Again just so overjoyed that BC Cancer has agreed to treat Francisco. But he's not out of the woods yet: CBSA is still planning on deporting him next week. It's not clear if he'll be able to start/ finish his treatment before then. My update on @thetyee.ca thetyee.ca/News/2026/02...

BC Cancer has agreed to treat Francisco Barahona on an urgent basis after The Tyee reported Thursday he had being denied care despite being ravaged by cancer, @michellegamage.bsky.social reports. thetyee.ca/News/2026/02...

Incredible to report that BC Cancer has agreed to treat Francisco Barahona on an urgent basis. He's been living in Canada for 15 years and was diagnosed with cancer in 2023. However CBSA has set his deportation date for next week. This story is still unfolding. thetyee.ca/News/2026/02...

BIG UPDATE: Francisco’s lawyer Yanni Nicolidakis-Mustafa says "BC Cancer has agreed to treat Francisco on an urgent basis… He is still waiting for a bed to open up for him, but they have taken note of the urgency of the matter and are moving quickly to get him into treatment.” @thetyee.ca Impact!!!

Hundreds of incredible journalists were fired from the Washington Post yesterday. I can't stop thinking of this graphic on Bezos' wealth. And how little the Washington Post means to him. Billionaires, and especially trillionaires, have a terrifying amount of power. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Check out @harambealliance.bsky.social 's first symposium and expo “Disrupting Ageism, Centring Black Lives” this Saturday, Feb.7 at @langaracollege.bsky.social's T building (closest to the Canada line). Symposium 9-3, expo 3-7.

Black seniors have to deal with anti-Black racism, a health system never designed for them AND ageism. I spoke with @harambealliance.bsky.social's Elvenia Gray-Sandiford about how to change that. First, we need data to establish baselines, then plan a path for improvement. thetyee.ca/News/2026/02...

Amazing to see this story getting a lot of outrage and reach, as it should

"Policy should be based on evidence and data, not anecdotes, Lapointe said." via @thetyee.ca & @michellegamage.bsky.social thetyee.ca/News/2026/02...

‘Now Barahona is trapped. He is too sick to survive a deportation flight to El Salvador and has no way of quickly getting approved for health-care coverage.’ Reporting by @michellegamage.bsky.social thetyee.ca/News/2026/02...

Fighting Cancer, Facing Deportation and Denied Health Care thetyee.ca/News/2026/02... @michellegamage.bsky.social @thetyee.ca ⤷ canadahealthwatch.ca/featured 🍁

"Canada is characterized as a humanitarian place. But I feel alone, like there’s cold water on my back.” Thanks @michellegamage.bsky.social for this excellent and humane reporting in @thetyee.ca today. thetyee.ca/News/2026/02...

Hopefully Francisco’s lawyer can delay his deportation long enough for the health industry to be shamed into providing care, or he gets MSP coverage. He can pay out of pocket for care but it’s $$$. Here’s a fundraiser going to help cover his medical/ legal/ rent for a bit chuffed.org/project/1554...

Cancer has eaten away at his bones to the point where coughing can break bones. CBSA is considering putting him on a plane to deport him Wednesday. He’s had several recent surgeries to repair broken bones — he is at high risk of blood clots, or other potentially life-threatening complications.

It is deeply troubling to hear that Fraser Health once again seems to be calling Canada Border Services when patietns without status seek care at their ERs. In 2014-2015 Fraser Health called immigration 500 times to report people.

Francisco Barahona, who has been living and working in Canada for 15 years, has been struggling to access treatment for the cancer he was diagnosed with in 2023. A hospital called immigration because he didn’t have status. He’s being deported Wednesday. thetyee.ca/News/2026/02...

Here’s how we can improve (and speed up) health-care access in Canada. It has nothing to do with private companies like Telus Health

If you are part of the Canadian Packaged Bread Class Actions Settlement you might get an email asking to verify your ID through Interact. Problem: my bank wasn’t on there. Solution: you can call the help number and after about 10 min on hold I could verify over the phone. No bank info needed.

"It’s like politicians wanted to stop employers from exploiting the system, not from exploiting the workers." @ximenaka.bsky.social interviews Marcello Di Cintio for his new book, Precarious: The Lives of Migrant Workers @thetyee.ca thetyee.ca/Culture/2026...

"Health Canada's witness in the Drug User Liberation Front’s judicial review trial frustrated the judge and highlighted how opaque and frustrating Canadian drug policy can be." "[S]eemed to be 'seeing [evidence] for the first time and guessing.'" #BritishColumbia #Canada #Drugs #Healthcare #Courts

Hootsuite says it will not drop the contract with ICE despite public outrage.

The measles outbreak in South Carolina is now bigger than the Texas one was. If an unvaccinated person is exposed to measles they have a 90% chance of getting sick. Vaccines have an incredible safety record. If you have questions, talk to a doctor arstechnica.com/health/2026/...

Another Canadian Member of Parliament is quitting the 3-in-1 online harassment, extremist propaganda and computer-generated sex image app, X dot com

How do you create a regulatory pathway so Canada can implement a non-medical model of safer supply to save lives in the middle of a public health crisis? Not even the guy who was No. 2 at Health Canada could think of a way. The fed gov makes drug laws, and can’t think of a way to get around them.

On Monday Eric Costen, who used to be No.2 at Health Canada, testified in the DULF trial. He says HC was open to a non-medical model of safer supply, but couldn’t point to any proof of that openess. DULF lawyers presented a list of experts suporting a non-med model. thetyee.ca/News/2026/01...

Hey fam, there's a province-wide alert for unregulated drugs mixed with medetomidine, a sedative more toxic than xylazine. Also dillies with no hydromorphone just fent. Get your drugs tested, don't use alone and check in on friends and family. More info on drug alerts: towardtheheart.com/alerts

Well I think I shall start my weekend by ugly crying over this incredible piece written about a sibling poisoned by unregulated drugs. "For Ryan, with Love" on @thetyee.ca thetyee.ca/Culture/2026...

The swab checks for an HPV infection. No HPV = low risk of cervical cancer! Yes HPV = a doctor can monitor for pre-cancer cells and treat early if they appear. This can help a person avoid ever developing cervical cancer. We're also already seeing the HPV vaccine lower pre-cancer rates. SO DANG COOL

Did you know you don't have to get regular PAP tests anymore? In B.C., people can get a self-swab kit sent to their home that checks for a HPV infection, which can lead to cervical cancer if ignored. The self-swab kit is better at detecting an HPV infection than a PAP. thetyee.ca/News/2026/01...

This boggles my mind. The city doesn't think it has to pay its own employees enough to live in the city.

Tumbler Ridge hasn't had an ER in the evenings and weekends since September. The town was supposed to get 2 ambulance to drive people 100 km to the next ER. But those ambulance aren't always staffed. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

After nearly getting hit as a pedestrian almost daily in Vancouver I have started waving at drivers. Sometimes a small wave, sometimes a big one. I want to get their attention to make sure they see me. So far.... really surprising success. Drivers are not used to being waved at and they notice.

Impact! Reporting on vulnerable communities can feel like yelling into the void a lot. But apparently a wealthy and powerful reader heard what I was yelling about and stepped up. Cried a 'lil with happiness. But we need gov, not individuals, to fund these services long term. Complex feelings today.

BIG FEELINGS. A wealthy Tyee reader read my reporting on the Kingsway Community Station and stepped up to help cover nearly the entire year of operational expenses. I am overwhelmed with feelings of gratitude, proud of impact and furious at gov for not funding this service thetyee.ca/News/2026/01...

Uhh so I've got a good news update coming that made me cry a 'lil with happiness earlier today. It's about my reporting having an impact and I got a lot of complex feelings going on but I think gratitude towards individuals is at the top. Stay tuned.

"In 1949, iodine deficiency was common enough that the [Canadian] government mandated iodization of table salt, dramatically reducing the prevalence of goiters and hypothyroidism. For decades, this subtle public-health intervention worked remarkably well." www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/...

“My body was at war with me for no reason.” The province doesn’t fund nearly enough of these small electrical devices that interrupt pain signals before they reach the brain, say experts. @michellegamage.bsky.social reports.

Health reporter @michellegamage.bsky.social wrote about a new way to manage chronic pain that's being offered to some, but not all, patients in B.C. thetyee.ca/News/2026/01...

A new mobile sexual health testing service is now accessible for immigrant and migrant sex workers across the Lower Mainland. @michellegamage.bsky.social reports. #vanpoli

To overcome fear of arrest & deportation by migrant sex workers, @swan-vancouver.bsky.social is bringing health care services to them while they're at work via @michellegamage.bsky.social @thetyee.ca #publichealth #healthequity #sexworkiswork #cdnpoli thetyee.ca/News/2026/01...

ICYMI or an explainer would be helpful: @tyolsen.bsky.social and I dropped this series last week on why hospitals are overcrowded, and how it's impacting patients thetyee.ca/Series/2025/...

A lot of really good information in this one! Calgary hospitals are struggling as flu season rolls in. Flu has killed 47 Albertans, sending 116 to the ICU and hospitalizing 1,635 in Alberta so far. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Lol this reporter got sass for including how 'santa isn't real' in this article. As if some kid who reads CTV articles about polls still believes in santa. www.ctvnews.ca/vancouver/ar...

The 2025 Headline of the Year Nominees 🧵

Public health notice: check your pizza pops! There's a recall on some of them after a string of people got sick with E. coli. All the info is here: www.canada.ca/en/public-he...

I had no idea in Florida when someone is getting the death penalty that their family is not allowed to attend the death. The victim's family is allowed to watch them die, but not their own family. That makes me so sad. America is friggen weird with all things death. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/u...

The free birth movement spreads medical misinformation to separate pregnant people from health care services. Once expecting parents are isolated they subscribe. The FB creators have made $13 million in revenue since 2018. The Guardians' full investigation: www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int...

The Guardian's reporting on the free birth movement is A++. FB encourages people to give birth with no medical interventions, even if the baby dies. If the baby dies it 'was meant to be' and therefore the FB folks have no legal responsibility. FB has made $13M. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...

"DULF helped them stabilize." "When you witness the horror of someone you love dying, you don't want to see that ever again." "Having a safe alternative [to street drugs] is a solution to that." #BritishColumbia #Canada #Drugs #Healthcare #Courts #Policing

The flushing seems excessive 😅 You can just put something on the lid so the rat can't escape and then leave it alone. It'll go back down the toilet on its own That's what I did, anyways 🤷‍♀️