Women of Ontario Say No is a non-partisan group that advocates for modernizing legislation to ensure better accountability of municipal councillors if charged or convicted of a violent crime. They have been visiting different municipalities to seek support. 🧵 www.thewomenofontariosayno.com

Today is Red Dress Day. A day to remember missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and two spirited people. What is happening is a direct result of colonialism and its structures. Today, I reflect, learn and listen. More info here: amnesty.ca/red-dress-day/

Spoiler alert: she just won in court.

More First Nations chiefs reminding Dingbat Smith & the Bloc Rednecois that Alberta sits on treaty land & cannot be separated from Canada:

Canada, we’re with you! TRUMPISM IS REPUDIATED IN AUSTRALIA! #auspol

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association on Doug Ford’s attack on Judges today: #cdnpoli #onpoli #lawtwitter

I'm not sure if its ignorance about civics or a blatantly Trumpian attempt to undermine the democratic system of checks and balances and erode judicial independence to consolidate power - but Ford's comments about judges is horrifying. If you aren't scared: you aren't paying attention.

Ontario chief justice, superior court chief justice and court of justice chief justice issued a joint statement on judicial independence and constitutional democracy in wake of premier Ford's comments on judges. #onlaw #onpoli www.ontariocourts.ca/ocj/files/Tr...

Last week, the City of London voted to remove a stationary service depot that provided basic needs (food, water, and two portable toilets) to an encampment in London. www.ctvnews.ca/london/artic...

Advanced polls are open! And couldn’t ask for a nicer location than Museum London’s gorgeous atrium. Come to vote, stay for the view! Voting is an incredible privilege and right. Don’t take it for granted.

Protesters in St. Thomas, Ontario demand Conservative candidate Andrew Lawton be dropped vm.tiktok.com/ZMBqD4yCV/

Ironically, criminalizing poverty will actually be far more expensive than providing supportive housing. Making this new legislation (supported by so many mayors) incredibly fiscally irresponsible, on top of it being regressive and ridiculous.

"We agree with the premier that enough is enough: It’s time to end unsheltered homelessness in Ontario. But, let’s not waste more money shuffling people experiencing homelessness around the institutional circuit" of shelter, hospital and jail.

If Ontario & its mayors, incl #ldnont Mayor Josh Morgan, truly wanted to solve this crisis, there are communities doing it right. Advocate for this evidence based & dignity based approach. Listen to the experts and evidence, not ignorance and the anti-poverty populist trend.

#LdnOnt if you are unimpressed with the stupidity of fining people with addictions and those staying in encampments $10,000 and criminalizing the very poverty this government has made worse by underfunding, then you should know our mayor provide a quote in support of Ford's proposed legislation.

NEW: CycleToronto and other citizens have launched a Charter challenge of the Ford government's law to remove bike lanes. CT's executive director is not present at the Queen's Park announcement because... he was doored on Monday in a painted bike lane and is hospitalized.

THIS.

Criminalization of the very poverty he has helped make worse. Diabolical. I don’t know a single police officer who went into policing to punish the unhoused and mentally ill. And yet. This is where we are headed. How does this guy keep getting elected?

I wish people understood how horrifying it is for governments to feel they can freely toss around using the notwithstanding clause. Once upon a time, no politician would have considered limiting our rights so blatantly, and with such nonchalant disregard.

The 10 supervised drug consumption sites being forced to shut down this spring prevented nearly 1,600 fatal opioid overdoses in one year, Ontario’s auditor general has found. www.thetrillium.ca/news/health/...

The Ford government’s evaluation and selection of the future tenants of Ontario Place “were not fair, transparent or accountable," the AG reported. www.thetrillium.ca/news/municip...

Ontario's auditor general has released her annual report, including highly critical reports on Ontario Place, the province's opioid strategy, the province's use of MZOs and government advertising. A thread of our stories follows.

One of the greatest privileges of my job is representing courageous clients willing to take on large institutions to make systemic change. Case in point: Captain (Ret.) Andrew Gough. 🧵1 toronto.citynews.ca/2024/12/02/r...

Whereas London city council ignores the increasingly angry voices and unprecedented (mis)use of a PR firm by the police board, Mississauga does the opposite: “On Thursday, Peel Region council…passed a motion directing Peel police to “review and reconsider” its budget, with an eye to reducing it.”

The unimaginable cruelty of cancelling benefits to punish workers for legally striking. I don’t care what your position is on the strike, this is gross. All it does is punish the most vulnerable. And give an insight into who CP leadership is and why a strike is happening/necessary.

Sudden DECREASE IN AIR POLLUTION improves HEALTH immediately & over 3 yrs Pittsburgh: a highly polluting coke plant is suddenly closed - Emergency visits for cardiovascular disease decreased 42% immediately, continued over 3 yrs - No change in control http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/2752-5309/ace4ea

A couple of years ago, I started noticing a shift in how Tribunals in Ontario interacted with applicants. First, the obvious increasing backlog and years (no exaggeration) of no contact and delay. But also an increasingly aggressive approach. 🧵1

Absolutely garish, vindictive policy. This government hates you, and they don’t mind telling you as much. #onpoli

Thanks MPP Jessica Bell for exposing the Ford government's Bill 212 amendment which includes preventing people from suing them over the bike lane removals & confirming all of Bloor would be impacted. It's Ontario Place all over again! #shame #BikeTO #TOpoli #ONpoli #VisionZero x.com/JessicaBellT...

Today is the Transgender Day of Remembrance. To remember those murdered simply for being who they are. Murdered for not conforming to regressive and prejudiced ideas about gender identity. These battles continue. In fact, there is a rise in anti-trans hate and violence worldwide.

As an RPP, this feels like a fitting first post on #bluesky for me. There have been SO MANY fundamentally corrupt dealings in this province under the Ford government for years, it is refreshing to finally see my peers and the entire professional industry stand up and speak out against this issue. 🧵

Now, my friends, it’s critical we realize that #Bill212 is NOT just about bike lanes. It’s a distraction for public theatre while the majority of the Bill goes unnoticed. This Bill will EXEMPT HIGHWAYS FROM ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENTS. Yes, you read that right.

Fontana years were not good ones. Why are we repeating old mistakes? The organization getting cuts are already incredible lean and do so much with so little.

I hope my council colleagues will see the importance of restoring this crucial funding. Grant applications are carefully vetted and expenditures are closely monitored. I think funds from this program will return immense value to #LdnOnt taxpayers.

As an example, Business Case #P15 (the Extreme Clean program, back for 2025 Budget consideration) would have a Tax Levy % Impact of .01% with an average annual cost of $1.79 .

Diverting funds from upstream services and organizations that serve vulnerable people or support creating vibrant cities (arts, libraries etc) is short sighted and illogical. We don’t need more armored vehicles and tasers. We do need a vibrant healthy city. lfpress.com/news/local-n...

Hey journos, try “RFK Jr., who has no medical training and often spreads misinformation about vaccines….”. There’s no daylight between being a “vaccine skeptic” and a “gravity skeptic” and if your paediatrician were a “gravity skeptic” about the first thing he’d do is throw your baby out the window.

I don't think people realize how stupid Doug Ford's deal with Musk's Starlink is, not merely from a political perspective but from a tech, policy, and cost one.

It’s estimated that ripping up bike-lanes on Yonge Street, Bloor Street and University Avenue in Toronto would cost Ontario taxpayers $48 million — on top of the $27 million the city spent installing the lanes in the first place. That’s the opposite of common sense. www.thestar.com/news/gta/rem...

This had some media attention, but I think it deserves a second look. In July of this year, the Supreme Court of Canada delivered a scathing ruling from a litigation involving treaties between the Crown and the Anishinaabe. The Court did not hold back. decisions.scc-csc.ca/scc-csc/scc-...

Māori MPs briefly suspended the Aotearoa parliament’s attempts to reinterpret their founding treaty in the most bad ass use of the Haka I’ve ever seen.

caulfieldtim New survey: Public Trust in Scientists pewresearch.org/scien… The decline in trust almost ENTIRELY on the political right, highlighting the degree to which this issue is about political identity & ideology. How can we meet this challenge?

Sign the petition - see link below.

“London’s non-profits shouldn’t pay the price for a rubber-stamped bloated police budget that’s raising taxes, a 350-organization network says as it launches a campaign against community grant cuts.” lfpress.com/news/local-n...

I don't think there's a big London, ON #ldnont presence here yet, but: I am so full of rage between the city's upcoming budget slashing the grants that fund grassroots agencies and council making it harder for Ark Aid to serve unhoused Londonders while ALSO not having any plan for winter response

lfpress.com/news/local-n... Cutting these grants will hardly make a dent in the #ldnont budget but it will hurt Londoners who are marginalized, who are vulnerable, and who are living in poverty.

When people say "safe," they really mean "I don't want to see homeless people."