My latest drawing of kensington market:

Worked on the bench today. Some of the old art is peeling off.

Happy one year of Dad Rock to me and all my friends (you)

Coming up on Sunday! A discussion on the legacy of social movement journalism in Toronto and the path ahead, featuring Eric Mills, @meganysta.bsky.social, @aliyapabani.bsky.social and @dgrdon.bsky.social. Tickets are PWYC: eventbrite.ca/e/1985960054...

That's TRIPLE 2026 AURORA AWARDS-NOMINATED author and podcaster Rachel A. Rosen discussing speculative fiction on Thursday, along with @cycling2asylum.bsky.social, moderated by @meganysta.bsky.social, on Thursday, by Kensington Market!

Time for a green beer? Or maybe not. What does it mean to be Irish Canadian? WE have a history beyond the famine and the Fenian raids? We also have a choice... canadiandimension.com/articles/vie...

St. Patrick’s Day isn’t just green beer and parades. For Irish-Canadians, it’s a history of famine, migration, and complicity in colonization. This year, @meganysta.bsky.social calls to embrace solidarity and remember the struggles that shaped Irish-Canadian identity.

NOT NOW, MYSTERIOUS LARGE STEEL CYLINDER

For international women's day I'd like to be real. Women in trades are dealing with some really messed up stuff at work. Stuff you probably don't of. Death threats, false imprisonment, attempted murder- and this is happening on big union sites even. My latest: canadiandimension.com/articles/vie...

"The same forces that devalue women’s lives and organize to attack us in our neighbourhoods are at play in both the killing of Renee Good and the life and death dramas that women are prey to in our construction workplaces." NEW from @meganysta.bsky.social:

Ok Canadians. Who does the land belong to? a) Indigenous people b) A King with a Crown living across the ocean who has better bloodlines than the rest of us

For weeks now, us experts have been saying that this is fundamentally the crux of this trial : Does the legal system understand coercion? Today's conclusion is a loud and resounding no.

In her latest, @meganysta.bsky.social argues Conservative politicians' attacks on harm reduction impact a constituency they say they hold dear: skilled trades workers.

“The moment I got some work, I got my phone stolen. And that was it,” he says. “I lost the job.” SLEEPING IN CARS, THE RAVINE, ON A JOB SITE @meganysta.bsky.social talks to construction workers dealing with homelessness while trying to hold down a job. www.westendphoenix.com/stories/slee...

"The battle over trades workers’ votes and trade unions’ endorsements is not only pivotal to electoral politics — we are also the manual labourers that bring election promises to fruition." From @meganysta.bsky.social

Excited to publish @meganysta.bsky.social and her nuanced take on the growing trend of construction and manufacturing unions endorsing Doug Ford. Megan, a construction electrician, argues manual labourers are the people who bring election promises to fruition.

"When I show up to a worksite having been dispatched by my union, I feel like Anne of Green Gables, with the foreman silently conveying, 'We clearly requested a boy.'" Megan Kinch (@meganysta.bsky.social) on life as a single mom working in the construction industry:

most journalists today can be divided into two groups: dedicated, impoverished people who mostly write for publications you've never heard of that started eighteen months ago or JP Random House The First, who writes columns for the New York Times about which ethnic groups it should be OK to hunt

From Canadian Dimension, 1992

I got laid off last month. My kid's dad and my brother got laid off the same week. Working in food and construction,we are the canaries in the coal mine of recession. Hard times are here. My second column in @canadiandimension.bsky.social canadiandimension.com/articles/vie...

My Tweet About a Librarian Not Letting My Kid Use the Phone Went Viral. Here’s Why Toronto electrician and writer Megan Kinch talks about how her super-viral tweet sparked conversations about libraries, parenting and the state of the world. @meganysta.bsky.social www.thegrindmag.ca/tweet-librar...

"People like me and my family members who work in the construction and restaurant industries are canaries in the coal mine of the economy." NEW from @meganysta.bsky.social on Canada's painful slide into recession:

"If we want to turn the tide of deindustrialization and create manufacturing jobs for the economy of the future, we need to be bold. And it starts now, not in some distant future." NEW from @stevenhigh.bsky.social:

In the spirit of Go Birds, I wrote a few thousand words about trying to capture a bird call, singing, being alive and Marshmallow on Bob's Burgers www.anxietyshark.ca/seagulls-sin...

If you saw someone being sexually harassed on the bus, would you know how to help? If you witnessed transphobia at a coffee shop, would you feel safe to step in and de-escalate? If not, give me 1 hour of your time and I'll teach you effective intervention - it's free! Feb 17 Noon EST

OMFG. With literally minutes to go, Biden has commuted Leonard Peltier's sentence www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-roo...

“Sometimes I would go to work, and go to the booze can here, then sleep in that alley. Then I’d go to work hanging off the side of a building doing balcony construction,” SLEEPING IN CARS, THE RAVINE, ON A JOB SITE From the December Home Issue www.westendphoenix.com/stories/slee...

30% Of LA fires are being fought by inmates They’re being paid between 16¢ to 74¢ an hour. They’re fed a bologna sandwich and an apple while fighting the fires. www.forbes.com/sites/dougme...

“Sometimes I would go to work, and go to the booze can here, then sleep in that alley. Then I’d go to work hanging off the side of a building doing balcony construction,” SLEEPING IN CARS, THE RAVINE, ON A JOB SITE From the December Home Issue www.westendphoenix.com/stories/slee...

I'm so happy to see that my op-ed in the grind- about my young daughter denied help at the public library- is the second most read (by clicks) in The Grind this year. Much thanks to everyone who read my long form analysis and story and went beyond just the viral tweet

I'm so happy to see that my op-ed in the grind- about my young daughter denied help at the public library- is the second most read (by clicks) in The Grind this year. Much thanks to everyone who read my long form analysis and story and went beyond just the viral tweet

SLEEPING IN CARS, THE RAVINE, ON A JOB SITE… @meganysta.bsky.social talks to construction workers dealing with homelessness while trying to hold down a job. From the latest issue of WEP, out now. www.westendphoenix.com/stories/slee...

SLEEPING IN CARS, THE RAVINE, ON A JOB SITE… @meganysta.bsky.social talks to construction workers dealing with homelessness while trying to hold down a job. From the HOME ISSUE, out now. www.westendphoenix.com/stories/slee...

This is what i really do as a writer- hard-hitting literary journalism about lives in our city. I talked to homeless construction workers for the West End Phoenix about the struggle to stay working while living rough and construction as a lifeline- maybe www.westendphoenix.com/stories/slee...

“What the difficulties in public spaces tell me is that much more support needs to be given to vulnerable community members. At a basic level, libraries should be the best face of the community. And a good community supports our young people.“

SLEEPING IN CARS, THE RAVINE, ON A JOB SITE… @meganysta.bsky.social talks to construction workers dealing with homelessness while trying to hold down a job. The first story from the Home Issue, which is out today. www.westendphoenix.com/stories/slee...

This is #TorontoDanforth "We all have a collective responsibility to ensure the safety of our youth," @meganysta.bsky.social It's a disappointing incident that goes against so much of what the #torontolibrary stands for, a safe space for children. #ImLibraryPeople youtu.be/ab7hlosD8vo?...

"Any kid at any age can get lost, and we should all be willing to help them." I'm still so upset that the Toronto Public Library staff member refused to help a lost child. What is wrong with people?!?!

Heres my own take on why i think the story went so viral after a librarian told my lost 11 year old they couldn't use a phone to call their mom (me). In The Grind magazine www.thegrindmag.ca/tweet-librar...

Have a viral tweet over on the app formerly known as twitter and its nerve wracking esp since it touches on parenting which is not usually my lane due to the general toxicity but people are mostly being awesome. But biting nails

An important piece to understand how simply promoting the building trades is not enough to make it appealing and accessible to new apprentices or retaining existing ones, especially women, indigenous peoples, and other groups who have been historically marginalized in the construction industry. 1/2

10 years ago i picked up my first call with the IBEW and started my apprenticeship. First job was at the cathderal that i had sometimes gone to as a kid with my mom...amazing first job, great crew, got to work with stone masons and the best electricians in the city @ibewinternational.bsky.social

My latest essay. Start of a new column in @canadiandimension.bsky.social which I'm really excited about. canadiandimension.com/articles/vie...

Ok i tried it here a while ago and it was pretty dead but seems like there is more of a migration going on now.

Look at these amazing squashes for sale at kensington fruit. I want to try eating more squashes

There are so many layers in these old neighborhoods, overlapping, scraped off, repainted, re-installed, repaired well, broken, repaired in a half assed manner....

The Augusta fruit van is almost a more iconic symbol of kensington market than the garden car.

So, this is Connie Converse, a 1950s/60s innovative and overlooked singer/songwriter and NY resident said to have disappeared mysteriously- they packed up their car in 1974 and never came back...idk why there's not discussion of the strong possibility this person started a new life as a man

Been secretly (well secret from the internet) working on the kensington market street piano and we got that thing tuned, protected from water at night, and people are out there enjoying it.

Hello! i think i'm here