In New West, the political rhetoric has gotten completely out of control, stoked by the New West Progressives. At our Monday council meeting, the two NWP members voted against me attending a conference about countering online harm and misinformation. Meanwhile, on their social media page, there is

Freshet News - Western Canada's first non-profit news co-operative - is now online. Check it out! #NewWest #Burnaby #Tri-Cities www.freshetnews.ca/a-new-beginn...

One way to address the looming threat of job losses amidst downturn in the housing sector could be to stabilize housing production through countercyclical non-market housing development at scale (in addition to reforms and innovations that make housing production generally more cost-effective).

#Canada is missing millions of affordable homes. The Federal Housing Advocate is calling on #Canada to scale non-market housing to solve the housing and affordability crisis. We have the tools – we need the political will to act. Her advice to government includes:

If Dan’s Diner isn’t on your weekly grocery trip #newwest you’re missing out. I just got my regular three tubs of frozen soups, plus a berry jam. They’re all made from perfectly good supermarket unsold food.

The fed gov cuts to pay for military and wealthy tax cuts have rapidly expanded. My new analysis shows that most of the cuts will now be on transfers to other govs, non-profits and people. A stunning 1 in 5 dollars is just cuts to FN govs for basic social programs. @policyalternatives.ca 🧵👇👇

Karyn Pugliese: The NDP’s recovery depends on whether the progressive left still wants a party of its own — or is willing to survive on the scraps of an almost unprecedented Liberal-Conservative alliance. thetyee.ca/Analysis/202...

I agree that this is an excellent article on the importance of developing much more social housing. Móytel Lalém is a beautiful building with wonderful people living in it like Margaret, who is a pillar of strength and love in the community. May there be many more places like it.

The CMHC's 2022 supply gap analysis, where they advocated for tripling housing production (primarily through market supply) to reduce prices by roughly 30-40% in major markets by 2030, has always felt like something of a fantasy to me.

Read Dan, and read @andreawoo.bsky.social, www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic... on an incredible Canadian figure. The Downtown East Side has been a hard place for decades, and it eats people. Trey Helten seems like he was one of the truly archetypal figures in the fight for life and death there.

Tenant protections that prevent renters from being displaced by redevelopment into situations of housing insecurity should be seen as a minimum development standard akin to essential safety infrastructure, basic environmental regulations, and respect for labour rights.

After hearing Carney slip some Aristotelian virtue ethics into his speech last night (virtue is like a muscle that grows with exercise), there was part of me that was hoping that he might continue into more abstruse virtue-theoretic concepts while maintaining the style of political rhetoric.

It was nice to see the NDP's announcement today on renters' rights, including support for national rent control and the legal recognition of tenant unions to collectively bargain with landlords. www.ndp.ca/news/ndp-end...

I'm reading Stephen Jay Gould's book, Wonderful Life, on the fauna of the Burgess Shale and natural history (I'd love to do the Walcott Quarry hike in Yoho someday). The themes of contingency and path dependence are making me think about the nature of both evolutionary biology and urban planning.

There is no shortage of good ideas for disentangling Canada from the U.S. and investing in more resilient alternatives. What all of these ideas have in common is a foundational belief in and commitment to the public interest. New from me: www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc...

Are there any politicians in Canada calling for a large-scale public works program (e.g., infrastructure, public housing, jobs guarantee) to counter the recession-inducing effects of US tariffs? This seems like an opportunity for the NDP to distinguish themselves and/or pull the LPC leftward.

is 2025 the year of worker-ownership? yes it is. excited to announce with @brishti.bsky.social and @davidpball.bsky.social that we're launching @debriefcomms.bsky.social, worker-owned collective doing communications work!

This is an excellent thread, and it reminds me of a line from bell hooks, "What we cannot imagine cannot come into being." The naive cynicism that Solnit describes limits our imagination of what is possible and thus limits what we can become.

Amazon couldn’t stop a historic union drive in Quebec—so now it’s shutting down all its facilities and leaving the province. Scholar and organizer Mostafa Henaway says the corporate giant is sending an unmistakable message of intimidation to its global workforce. breachmedia.ca/amazon-quitt...

Want to focus on your community? Consider running for council or school board in your next local election. Our next campaign school starts in February and is 2/3 full already! docs.google.com/forms/d/1feQ...

I wonder if it is a distinctive phenomenon of Canadian politics to mix hockey metaphors with calls for austerity governance, all in a spirit of affable good humour. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORCH...

I just want to teach them to write...

The engagement on these types of threads makes me wonder what the barriers are - and how insurmountable they are - to the seemingly obvious policy synthesis of both upzoning (in a way that minimizes harmful impacts to low-income renters) and gradually but steadily socializing housing production.

Vancouver's big Broadway Plan just got bigger. Many hate towers. But renters worry how the "strongest protections in Canada" will play out when the demolitions start. Teresa was handed a form with contacts that included "homelessness services." My @thetyee.ca story. thetyee.ca/News/2024/12...

Writing is thinking. It’s not a part of the process that can be skipped; it’s the entire point.

I heard this was an Art Deco chamber?

Homelessness worsens. Displacement looms. Supply shrinks. Home prices superheat. How did this crisis begin? When the federal government decided to do nothing for 24 years and fuel the market instead. Some history for you on this National Housing Day. @thetyee.ca thetyee.ca/Analysis/202...

Is a phone really useful, if I can choose who I talk to? my latest for The Globe and Mail

The views of Eric Carlson (CEO of Anthem Properties) quoted in this informative article remind me that talking about freedom without love is ultimately not to talk about freedom at all in any meaningful sense.

This is a great analysis of the use of the Housing Accelerator Fund in the Metro Vancouver area (and gives some reasons to doubt some of the housing numbers attributed to the program). Dustin's writing in The Bind is also worth following more broadly!

I've been trying to think about what this could look like more concretely: one aspect of non-domination could be a better balance of power between renters and property owners through the legal recognition of tenant unions in buildings and support for collective bargaining in redevelopment processes.

Living wages across BC are increasing—primarily due to soaring housing costs—highlighting an affordability crisis. Metro Vancouver’s living wage has risen to $27.05/hour. Whistler is the highest in BC at $28.89/hour & Clayoquot Sound 2nd at 27.42/hour. www.policynote.ca/livingwage2024

I support upzoning, but the policy focus should first be to stop the historical and ongoing injustices of housing-related forms of displacement noted in this article and then to figure out how to do zoning reform within a philosophy of emplacement involving reparation, inclusion, and non-domination.

Hey #NewWest! A temporary use permit for a 24/7 emergency shelter at the old Army & Navy is going to council on Monday. If you'd like people to have a place to stay that would "reduce the potential for death, illness and injury for the unhoused" then write to [email protected] with your support!

The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is more than just a day of reflection — it is a day to heed urgent calls to action to support Indigenous Peoples’ well-being. thetyee.ca/Opinion/2024...

This seems like a good argument for robust public housing development that can build countercyclically to fill supply gaps. storeys.com/toronto-cond...

New #LogicCheck from @vancolour.bsky.social just dropped: Premier Eby’s government has admitted vacancy control protects renters. Now, making a low-key about-face, the NDP insists the measure isn’t in its toolbox and disappoints 100,000 B.C. households. #BCElxn2024 #bcpoli

Decided to write an op-ed about why the province should stop the dangerous precedent of allowing landlords to raise rents above guidelines to cover financing costs. vancouversun.com/opinion/op-e...

This is a bad ruling with flawed reasoning that sets a dangerous precedent - hopefully, the housing minister will move quickly to remove this provision from the Residential Tenancy Act and support the tenants in this case to challenge the ruling through judicial review. bc.ctvnews.ca/b-c-landlord...

How long to wait for the parallel announcements that the province will be funding the construction of over 1,000 below-market units in New West over the next five years and that BC Housing will finally break ground on its already-approved supportive housing project? news.gov.bc.ca/releases/202...

More on the mass resignation of editors of 𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘺 & 𝘗𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘈𝘧𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘴: an op-ed by yrs truly in The Guardian, about the commercial academic publishing scam #PolTheory #philsky #polisky #academicsky

Amsterdam has some top-notch cycling infrastructure - it's been great to ride around the city by bike!

Decided to write an op-ed after New West was put on the province's "priority communities" list: theprovince.com/opinion/opin...

I have a NEW piece in Policy Options about our immediate need to preserve MAiD-free healthcare spaces which proponents are trying to eliminate. Also about ableism, contagion & the way professional lobbyists are manipulating the discourse & setting policy. policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/ap...

I recently read Ricardo Tranjan’s book, The Tenant Class, which is certainly worth reading for anyone with an interest in housing justice. Tranjan starts the book with the provocative claim that there is no housing crisis in Canada. 1/