #cdnPoli #cdnPolitics #ONpoli

Eww. New Amazon 'feature' called "Buy for me" scrapes small merchant's external websites and posts their products on Amazon *without consent or even notification*.

This is awful. #surveillanceCapitalism

This youtuber tells us what it is and why it's bad for everyone - except Amazon (are we surprised?)

(Short narrated video)
https://youtube.com/shorts/s8jGnwmi444?si=Au9Vbc8aGnFili8D

"Canada’s Department of National Defence (DND) has already more than doubled the total value of its new contracts signed with American tech giants this year, according to a new analysis by The Maple."

"National Defence Has Doubled New Contracts With U.S. Tech Giants":
https://www.readthemaple.com/national-defence-has-doubled-new-contracts-with-u-s-tech-giants/