Canada

Archived

In a symbolic reversal, the town of Cochrane, Ab., has voted to stay in a national net-zero initiative, despite being targeted by an AI-powered misinformation campaign.

“I don’t like the precedent this sets,” said the town’s mayor, Jeff Genung, at a council meeting Monday night. Genung was concerned that if Cochrane exited the program, it could be used as an example to reverse environmental policies in other communities.

The net-zero initiative, Partners for Climate Protection, is Canada’s flagship municipal environmental framework with over 500 members. It advises local governments on conducting emissions inventories, target-setting, action planning, implementation and monitoring.

[...]

This First Person column is written by Onome Ako, who lives in Mississauga, Ont. For more information about First Person stories, see the FAQ.

[...]
I almost deleted it. Wrong number, I assumed. The voice continued: "I'm calling to wish her a happy birthday." My stomach tightened. This individual has completely skipped my daughter's first given name — Morenike — and replaced it with her middle name. A name she never goes by.

That moment stung. Not just because it was wrong but because of what it symbolized: a quiet but deliberate erasure of identity.
[...]
Culturally, our names tell a story. When you hear a name, you can determine the circumstances of birth and the hopes and the dreams for the child.

I wanted my daughter's name to carry strength into the world. I wanted her to hear it spoken aloud and know she was seen and cherished.

But in classrooms and schoolyards in Canada, in appointment reminders and birthday invitations, her name has been shortened, misspelled or replaced entirely. Once, I was asked — with what I can only describe as polite disapproval — why I gave my child a name like that in the first place.

It's a question that says more than it asks. It says names like hers don't belong here. Comfort is valued more than accuracy. Belonging is conditional.
[...]

What are First Person columns?

First Person columns are personal stories and experiences of Canadians, in their own words. This is intended to showcase a more intimate storytelling perspective, and allow people from across the country to share what they have lived through.

Does anyone think for a second that a man [(Trump)] who brags about attacking his own citizens will let Canada off with a gentleman's trade agreement?

The rhetoric from Washington is escalating. FBI director Kash Patel accused us of flooding the United States with terrorists. Homeland Security director Kristi Noem says our border represents a threat to American safety. Now Attorney General Pam Bondi is accusing Canada of creating a crisis in human trafficking.

These are orchestrated outbursts of falsehood to demonize Canada. This is the part of the fascist playbook. The stakes are frighteningly high so I understand the PM's desire to tread carefully. But there are areas where we can't cede ground. If we do, the fascists will take it. That is how they operate.

What keeps me up at night are the words of Louis Fischer, a journalist who documented the Nazi rise to power. He wrote that Hitler's opponents couldn't comprehend the real nature of the Nazi threat. As reasonable and democratic people, they made the mistake of believing that they could negotiate with Hitler. Or they thought that they were wiser than Nazi street thugs. They reassured themselves that Hitler was "just being Hitler."

And so, they willingly ceded ground, believing it was a strategy to bring the Nazis into the democratic fold or outwit them. In ceding ground, they fell into the abyss.

~

This is what concerns me about the Roberts' invitation. It signals either naivety or desperation. If Roberts was the one who blew off the meeting, it's because he didn't need to take the measure of the new government. The invitation alone gave him all he needed to know.

In writing this, I feel the need to state that I am rooting for Prime Minister Carney. Everyone knows that I am not a Liberal. I never will be. But he won the election by offering himself as a wartime prime minister.

We need him to be that war time prime minister now.

As the Liberals have shifted rightward—not just on immigration but also on military spending, climate policy, and public safety—the federal Conservative leader appears to have gone looking for an issue on which to distinguish himself. He is now signalling that scapegoating immigrants and people seeking asylum will be central to that plan.

Poilievre’s allies in think tanks, lobby firms, and the media think he’s found a winning strategy. In the wake of Poilievre’s defeat in the last election, former Conservative staffer Josie Sabatino described it as a “new era” in which Poilievre can “move beyond the risk-averse messaging of a campaign.” National Post columnist Geoff Russ called it “a once-in-a-generation opportunity to finally turn immigration into an issue our politicians can openly and honestly debate.” Conservative activist Amy Hamm declared that the days of labelling Conservatives as racist for their views on immigration have passed.

Anti-immigrant sentiments will only grow the more immigrants are falsely blamed for problems in housing, health care and unemployment—all of which are better explained by the policies of austerity-loving politicians and the corporate class. None of these dynamics are new in Canada, but they are likely to grow with more oxygen from federal Conservatives.

Carney a disappointment in terms of US/alternative relations progress, but somehow economic forecasts for Canada are better than the US.

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/45991302

Ford calls speed cameras “nothing but a tax grab.” As do many reckless drivers. But surely he knows that speeding fines are not taxes. Even if they were, they’re voluntary: If you don’t want a speeding ticket, don’t speed.

...

In Ottawa, compliance with speed limits rose from from 16 per cent before speed cameras to 57 per cent after only three months, and to more than 80 per cent after three years. Instances of speeding at more than 15 km/h above the posted limit dropped from 14 per cent, pre-speed cameras, to less than one per cent after three years of the city using them.

A survey of more than 1,000 Ottawa residents, meanwhile, determined that of the 35 per cent of respondents who had been dinged with an speed camera fine, 69 per cent said it changed their driving behaviour. That’s what we want from these cameras.

And of course:

A study conducted by SickKids hospital in Toronto and published in July in the British Medical Journal’s Injury Prevention journal found that the use of speed cameras in school zones led to a 45 per cent reduction in speeding motorists, while the 85th percentile speed — the speed at or below which 85 per cent of the drivers travelled — dropped by almost 11 km/h. “The observed reduction in speed is likely important in reducing collisions and injuries,” the study noted

A racist group planned a 'mass deportation rally' or some crap in Christie Pits (a park close to downtown straddling Koreatown and an Ethiopian/Eritrean enclave), commemorating a 'riot' in which a Nazi group stormed the park and beat up players and spectators of a Jewish baseball game in the 1930s. In response, an antifascist group planned a community counter rally. (CBC coverage.)

Soon after the start times at Christie Pits, the racists congregated. The cops, who outnumbered the racists 2 or 3 to 1, surrounded the racists. The antiracists, who outnumbered the racists 20+ to 1, surrounded the cops.

The cops created a human exit tunnel for some racists to leave the park. Those racists proceeded down the middle of main streets (Bloor St, Yonge St) to Dundas Square (4.5 km). As did some cops. As did many anti-racists.

The anti-racists chanted things like "No hate. No fear. Immigrants are welcome here," "Toronto loves immigrants," "Toronto hates fascists," "Toronto hates nazis." The anti-racists effectively @#$%ed up the march, pissing the racists off and effectively diluting their event most of the way, but after 4.5 km the racists outnumbered the anti-racists. It seemed the racists had planned the march and the anti-racists were responding spontaneously.

One of the racists' most-used chants was "Charlie Kirk. Rest in peace."

Back at Christie Pits, some of both groups remained. The anti-racist setup was much bigger than the racist one. Only one group had tents, bands, food stations, etc.

@PapyrusBrigade@mstdn.ca @nev@status.nevillepark.ca @sportponies.bsky.social@bsky.bird.gy

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/35871824

Mayor Patrick Brown said he’s talked with the premier. Brampton has 185 photo radar cameras deployed.

The City of Brampton has spent millions of dollars going all-in on automated speed enforcement (ASE) technology and now Premier Doug Ford says his government might ban it.

On Tuesday (Sep. 9), Ford told reporters that he wants municipalities to voluntarily remove their ASE cameras — otherwise known as photo radar — or the province might ban them.

“It’s just a tax grab. They should take out those cameras — all of them,” Ford said. “Hopefully, the cities will get rid of them … or I’m going to help them get rid of them very shortly.”

Kralt told council that the cameras had reduced average driving speeds in six study areas by between 13 and 26 km/h, while increasing speed limit compliance by up to 85 per cent.

There are two petitions currently active for and against.

Link to petition posted on change.org, urging the city to keep the cameras. https://www.change.org/p/keep-the-speed-cameras-in-brampton

Link to petition posted on change.org, urging the city to remove the cameras. https://www.change.org/p/ditch-the-speed-cameras-petition-for-immediate-removal-in-brampton-ontario

If we are going to protect Canada and keep it's jobs here this is the type of thing we need the government to stop corporations from doing with a tax on outsourced jobs.

I can also verify this happened because my close friend was a part of the downsizing in favour of outsourcing.

Poilievre said Kirk was killed "because he expressed a contrary point of view."

Kirk’s last words and thoughts were not exactly racist but damn near close to it, mass shootings or gang violence. His second last thoughts where Transphobic “there are two many mass shootings by Trans people to count in his country.” Yes I did use two properly there, there have been two mass shootings down by Trans people in the US.

Article in French. I want all of Canada in on this. We should start collecting pics of mislabeled products in stores as well.