Two Vancouvers (tankers and sail)

14 degrees in the water - sublime.

From the excellent Joe Williams www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...

Bathsheba Demuth in French sounding like Turbo Braudel (history without agency, because without events or change!)

Seems good

Canada can make even the pope boring - remarkable.

Vancouver schooling 2026: we encourage your kids to use this chatbot (just watch out for hallucinations) and to liaise with the armed policeman on site (don't worry he has concealed his weapon and is wearing athleisure).

This makes me feel like a Christian home schooler.

Having seen my first FIFA motorcade - ten flashing lights police cars &c to escort a coach across the Burrard St Bridge - I just want to assure the players: Vancouverites are not dangerous! We won't harm you.

Poor old Mr Guilebeault with his hang ups about burning carbon! He didn't realize we need to Build Canada Strong to Make America Great Again!

You say you know Korean food? Well: where's your mini kimchi fridge?

Jedi move: waste City of Vancouver taxes to send out an electioneering leaflet disguised as an official communication about taxes and then within that leaflet boast about not raising taxes.

Horrible, horrible, horrible

When one of the Liberals’ biggest climate champions feels he must leave the Liberal caucus in order to fight climate change, it says everything you need to know about the government’s sense of urgency on this file. There is none. PM Carney has abandoned climate action at our collective expense.

A very qualified fan of Sam Kriss, but this is really good: all riffs, perfect rhythm and does away with his usual airdrops of erudition. This sort of hectic maximalism is obviously one way to beat the AI trap, but hopefully not the only one. samkriss.substack.com/p/if-you-let...

Canada’s oil and gas industry advocates still see China as a major source of opportunity — one that, of course, justifies new pipelines. They need to start seeing it as a threat to their existence. #cdnpoli #abpoli www.nationalobserver.com/2026/05/27/o...

Tout est pour le meilleur dans la meilleure des villes possibles

A treat for Len Men (of which I am one) in the latest LRB

The Liberals are losing a true climate champion with the pending resignation of Steven Guilbeault. We're all the poorer off without him in parliament. www.nationalobserver.com/2026/05/27/o...

This is unfortunately true.

Macleod's trio

Pleasing development: best cinema in Vancouver is now walking distance from me.

Good essay from Brian (one of those people I miss from Twitter, in spite of- or because of - our many disagreements) about how to read Encyclicals. Also not a bad case for the distinctiveness and vitality of explicitly religious intellectual traditions).

Striking contrast here between Carney's fairly forthright scolding of Herzog and the total absence of sanctions or other measures to bring about compliance. The Israelis will just ignore him. www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/read...

Superb explainer here from @readtheorchard.org jacobin.com/2026/05/smit...

A funny thing about Canadian conservatism is that it is more credulous and gung-ho on American military power than the American right is. Witness poor old Poilievre calling for regime change from the steps of the Vancouver Art Gallery - an objective Trump gave up months ago now.

In the best traditions of Vancouver. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Saw this excellent, cheering protest swing through Granville Island today. Hope to attend the next one!

The best bridge (to look at, not to use, that would be Cambie)

Screaming capabilities

Back when Ken Sim was elected mayor of Vancouver nearly 4 years ago, I said at the time that I couldn't see him making new progress on the climate file, but nor could I see him UNDOING what progress had already been made. I was clearly wrong about that.

More and more appreciative of Mr Lewis's voice.

This is laughable, coming from someone who has been winking at the MAGA-aligned separatist movement for years. People who are losing sleep over climate change are not the ones tearing our country apart: we’re trying to save it. This summer Canada could well be burning faster than we can build it.

'I was hoodwinked by Ken Sim' does not in fact read as an excuse.

It is early in election season for the lying Mayor of Vancouver and his police department to be playing tag team against their critics - much more to come probably.

Trump could have written this article, which slavers over oil and gas production and does not mention climate change once. As a Brit reading the Globe, always surprised that Canadian 'liberalism' = near psychotic love of corporate profits. www.theglobeandmail.com/business/com...

Lobbyist for methane applauds measure designed by mayor whose senior adviser runs methane companies. A banner day for methane!

... and there it is. The Canadian gov't has officially cut the rate of increase in the industrial carbon price by 75%, matching the deal with Alberta. Sadly predictable. You let one province weaken a federal policy, and it reverberates nationally. www.canada.ca/en/environme...

Sim, whose senior adviser is the director of gas companies, has moved into the openly corrupt phase of his mayoralty. vancouversun.com/news/vancouv...

A first for me today. Glad to have this piece in The Guardian. Figured it was time more of our international friends heard some hard truths about how things are going here in 🇨🇦: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Evict Ken Sim

Canada's silence in the face of Israel's continuous violations of international law is shameful. Canada should impose sanctions and suspend trade. No more excuses.

As the 5th anniversary of BC's deadly 2021 heat dome approaches, a reminder that our climate is more dangerous than it was then. Why? Largely because politicians like David Eby and Mark Carney keep subsidizing fossil fuel extraction & resulting carbon pollution. #bcpoli #cdnpoli #climatecrisis

(And Alberta)

get bent, buddy

It says an awful lot about the university sector right now that I - a 48-year-old history professor with a child and a mortgage, who loves what she does (mostly) - am having a serious conversation with a colleague about whether I ought to consider a career change.

So threatening BC in order to kowtow to MAGA-hat separatist Danielle Smith?

Just another day for our Israeli allies.