“I'm living here, I'm working here and I'm paying towards a public health system, and they're not giving us any level of access to it unless we pay for it fully upfront," says the U.K. citizen, who has lived in the Bow Valley since 2023 on a working holiday visa.”

It’s 10°C (50°F) here in Edmonton today, and it feels like spring. There’s an uncontrolled wildfire burning northwest of Calgary. It’s February 5th.

#YYCBike report: Bow River pathway from Eau Claire/Sunnyside through to Quarry Park mainly clear to surface. Some icy spots but typically with clear room to manoeuvre around. Long stretches of ice edge-to-edge south of Carburn Park and through Quarry Park.

I neglected to post earlier, so here is your #YYCBike report for Nose Creek Pathway, end to end: clear to surface. Some ice across the pathway behind the zoo. Otherwise, ice patches at underpasses but with room to manoeuvre and avoid.

#YYCBike alert: 5th Street cycle track closure and no detour at 12th Ave. Terrible sight lines if you’re attempting to join traffic lanes to link to 12 Ave cycle track or continue along 5th Street. CC. @natefor8.bsky.social #YYCCC

Much of the U.S. is not prepared for the influx of people getting older, living longer but aging out of driving. We need to enact policies that make our communities less dependent on people driving themselves around to simply live. usa.streetsblog.org/2026/01/15/a...

Sam and I both have the day off today, and as it is 6°C, we are making the most of it. @criticalmassyyc.bsky.social is next on our agenda.

#YYCBike report: Elbow River pathway is primarily icy and rutted. The residential links in Rideau Park and Riverdale are also soft snow, ice, and ruts. It’s not treacherous, but conditions call for slower travel and turns as well as constant vigilance.

Sam needed to pick up some forms, and the bikes were right for the task.

Hello, 2026 👋🚲 #yycbike

SCOOP: I obtained the lists of books banned at the Edmonton and Calgary public school boards. Click to find out which ones were removed. open.substack.com/pub/theorcha...

With so many countries taking early steps to becoming #Electrostates rather than #Petrostates, will Trump's #OilWar be the biggest yet or is the larger war the #EndOfOil forever? We hit up Canada's best energy writer @markhamhislop.bsky.social for answers PODCAST: www.podcastics.com/episode/4019...

“I don’t recall hearing a lot of stories in my career of people coming in and saying that being told ‘I don’t fit,’ or, ‘What I think is wrong,’ has somehow benefited them or built them into the people they want to be.” globalnews.ca/news/1164053...

Absolutely! But failing the UCP doing the right thing (!), it is excellent to see advocacy organizations pushing back at the use of the notwithstanding clause. Groups like Egale and Skipping Stone should not have to expend their scarce resources on this, but we are fortunate that they are.

Comes a few weeks after Danielle Smith derided courts as "gatekeepers" getting in way of democracy, and used legislation to quash judge's ruling on validity of separatist referendum. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

“[Last week, PM Carney’s office] leaked a story about Canada’s military making plans to resist an American invasion by imposing mass casualties on the occupying forces. “It’s encouraging that they thought that was a good idea, and shocking that it was necessary.” www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

“[The Cycle Toronto v. Ontario case] is often framed as a political dispute or fight between drivers and cyclists. But that framing misses what is truly at stake. Bike lanes aren’t a luxury — they’re essential infrastructure for children’s health and safety.” www.torontotoday.ca/local/opinio...

Today, trans advocates “are back at the Court of King’s Bench in Calgary. They plan to argue that Alberta’s law is a criminal prohibition [an area of exclusive federal power], rather than one focused on health care under the province’s Health Professions Act.” www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...

Out with my neighbours yesterday seeking a impactful ceasefire, a two-way arms embargo on Israel, and open humanitarian corridors into Gaza.

I need a break from the news … Good day to perform some bike maintenance and replace worn parts.

Too many drivers neglect the task of properly clearing their vehicles of snow. I see it regularly with every fresh snowfall and too frequently. This lack of concern for safety should be taboo. With impaired sight-lines, this driver couldn’t tell they were driving down the wrong side of the road.

"We’ve entered a new phase of the genocide — away from the eyes and ears of most of the international community. I think this is not just because of the illusion of 'peace,' but also because so many journalists there have been killed." www.972mag.com/israel-gaza-...

Straight up Nazi shit, which was always what this administration promised.

In the far flung Northern suburbs of Calgary, a man stopped his vehicle to talk to me. His eyes wistful, he told me how as a kid his dad had a bicycle like mine, and they both rode it to do odd jobs around St. Johns. How seeing me took him back. I am so grateful for this shared moment. #yycbike

I try to make sense of Carney's dereliction of climate leadership in this thread 🧵 The conclusions I come to aren't pretty.

“We have to think beyond our own political interests here. We're talking about the structure of a democracy and how for it to be a healthy democracy, there have to be checks and balances.” Former justice ministers, ~30 lawyers criticize UCP for ‘unacceptable’ conduct. globalnews.ca/news/1162304...

His name is Liam Ramos, and he is 5. He was abducted from Minneapolis and trafficked to a detention camp in Texas.

I truly hope you or your loved ones are not among the people who are suffering or experiencing a worse outcome while waiting for care in an Alberta ER and/or hospitals. However, if you are/were, please consider sharing your experience - use the form at the bottom of this story. #AbHealth #AbLeg

This morning, Israeli forces stormed a United Nations site: the UNRWA Headquarters in occupied #EastJerusalem. “International law has come under increasing attack for too long and is risking irrelevancy in the absence of response by Member States,” says UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini

"I did not release this report to the press, but I do understand and support whoever did." Doctors crack secrecy on wave of emergency ward deaths across Alberta calgaryherald.com/opinion/colu...

There’s bicycle parking, and there’s Brompton Bicycle parking.

Donald Trump’s so-called "Board of Peace" is offensive. Mark Carney must reverse his decision to join Trump in this transparently colonial scheme. 1/4

As previously pointed out, there is a real risk of foreign interference in the Alberta independence initiative launched by the Alberta Prosperity Project. Counsel for Sturgeon Lake First Nation has commissioned an expert opinion from Wes Wark to document this risk. 1/ #abpoli #cdnpoli #ableg

Child mortality crisis continues in Gaza, with more than 100 killed since ceasefire

#YYCBike report: pathway and on-street bike infrastructure surface conditions are mainly dry and clear. There are some ice patches occasionally, but generally they are easy to avoid. Watch for ice in low lying areas. Cant emphasize enough how great it is out there. Go get some! 🚲😎

As communities become more divided and more countries are ravaged by genocide, violence and repression, as the planet burns and floods, as hatemongering, narcissistic autocrats and tyrants do as they wish, the last thing we can countenance is taking the world ‘as it is’. 3/4

“The world as it is, not as we wish it.” 🧵⬇️. 1/4

This is interesting for its dark insights into why people sign up to join ICE and how the tactics of organized community action are effective in gumming up the gears of ICE operations. www.ms.now/opinion/minn...

Thank you, hard working and strained Glenmore Water Treatment plant. You got us through another one.

NEW: City of Calgary is lifting all water restrictions effective immediately, according to CEMA chief Sue Henry. The repairs on the Bearspaw feeder main are holding and monitoring of the pipe will continue.

Thanks to everyone who conserved water over the past two weeks ❤️! Effective immediately, all water restrictions have been lifted for the city of Calgary, Airdrie, Chestermere, Strathmore and Tsuut’ina Nation.

Heads up #yycbike - extremely dangerous 12 ave lane closure at 14th St. No signage eastbound - just a plastic barrier. Westbound says to use sidewalk and has the immediate sidewalk closed. Unacceptably bad detour. @calgary.ca @natefor8.bsky.social #yyccc

A rainstorm swept across the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, flooding hundreds of tents, collapsing homes sheltering families and killing at least six people, local health officials said. A one-year-old boy died of extreme cold in a tent in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza. www.reuters.com/business/env...

Today is the 1990 anniversary of the final run of the VIA passenger train, The Canadian, with service in Calgary. As has become our annual tradition, my family has this documentary on the docket for viewing tonight: 🍁🚂 www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNKi...

“I’m just a kid that wants to play sports with my friends. I’m not special. I just want to be left alone and hopefully be successful in sports. We’re not a threat. We’re not gonna tear down the world.” www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

I'm not sure why @donbraid.bsky.social felt it necessary to write a scathing and flippant column framed on an offer of mental health supports to city employees in the hours leading up to the Bearspaw Panel's report and the days since. 🧵 calgaryherald.com/opinion/colu...

“[Palestinians] understand that 2026 is shaping up to be a year of status quo, one of only cosmetic change that will not threaten the continued rule of Netanyahu and enable Trump to keep saying ‘things have changed’ […] This is not the path to peace and stability.” www.haaretz.com/us-news/2026...

Honourable @evansolomon.bsky.social, X is unsafe for women. It promotes hate. You know this. Why is the Government of Canada continuing to use this abusive platform that's so clearly opposed to Canadian values – the values that you and our Prime Minister profess to protect? #BanX #BanGrok

Calgary “remains a low-density municipality, resulting in more kilometres of pipe per resident than any other large Canadian peer city,” Calgary: 4.2 Edmonton: 4.0 Montreal: 2.7 Toronto: 1.7 Vancouver: 0.6 I hope this helps council to evaluate sprawl. I’m not optimistic. Excellent synthesis👇🏼