This. This is the problem. OH and S standards are different for HCWs and for the life of me (and them) I can't understand why.

‼️UPGRADED FLOOD WARNING‼️ The River Forecast Centre has UPGRADED to Flood Warning: ❗️ #Coquitlam River downstream of the Coquitlam Dam. Follow instructions from officials and stay clear of flood waters. 🙏 👉 bcrfc.env.gov.bc.ca/warnings/advisories/FWN_2025_12_16_2130_Coquitlam_upg.pdf #BCFlood

Interesting that the federal government hasn’t reached out to B.C. or Abbotsford re: floods this week. This was the front of the paper today, btw.

My Tyee article is out - on the stalewasem bridge: thetyee.ca/Culture/2025...

NOOKSACK THREAD: As dawn breaks, western Sumas Prairie is on evacuation order. The lakebed is on alert. From border cams you can see Sumas, Wash., immediately south of Abbotsford is not flooded. Which is good.

“The City of Abbotsford has declared a State of Local Emergency and has issued an evacuation order for 371 properties in Sumas Prairie West due to risk of flooding. Residents in the affected area must leave immediately.” www.abbotsford.ca/city-hall/ne... - The City of Abbotsford #Abbotsford

It's also good to keep in mind that even a low efficacy flu vaccine is still likely to keep you and your loved ones out of the hospital and out of the morgue. Thus concludes my ongoing plea for people to get their flu shot ASAP. [5/5]

👏 👏 Great example to follow, written in plain languages for those organizations struggling with AI policy at the moment.

There's also the position of seeing people talk about the thing YOU created as a super intelligent machine and you wondering WTF they're talking about because there were more than 1,000 data workers who labeled the data you trained your model on.

People continue to call COVID advocates’ pleas for masking “unreasonable”. Yet people who’ve already been disabled by COVID have no choice but to live with the “unreasonable” burdens of constant COVID safety. My latest: substack.com/home/post/p-...

The human heart is The size of a Fist Clenched. Indefatigable, and infallible On pain of death. And yet it skips At the most curious Times, To remind us of its finite Beats. And perhaps to attend us To use them both wisely And with abandon. — Darren Markland, August 2025

Mr PG FTW!

Thank you. I was asked “am I ok” & the answer is no. I am upset about what is happening now. Listen to @wendyorent.bsky.social and I warn about this- specifically RFK- in 2023. There was no way to get some people to take this seriously. They joked. 🤷‍♂️ podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w...

I recently got COVID after 5+ years of trying to be careful. I’m only starting to test negative after 2 weeks - seems like others have the same experience. This is not a cold. One-way masking has its limits. We wouldn’t tolerate drinking polluted drinking water, time to demand clean air!

I guess you also could say things like "during AIDS" if you wanted. Mind you, a focus only on acute deaths is what COVID minimizers did all along.

It’s been a while. Time to update. Comment if you are a BC local elected official and want to be added to the list. go.bsky.app/UU5rr3i

Canada is on the verge of adopting a national standard requiring N95s in healthcare—and your voice can help make it happen.

Family of hostage held by Hamas pleads for international response after release of videos www.theglobeandmail.com/world/articl...

Golden orbs Capturing sunlight for the first time in 2 years As erratic temperatures interfere with their existence The return of the humble peach brings a moment of joy

Ok fine I voted for this bracket, but can I start a lobby that Ogopogo be properly named nx̌ax̌aitkʷ (pronounced N-ha-ha-eet-kw), **when** it moves to the next round @jmcelroy.bsky.social ? indiginews.com/okanagan/don...

Best bracket yet!

💯 Every degree matters! A recent presentation by a retired Canadian political advisor drove this home for me - their narrative was that future climate is all about China and India, so therefore emissions in N America / Europe don’t really matter. Imagine where we would be if no-one had done anything

What could go wrong? 🤯 😵

Indigenous hydrogeology for the win! And historians for discovering that early (and lost) technology. www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

A picture from a side project today - interviewing people to find the oldest, extant, in use structure in BC. That shed (constantly repaired & updated) is recorded by Simon Fraser in 1808, and was old then. Parts of it are 300+ years old, likely more - the rocks around are worn down by bare feet.

Enshittification in action… When everyone is stuck using Microsoft 365, and Microsoft just made it impossible to disable Copilot AI. Gotta increase AI adoption rates of somehow! 💪 🤪 Today’s IT email:

2021: There is no AI, you're doing your own laundry. 2023: CEOs are saying that AI is coming and will do your laundry. 2025: There is AI. You're still doing your own laundry. 2027: You're doing the AI's laundry.

The healthcare system everywhere is under pressure, but as anyone who lives in the Interior knows, there is objectively a two-tier system. The closure of a pediatric ward for 6 weeks would not be tolerated in the Lower Mainland. Serious issues that require systemic change.

Is everyone so interested in this election they are crashing the result sites? IT folks tonight are sweating bullets as Elections Canada, CBC and other sites regularly go down or glitch.

Wade Grant won! Musqueam nation - hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ speaker (a Salish dialect, the Native language most of Metro Vancouver). The first Coast Salish person in parliament, AFAIK.

It’s a good idea to mask up outdoors, close windows and run air filters in several parts of Vancouver - including Kitsilano and East Van. The smoke from the multi-building fire on Hastings @ Lakewood has spread westward. Real time neighbourhood data at map.purpleair.com/air-quality-...

I've cracked the code of why byelection lineups are so long in Vancouver today. It's not just a turnout question. Compared to the 2017 byelection, the city decreased the number of election workers by EIGHTY PERCENT. From 1,250 in 2017 to 250 this time around. This was a staff recommendation.

Vancouver's by-election was poorly organized with 1/2 the locations & 800% less staff than 2017. As a result there's been extremely long lines. I wrote a quick post about the consequences of this for access & how considering disabled people in design prevents this. open.substack.com/pub/mssineno...

Here's my piece on the end of the McBarge. Dreams die, boats sink, memories for millions of British Columbians will fade. But friendships are forever.

Quote post a photo from your phone when you search for Canada.

When Seamus Heaney, the Irish poet, died in 2013, his last words were sent by text: Noli timere. “Don’t be afraid.” I wrote about these words, why I stopped fighting cancer, and knowing a black bear for @theglobeandmail.com www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/e51db13... #booksky #cancer #naturewriting

Columbia Journalism Review tested eight generative AI search tools and found their answers were wrong 60% of the time, and the paid ones actually fared worse than the free ones. Meanwhile, millions of people trust the way they present total bullshit with confident language.

The UK PM gets grilled on the state invite for Trump as Canada is threatened with annexation. vm.tiktok.com/ZMB22mhq2/

Say everything Sam Altman says in a pirate voice 🏴‍☠️

I love Canada. the BC Securities Commission -- this is the provincial government of British Columbia -- produced an album titled "We Are All Fucked" that's a PSA about crypto and AI scams. open.spotify.com/album/2Ud9oI...

Lest we be smug, Canada is actually *worse* than the US, with 53% of men agreeing with this statement

Time to crank it up!

Incredible

Canadian research discoveries funded by non-profit and government mechanisms led to the development of: 1. Insulin 2. Polio vaccine 3. Cardiac pacemakers 4. Stem cell treatments 5. Ozempic How many people are alive in the world today because of this funding?

What happened to you PBS? You used to be cool, with Sesame Street in the mornings and Red Dwarf marathons at night. You’ve changed, man.

For non-indigenous people who are working with First Nations on climate, resource management or other seemingly unrelated issues: we need to understand that that this reality permeates everything else 💔💔 Two epidemics are behind it: * Toxic drug supply * COVID-19

There is a lot of talk right now about leaving platforms in order to not participate in the systems these fashy bois are fomenting. I think that’s valid but I also think it’s valid to stay to show them that no matter how much power and wealth you amass, you cannot force people to think you’re cool

Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde to Trump: "I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now. There are gay, lesbian, and transgender people in Democratic, Republican, and independent families, some who fear for their lives ... and the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals"

Finally! Applies to many health facilities including ER and acute hospital wards. I spent a day in the ER in Dec with a relative with extreme vulnerability to infection, and had to argue multiple times with the (constantly coughing) ER nurse before she put on a mask cfjctoday.com/2025/01/07/m...