a fun fact that didn't make it to the final draft: when the Constitution was being written in 1982, there was a big debate over whether to enshrine private property protections. They decided not to. But agreed to protect "Aboriginal rights."

One year ago, the BC Supreme Court declared the Cowichan nation holds Aboriginal title over a slice of Richmond at the mouth of the Fraser River. Then came the backlash. I wrote about the trial, and the panic, for @macleans.bsky.social. macleans.ca/longforms/ri...

almost there "The price tag for the project is between $35.2 billion and $43.7 billion...The Alberta government says it has already spent $18.3 million planning the project so far." www.ctvnews.ca/calgary/arti...

Excellent overview from the mighty @justinehunter.bsky.social, on the history of Supreme Court decision that led to Cowichan. Really captures how aboriginal law is evolving before our eyes, with one blockbuster court case after another. www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...

For those following the Cowichan story: Montrose just lost its application to re-open the trial and be added as a defendant. Judge ruled that this is between Cowichan & government, not private parties; also, Montrose knew all along this case was happening and could/should have applied years ago.

Possible to agree with this and also lament that this is exactly the language Republicans (and really, every party in every country in every election, these days) used when they re-obtained power?

Pretty happy today

Important point here by @maxfawcett.bsky.social.

It's great to see all the kudos pouring out for Guilbeault. But I can't help wishing more had come during the Trudeau years, when he was more often accused of buying a pipeline. Gotta hold power to account, but it often feels we're afraid to give credit where it's due (& when it's needed).

If PM Carney's framing of a pipeline deal as ‘climate action’ sounds familiar, thats because it is. Trudeau approved TMX on a promise that its profits would directly fund the clean energy transition. @cathmckenna.bsky.social helps unpack some of the parallels www.nationalobserver.com/2026/05/26/n...

We all know how we feel about this “demonic, mewling turducken of a referendum question,” but can anyone say it the way @sproudfoot.bsky.social says it? I don’t think so. www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/opi...

whoa

I've been waiting for this — a deeply reported story about the unmarked children's graves at Kamloops residential school. Doesn't avoid the uncertainty; doesn't leap to conclusions. Answered a lot of questions I wasn't even sure how to ask. www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...

Highly recommend this Front Burner interview with @arnokopecky.bsky.social An extremely clear breakdown of all the Carney climate rollbacks. podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/f...

Delighted to step back a moment with Jayme Poisson and discuss the long view on Canada's climate policy. These conversations often dissolve into numbers and arcane policy detail. Understandably! But felt good to invite nature into the chat. www.cbc.ca/listen/cbc-p...

"And that is when the entire secession movement slammed nose-first at Mach 1 into an immovable object." Read this if you need proof that sanity remains alive and well in the world. Masterful (& hilarious) analysis of what AB's Supreme Court just did. www.readtheline.ca/p/clarke-rie...

Remarkable that First Nations -- so widely accused of stealing land these days, especially in BC -- are now the ones keeping this country together.

Get ready for BC's anti-reconciliation movement to crash your party, Alberta. www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...

Students, if you’re thinking about dropping a note to that teacher or professor about what their class/project/mentorship has meant to you, but you worry it will be cringe or cheesy, let me just tell you they will coast on the fuzzy feelings prompted by that note for months, if not years

Excellent piece on the state of FN land claims in BC (including the land thefts that sparked them). Focuses on metro Vancouver, but is emblematic of the province: 25 FN's here have filed title claims, but none are pursuing court action. All are negotiating instead. theprovince.com/feature/retu...

when you're positing Mitch "who's gonna look out for caucasians" Sylvestre as the movement's voice of reason...

whoa, Fife is stepping down. End of an era.

In BC, reconciliation is the new carbon tax.

"I saw him tell one crowd that he thinks there are Chinese communist soldiers in Canada in part because he saw six Asian men in West Edmonton Mall wearing new coats." Been waiting for this latest epic from @rwarnica.bsky.social, and it does not disappoint. www.thestar.com/opinion/star...

"The United Nations has been anything but a friend to the caucasian world" and other gems.

Foreign influence? In Alberta?! www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...

You know, one thing that left and right, influencers and journalists, liberals & conservatives and & atheists and anti vaxxers and the ultra-woke preeettttyy much all agree on? Billionaires. Wouldn't it fun to see a movement bringing us all together under that banner. Put the other shit on hold.

a very good, concise explainer worth sending to anyone who thinks the panic over private property begins with DRIPA (and could be resolved by dismantling it)

My favourite moment in any oil price shock cycle is when the Very Serious Energy People explain why this — again! — is not the time to give a shit about the climate crisis

A former proponent of carbon capture comparing emissions-reduction to "a vacation, or even a donation to a worthy cause that you will feel good about" tells you everything you ever needed to know about carbon capture. www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...

An equally heartfelt thank-you to @harleyrustad.com for believing in this piece and helping me bring it into the world. Awards are fleeting (and bullshit, amirite?!), but the number of people who reached out to me to share their own experiences of caring for parents w/dementia has been moving. 🙏

Congrats to all the nominees this year. I'm delighted to be one of them, but especially psyched to see so many friends and colleagues on this list. Great talents and wonderful people who I'm proud to know...and many more I hope to meet. Community, man. digitalpublishingawards.ca/2026nominees/

"Sustained impact" indeed! Impossible to capture the scale of Dave Beers' enabling influence on journalism. He's supported so many journos at every stage of their career, mine included. And pioneered online journalism in Canada. And is a prince of a guy. So well deserved. thetyee.ca/Tyeenews/202...

"struggling high-earner" is just a whole novel

Brent crude is back over $110/barrel today. Oil patch gets a banner year, Alberta government rakes in royalties, and will blame the inflation on whatever shreds of climate policy remain (and Ottawa). thewalrus.ca/the-roller-c...

"Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aurelenio Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice." (solar edition)

"All we are asking is that when we do the alignment work [of BC laws with UNDRIP], we are able to pace it...we cannot align all of our laws overnight." -David Eby. That seems...reasonable? Question is whether or not the Gitxaala precedent actually says BC laws need to be instantly aligned. Unclear.

Between this and American officials' grousing on the same topic, perhaps it's time for another foreign-influence inquiry? This one might actually find something. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

The debate over high-speed rail in Ontario/Quebec makes an interesting comparison to the aboriginal-title furor in BC. Farmers in the east are worried about land being expropriated for a railway. Almost as though private fee-simple ownership isn’t absolute, anywhere, even w/o a title claim.

tbh even Shaheen's defence of Canada is revealingly blinkered. It's not "insults" driving our behaviour. It's threats to annex us, made credible by active attacks on our democracy (fomenting Alberta separatism) & economy (rando tariffs galore). Insults are the least of our worries.

This episode is a super helpful précis of the DRIPA saga in B.C. 👇 #bcpoli

Agreed. It's the democratic equivalent of lead in the drinking water. The longer we wait to remove it, the more lasting the damage will be.

Always great to join the mighty @noorazrieh.bsky.social in conversation. We did a great job navigating the acronym-minefield here, if I do say so. www.canadaland.com/podcast/178-...

which of course is what's kicked up this whole pushback-shitstorm in the first place.

gotta say, the honesty/vulnerability here is refreshing. how many other leaders who f'd up this badly have you heard acknowledge/reflect on it?

One lesson in all this is the power First Nations have in BC. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Listening to the BC Conservative leader discuss DRIPA on CBC right now… Has anyone asked Cons where they stand on the issue that triggered the Gitxala case in the first place — reforming the Mineral Tenure act so that you can’t stake a claim on FN territory without consulting? Do Cons support?

Hormuz is closed! For now! Same shit👇

Hormuz is open! For now! I wrote about the impact of high/volatile oil prices on oil-producing nations like Canada. Short version: $100/barrel oil is great for oil companies and the government of Alberta; it's terrible for everyone else. 1/ thewalrus.ca/the-roller-c...

man, this resonates