Jim Mayer 🇨🇦

Family seeking $1.3M owed by Alberta separatist leader Dennis Modry after court order | CBC News Relatives of a prominent Alberta separatist who met with U.S. officials are upset that he has failed to pay back more than $1.3 million that he owes from a court order issued almost a year ago. A B.C....

Is anyone surprised?
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Similarly hideous massive SFH mansions go up in Oak Bay all the time, replacing tiny lil cottages, and no one says "boo" unless the new build is for two or more families... in which case, it's the devil. (ie: It's not the size, it's the classism.) #OakBay #YYJ

Wowsers! I see what you mean.

Yes, and, weapon or not, the violence is predictable. Theft, especially repeated theft, is infuriating. It's a violation. That doesn't excuse the violence, but it makes it easy to understand. I remember how I felt they last time i had something stolen from me, and it wasn't pretty.

3/ …NOT the shoplifting—the assault by the security guard. Shoplifting, bad as it is for the people trying to make a living at the store, does not legitimize physical assault. And it's all linked to our refusal to seriously engage with the underlying problems.

2/ The person being beaten is indigenous, and the article says they were stealing $95 worth of goods from the store. We refuse to grapple seriously with poverty and our abuse of indigenous people and nations, which leads to crime, which reinforces stereotypes, which leads to THIS crime…

A screenshot from the video in the article that shows SOMETHING on the guard's hand that looks like brass knuckles to me.

1/ I hate this. The article is about an incident in Manitoba, and, when I looked closely at the video, it looked to me like the security guard is using brass knuckles.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Interesting contribution to the 15-minute city idea. #yyj

Now? Though it might be after their bedtime.

This is smart city planning. #yyj

Thanks. I deleted the post. I'm not a fan of CTV News, but I prefer not to make unfounded accusations! Here's my retraction:
bsky.app/profile/pent...

I deleted the post, below. @jodinechase.bsky.social pointed out that CTV uses quotes a lot, and that these probably aren't "air quotes".

Hmmm… @jodinechase.bsky.social points out that CTV uses quotes a lot, so maybe they're not "air quotes". I can't tell exactly what they're using words for, but there certainly are a lot of them.

A screenshot with the words "property crime spree" in quotes.

A screenshot with no quote marks.

Interesting. I've got no clue what they're doing. Here, they quote "property crime spree" but the words never appear in the article. And in the one about Tumbler Ridge, they don't use quotes at all.

I have added you as a friend, but I won't see many of your posts since I nearly never log in anymore!

Our table at Boom+Batten with our helmets hanging on the hills.

This is cool. It's absolutely beautiful today in Victoria (#yyj), and my bread just finished baking, so we headed to Boom+Batten for lunch. The hostess noticed we had bike helmets and offered us hooks!

Councillor @susankimyyj.bsky.social does a great job of posting what's going on at Victoria BC Council meetings. I really appreciate the effort she puts into this.

I'm sure it's temporary. IIRC, the brush is being removed because this is where the new line is going.

Huh? I say high to the flaggers when I go by and they've always been friendly.

That sounds frustrating. FWIW, the app works well on my Android phone, so maybe there's a configuration issue somewhere.

5/ So, a thousand thanks to @justineunderhill.bsky.social for pulling all this together into a great, approachable, video. It's wonderful and everyone who cares about housing, homelessness, or the cost of living should watch it.

4/ What makes this video great is that it pulls everything together: myths about the causes of homelessness, myths about the effect of building new homes, how high housing costs makes everything cost more, and how housing abundance makes it easier to build social housing for those who need it.

Homelessness and Rents in Canada – Mountain Doodles Homelessness rates in Canada relate strongly to market rents suggesting a clear market mechanism that causes homelessness.

3/ Whike this video has a US perspective, the same correlations appear in Canadian cities. Here's a deep dive on this from @jensvb.bsky.social and @lausterna.bsky.social:
doodles.mountainmath.ca/posts/2025-0...

2/ Homelessness is not associated with high rates of drug use, good weather, mental illness, or even regional poverty. Some of the poorest areas have the least homelessness. But homelessness IS associated with high rent, and high rent IS associated with not building enough homes.

YouTube video by Justine Underhill What Luxury Housing Does To Homelessness

1/ This is the absolute best explainer I've seen of why allowing lots of new housing, of all sorts, to be built is essential if we want to lower housing costs, improve social mobility, and get people off the streets. It is 100% applicable here in Victoria BC.
#yyj #housing
youtu.be/rQW4W1_SJmc

Chart showing Victoria hosting almost all shelter and supportive housing units in the capital region with several municipalities hosting zero

Homeless shelters and supportive housing are needed. It might be time for the advocates to take a look at what's being done in other cities in this region, including their own cities.

More accurately, what's not being done.
davethompsonvictoria.ca/is-your-muni...
#homelessness #yyj

Vancouver councillor calls his opponents drug users and dealers in social media video | CBC News Zhou did not respond to an immediate request for comment, but three hours later the mayors' office released a statement with an apology from Zhou.

Wow… the levels some people will stoop to to make sure people stay homeless and on the street. Our prejudices are more "gentile" here in Victoria BC, but the sentiment ABC Vancouver Councillor Lenny Zhou expresses is sadly familiar.
#yyj
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

I have seen ALL of this here in Victoria, BC. We need middle class homes to be affordable to people with middle class incomes. Without them, we're creating an ever growing need for subsidised housing that we are never going to meet.
#yyj

Canadian politicians are being sold AI-powered civilian patrols A new app gets around bot bans by recruiting real people to post political messages generated by AI.

Imagine an army of "bots" that can get around any safeguards against bots, deployed in local elections where nobody's paying attention.

This investigation from @rorywh.bsky.social should be ringing alarm bells for anyone concerned about democracy.

Image of a walkable, local coffee shop in a walkable neighbourhood, with the caption “Walkable Neighbourhoods aren’t scary, they’re convenient.” With the logo Urban Truth Collective” at the bottom. @urbantruth.bsky.social

Walkable neighbourhoods aren’t scary, they’re convenient.

#UrbanTruth