from seattle to NYC to toronto, noticing a trend where the right wing machine is fabricating a rise in criminality under progressive leadership when the opposite is true. turns out that when a city takes care of its people, it is safer for everyone.

Erica C. Barnett@ericacbarnett.bsky.social · 2d ago

Crime is down in Seattle. Violent crime is down in Seattle. Homicide is down in Seattle. That's compared to how things were under Bruce Harrell, who (by the logic of the business community, lazily laundered by outlets like this) oversaw higher crime. mynorthwest.com/kiro-opinion...

Shocker: people love pedestrian spaces and want it to return next year—including residents, visitors, businesses, and councillors. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Vancouver wraps Granville Street pedestrian zone, with hopes it will return | CBC News

Labour Day marks the final day of Vancouver's Granville Street pedestrian zone, but the city is already facing calls to bring it back next summer.

cbc.ca

If drivers want to credibly blame anything for traffic, they could blame an increase in the number of traffic signals. But hard to reverse this trend — the city is growing, mostly via high-rise dev, and people want safe places to cross near their homes. toronto.cityhallwatcher.com/p/dont-blame...

The culture wars, along with post-truth society's many other woes, are fueled by those who selfishly yet earnestly believe "the personal freedoms of others start where mine end" when, in polite society, their personal freedoms end where other people's begin.

Thanks to the over 1000 cyclists - including Mayor Olivia Chow - who made it out to last night's #CriticalMass ride! My blog post about the ride is now up for your viewing pleasure. #BikeTO #TOpoli #VisionZero www.twowheeledpolitics.ca/2026/08/augu...

August 2026 Critical Mass

A blog about cycling and political advocacy based in Toronto, Canada. (#BikeTO)

twowheeledpolitics.ca

This is true. But this sort of article from US media outlets about how it will be hard for Canada to become less dependent on the US sounds like that family member telling an abused wife that, yeah, it's bad that your husband beats you, but you can't really walk away; where would you go?

The Washington Post@washingtonpost.com · 2w ago

Canada has sent roughly three-quarters of its exports to the U.S., leaving it uniquely vulnerable to the Trump administration’s pressure. Canada needs to diversify its trading, analysts say, but weaning the country off the U.S. market won’t be easy.

On paper a trade war between the US and Canada should be much harder on the northern country. But one country’s political economy can sustain the major costs of a trade war and the other’s cannot.

It is February 2025. I am watching the US impose a bunch of stupid tariffs on Canada. It is March 2025. I am watching the US impose a bunch of stupid tariffs on Canada. It is July 2025. I am watching the US impose a bunch of stupid tariffs on Canada. It is August 2026. I am watching the US impose a

Thomas Seal@twseal.bsky.social · 3w ago

US-Canada Trade Talks Collapse, Triggering Trump’s 50% Tariffs (Bloomberg) -- An agreement between the US and Canada to avert a fresh round of tariffs fell apart at the last minute Tariffs kick in 12:01 a.m. EST

This could be your morning commute if you sold your car

Ward's Island Fire Parade 2026 is in the bag. There was a definite theme this year! Can you tell what it was? 😂

Waterfront Defenders: 2. Airport Expanders: 0. www.thestar.com/politics/fed...

Federal government grounds Billy Bishop airport expansion

The just-concluded public survey suggested strong public opposition to the project, according to a federal government official.

thestar.com

Just sent this email to Councillor Moise, for anyone who may be looking for some inspiration:

Damien Moule@damienmoule.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Can we stop trying to undermine every single MTSA? secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...

once again I am asking for a democratic party that actually does what republicans claim they will do

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 2mo ago

Trump: "The Democrats are gonna terminate the filibuster as soon as they have a chance and then they're gonna approve DC and Puerto Rico as states. They get 4 more senators, 12 more congressmen, like 40 electoral votes ... you don't want to see me cry."

TTC commissioners just voted to explore bringing weekly fare capping to the TTC! Weekly fare capping offers riders more flexibility than monthly fare capping, giving riders more opportunities to benefit from fare capping at the end of a busy week, & removing cost barriers to taking transit. A win!

my "this is not a trade war" t-shirt has people asking a lot of questions already answered by my shirt

Sky Marchini@sky.skymarchini.net · 2mo ago

holy shit. www.cbc.ca/news/world/t...

I don't know how to address Toronto election/St. Clair shooting safety discourse without saying that last year Toronto, which already had a low homicide rate in Canada, had the least homicides in 20 years and we are exactly on pace with that again this year.

better transit+safer streets mean transit lanes and bike lanes that save lives, and EMTs support them. and whether you want to admit it or not, public transit is more accessible than driving. I'm tired of ppl assuming many ppl with disabilites can drive, or have the privilege of getting a car ride

Frankie Huang 黄碧赤@ourobororoboruo.bsky.social · 2mo ago

You do realize this level of accessibility still isn’t enough for people with specific needs? Do you want to go scold an EMT next for driving a gas guzzler when they should be dragging their gurneys on the subway?

just mind boggling that as we suffer through this the trump admin is paying off energy companies to kill wind farms, the US EV market has imploded because of lack of subsidies, congress wants to pass a transport bill that would reduce funds for transit, & national dems have no climate strategy

We hear far too many horror stories of near-misses from streetcar riders. Automated camera enforcement is just one part of the equation. We also need safe infrastructure that prevents incidents from happening in the first place! The solution already exists. Fund more platforms like this, please!

Matt Elliott@graphicmatt.com · 2mo ago

TTC ran a “pilot project” to track the number of cars illegally passing streetcars at stops: “Preliminary data indicates that near-miss incidents may be very pervasive and that there is likely merit to developing a technology-based solution to this problem” Shocker. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...

I'm not one to excuse canada's own climate inaction, but is the united states gonna pay up for its outsized contribution to actively worsening canada's climate? maybe US lawmakers should focus on stopping their elected goons from destroying the EPA dirty, hot air & water doesn't respect borders.

Oliver Moore@oliver-moore.bsky.social · 2mo ago

“That means our own agencies exploring direct involvement in cross-border fuel reduction and firefighting capacity" Which means, what, exactly? US fire crews are going to bust into Canada to fight blazes in ... northern Ontario? globalnews.ca/news/1196860...

does the t stand for treason

Matthew Gault@mjgault.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Hegseth announced they're gonna start screening for T and administering testosterone treatment for warriors found wanting

help i keep frantically pressing my "but that's illegal" button yet nothing is happening

The New Republic@newrepublic.com · 2mo ago

This move is technically illegal, as 31 U.S. Code § 5112 proclaims that no coin shall “bear the image of a living former or current President,” until at least two years after their death. trib.al/FTvz6Mn

Toronto *is* a safe city. Literally 1/10th the murder rate of its Great Lakes cousin, Chicago. (Which, to its credit, has seen major progress in the past few years.) It’s always good to strive to do better but we should be able to describe things accurately and proportionately.

Toronto Star@thestar.com · 2mo ago

Mayoral candidate Brad Bradford says the police were "tone deaf" in calling Toronto a safe city in the wake of the deadly Salsa on St. Clair shooting over the weekend.

You do not have to hand it to Lindsey Graham, but this insight is key to understanding most government and boardroom dynamics. We’re governed by the people who show up and do the stuff. Not automatically the wisest or most studied. All you have to do to improve it is often get into the room.

David Roberts@volts.wtf · 2mo ago

An amazing quote from Lindsey Graham in this Atlantic story. It really captures an essential truth about politics that too few people ever really come to terms with. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

As soon as anything is built everyone forgets about it and accepts that it’s there.

Max Dubler 🏳️‍🌈@maxdubler.com · 2mo ago

I often think about how literally nobody cares about this 1970s era 11 story brutalist affordable housing tower built mid-block in a Victorian neighborhood.

They punch you. You punch back. “How DARE you punch me?”, they scream.

Brendan Dawe@dawe.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Notice that the US wine industry association is officially in favour of trying to coerce access to Canadian liquor stores rather than opposing the coercive US trade measures that directly causes the import bans in the first place. Trumpists all the way down

another day, another "actually, the country you were born and grew up in has just been operating off of norms and vibes for the past century, not law, and the sitting US president is a god" supreme court decision 🙃

Mark Joseph Stern@mjsdc.bsky.social · 3mo ago

We have Slaughter and Cook. By a 6–3 vote, SCOTUS overturns Humphrey's Executor and lets Trump fire heads of independent agencies. But by a 5–4 vote, it refuses to let him fire Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve. www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25p... www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25p...

[insert 'Conservative Guy Scared Of Cities' meme here]

Ben Harris@benharris1.bsky.social · 3mo ago

It’s not our most pressing issue, but but the state of affairs around the White House right now is really awful. It’s an ugly fortress surrounded by metal barricades and construction equipment, and what was once a wide pedestrian plaza on Pennsylvania is just a massive parking lot for LEO SUVs.

pedestrianized church street is a hit. advocacy works!