whether this is a 'pause' or reversal is not the point. we are not just one OPS short of stopping the deaths and ending the crisis. access delayed is access denied–it has been denied already for thousands of people who deserved urgency: themainlander.com/2026/05/29/c... bsky.app/profile/them...

Failure to ensure city centre overdose prevention site reflects BC NDP deadly abandonment of people who use drugs: themainlander.com/2026/05/29/c... "The Health Minister has capitulated to the ideology of criminalization and containment"

Maybe if Vancouver Coastal Health rebranded it the FIFA Overdose Prevention Site the mayor would support it.

Provincial lawyers throw out case against fired SD61 trustees after texts between senior government officials and VicPD surface surface.

$1000 fine for alleged street vending. the cruelty is the point. www.policeoversight.ca/p/prefifa-po... bsky.app/profile/poli... #vanpoli

Sim's motion directing staff to "use all tools available" inc permitting, licensing, prev legal settlements, etc to prevent opening of OPS passes. Councillors Fry and Orr had tabled motions to defer Sim's motion until council could hear from others, inc VCH; both voted down.

this fund is ~1/4 of the way there. there is already a heightened police presence throughout the new "District 5." support this harm reduction initiative to counter sex worker criminalization on days projected to be heaviest policed this summer: chuffed.org/project/1775... bsky.app/profile/anik...

"According to the data obtained through freedom of information...there were 2,066 non-fatal overdoses at Surrey Memorial between Jan. 1, 2020, and Dec. 4, 2025" thetyee.ca/News/2026/05... @thetyee.ca

This has been a long time coming. Join me and this rockstar team of journalists as we take charge of our own workplace. Our 1st article series launches on Monday with an investigation from @godfrey.bsky.social and @emmaarkell.bsky.social that we think will anger you into action. Sign up & follow!

HI HELLO happy International Workers' Day! i'm so excited to say this is finally happening! After so much time and energy with these wonderful friends, we're launching our non-profit worker-owned co-operative to do journalism the way we want to do journalism.

the B.C. Coroners Service posted two reports on April 24 and I guess nobody noticed? I did just now. it should've been A HUGE SCANDAL #bcpoli Deaths of Individuals Experiencing Homelessness in British Columbia (2016-2024) www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/b...

World Cup games to have largest police deployment in Vancouver's history vancouversun.com/sports/vanco...

this fund is ~1/4 of the way there. there is already a heightened police presence throughout the new "District 5." support this harm reduction initiative to counter sex worker criminalization on days projected to be heaviest policed this summer: chuffed.org/project/1775... bsky.app/profile/anik...

No cop city anywhere - from atlanta to vancouver, cities are being militarized against their inhabitants. themainlander.com/2026/04/20/v...

“I’m not giving up – like a dandelion that can grow anywhere, even in the concrete. We still have a chance to fight to keep this open,” reflects long-time PACE member Mama Rosa in a new report on the 2025 closure of the organization’s drop-in space. themainlander.com/2026/04/17/p...

We echo and stand with the First Nations Leadership Council. @davidebybc.bsky.social built his career on the backs of people that he now abandons and systematically dispossesses.

Vancouver friends! I'll be reading from a couple pieces I wrote for Briarpatch and talking about how the labour disputes I profiled have evolved since publishing those stories. Come out and support independent journalism! www.zeffy.com/en-CA/ticket...

New report looks at impacts of PACE Society’s closure: "...consequence of a system that prioritizes investments in policing as a main approach to “community safety” in place of sustained investments in social infrastructure, support and reciprocal care" themainlander.com/2026/04/17/p...

Hello! We are collecting funds to support SWers who will be impacted by FIFA taking over the DTES. As always, happy to trade nudes for donations of $50 and above, and I’ll be adding this fundraiser as one of the ways I accept deposits. chuffed.org/project/1775...

sharing a short reflection I wrote about working in the toxic drug crisis—which was formally declared 10 years ago today in BC. see those who can make it at Oppenheimer this evening themainlander.com/2026/04/14/e...

"In a short time, we have seen the premier abandon his party’s commitments to address the toxic drug crisis, climate action, affordable housing, access to justice — and now the human rights of the Indigenous Peoples" via @thetyee.ca: thetyee.ca/Opinion/2026...

Call for clothing contributions for s*x workers in the DTES!! As we brace for the upcoming FIFA games in Vancouver, now is the time to start preparing support for our neighbors most impacted by policing and displacement. 1/5

Police training facility is an affront to people’s vision for Woodward’s via @themainlander.bsky.social "It was not a surprise when London Drugs left Woodward’s in February, but rather the finale of a prolonged panic-fueled campaign" themainlander.com/2026/04/05/w...

“For Premier Eby to suddenly say changing DRIPA is ‘non-negotiable’ and will pass this session is an absolute betrayal of everything DRIPA and of our evolving relationship with the NDP over the last decade” Grand Chief Stewart Phillip #bcpoli cheknews.ca/premier-eby-...

people use drugs. five people die from the toxic drug supply per day in BC, and many more people experience a range of nonfatal overdose and poisonings. we are in a time and place where saying we shouldn't set people up to die is 'advocacy' www.ctvnews.ca/vancouver/ar... bsky.app/profile/ctvn...

State surveillance is part of a wider retaliatory scheme meant to silence. In my case the govt tracked my movements, social media infringements, etc b/c we filed a human rights case v the feds to help children. www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/rcmp-security-infiltration-george-manuel-9.7145083

"Complaints of sexualized conduct in British Columbia’s municipal police departments have been frequent enough for the province’s policing watchdog to launch its first systemic investigation into how forces deal with the problem." www.ctvnews.ca/vancouver/ar...

A look into how the RCMP set up a spy operation on Indigenous organizations in the 1970s by CBC's Brett Forester www.cbc.ca/news/indigen...

Our crises are shared: Doug Ford’s government to defund safe consumption sites, drive toxic drug crisis death toll via @sudubc.bsky.social @policeoversight.ca @carenotcops.bsky.social www.policeoversight.ca/p/our-crises...

"The introduction of community police was described by one officer as “a public relations job” meant to “sell the department” to the public:" read @policingblack.bsky.social's look at history of community policing: briarpatchmagazine.com/articles/vie... bsky.app/profile/poli...

Excerpt from the new chapter in Policing Black Lives, “Against the Romance of Police Reform” out in Briarpatch: “Community Policing: Expanding the Carceral Web”. briarpatchmagazine.com/articles/vie...

Dr Lorian Hardcastle told me the way the Alberta government is using personal data for ‘research’ on people who use drugs could cause real harm: “We're potentially targeting people for criminalization or involuntary treatment. The consequences are significant." drugdatadecoded.ca/centre-of-re...

from 2023 - 2025, the BCNDP rejected expanding access to a regulated supply - the primary recommendation by the BC Chief Coroner's Death Review Panel; the Office of the Public Health Officer & a Health Canada Excerpt Task Force on the crisis [1/2] bsky.app/profile/vanc...

2,389 paramedic-attended overdose events in january 2026 is the second highest number of such events attended ever.

As drug deaths decline, non-fatal overdoses/poisonings are shattering records, a decade into the crisis. In 2025, B.C. paramedics responded to avg 108 drug OD/poisoning events per day. Nov 19: 222 Jan 21: 256 Feb 25: 284 nanaimonewsnow.com/2026/02/27/n...

the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal has found that the RCMP discriminated during their investigation into abuse by John Furlong, a former day school 'teacher' in Burns Lake, and CEO of the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee thetyee.ca/News/2026/03... bsky.app/profile/thet...

as someone who would strongly support a city councillor like @seanorr.bsky.social distributing a predictable & regulated drug supply, i've never heard an inkling of this happening. Ken Sim's seeming inability to parse fact from fiction remains his primary mayoral trait bsky.app/profile/isab...

The Province has still not approve this training facility. Westbank was there but didn't take interviews. Chief Rai tapped Westbank founder Ian Gillespie on the shoulder and said, "Thanks for working with us."

ABC has always been a party of strategic lies thetyee.ca/Opinion/2022...

The Justice Institute of British Columbia is issuing a warning ahead of a Vancouver city councillor’s motion to ask for more than $1 million in funding for a new police training facility. www.ctvnews.ca/vancouver/ar...

read the first peer-reviewed research paper using data P.O.W.E.R. collected and analyzed via @ijdrugpolicy.bsky.social: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... #drugsky #harmreduction @pivotlegalsociety.bsky.social @hracollective.bsky.social @harmreductionintl.bsky.social

NEW: Read an explainer on the projected impacts of FIFA 2026 on Vancouver themainlander.com/2026/02/24/a...

Latest from FHS PhD candidate @tsk.bsky.social and collaborators on the public health impacts of transitioning away from decriminalization practices on populations already facing multiple challenges. #SFU #SFUFHS #pwus #ToxicDrugCrisis #Vancouver

I realize it’s not easy or comfortable to think deeply and seriously about this mass death event that people don’t give a fuck about, but that’s your job. Struggling to find the right words is appropriate. Don’t repeat the government’s alibis for their murders

The Tyee asked the health ministry for an explanation as to why it was acceptable to withhold this data during a public health emergency that had killed thousands of British Columbians. It’s been four weeks and we still haven’t heard back. @thetyee.ca thetyee.ca/News/2026/02...

new: open access research in @ijdrugpolicy.bsky.social illustrates some ways that policing in Vancouver has worsened the toxic drug crisis — including alarming examples of police blocking overdose responses & raiding a food donation tent: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... @sfu-fhs.bsky.social

Island Health and local groups are urging North Cowichan to reconsider "uninhabitable" shelter sites in Somenos marsh. Advocates warn that recent displacements are linked to health risks and a spike in overdoses. They’re calling for safer, accessible alternatives. #NorthCowichan #IslandHealth