Peter Mortimer

In the early aughts, a teenager was sued $675,000 for downloading 31 songs.

Maybe if your entire business is built on the theft of copywrited material, and your argument when sued is that your company would be doomed if you had to operate lawfully - maybe that’s not a company that needs to exist.

This is also behavior that is fostered by trying to accommodate and/or remove delays for dangerous road users. These accommodating dangerous road users and reducing their delays are two pillars of Halifax's road safety framework and road violence is way up.

Coincidence?

Probably not.

In his messaging, Doug-Ford-wannabe Tim Houston - champion of pipelines, oil and gas expansion and car culture - doesn’t mention the climate crisis as the overriding cause of this drought disaster, or how industrial forestry’s destruction of fire-resistant Wabanaki forests increases wildfire risks.

You are spouting misinformation. People receiving MAID are disproportionately more likely to be *well off* financially.

Time to move forward on national agency to fight forest fires, chiefs say OTTAWA - The Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs says it's time for Ottawa to stop studying the idea of a national forest fire co-ordination agency and take action.

1) This is provincial jurisdiction so talk to the premiers.
2) The CIFFC already exists to provide coordination of resources, management and planning. Maybe look at strengthening that body before you decide to holus-bolus create a new federal body that intrudes into provincial jurisdiction?

JRTA report thread 🧵real action on transport - or deja-vu all over again?

‘Most ridiculous decision’: Doug Ford slams Ontario judge over bike lane decision The Ontario government said it will appeal a decision by Superior Court Justice Paul Schabas, who ruled that Ford’s plans to remove bike lanes on Bloor, University and Yonge streets was unconstitution...

Both the Star and CP just wrote up Ford's comments, and left out the fact that he obviously didn't read the ruling and just decided to petulantly lie about it. Neither story pointed out the judge said that Ford's government didn't try to make their case, and blatantly lied in what they did say.

With Nova Scotia joining the list ... I see a trend.

‘Strategic retreat’: Halifax council reverses course on Morris Street bike lane design Premier Tim Houston had threatened to override decision for a one-way street.

“They’re not political talking points, they’re data-driven warnings about operational impacts and public risk” said Fillmore during the debate.

But when pressed by reporters during the break, Fillmore admitted he didn’t have that data.

🦗

ANALYSIS | What strong mayor powers could mean for N.S. government and why they might be granted | CBC News Halifax Regional Municipality Mayor Andy Fillmore, Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston and Municipal Affairs Minister John Lohr have all talked recently about the potential of creating strong mayor powers...

“Fillmore's overt pursuit of strong mayor powers risks creating the perception that he's incapable of advancing an agenda and building consensus around the council table without the intervention of the provincial government” -Tom Urbaniak

Only a weak mayor needs authoritarianism to steer policy.

I'm old enough to remember hearing Tim Houston say that Council was out of touch.

Makes it clear how out of touch Fillmore and Houston are.

It’s Easy to Hate Traffic Cameras. But They Do Save Lives. They raise issues of fairness, and critics claim they’re only about revenue. More speed and red-light cameras, however, would prevent a lot of deaths and injuries.

Yes, traffic cameras work, but it's a myth that people hate them!

Survey after survey shows that most people support automatic enforcement (and often want more of it).

This is a false controversy, fed by a minority of disgruntled drivers & journalists seeking narratives with conflict.

Less than 30 people were immolated in Ford Pintos.

#tRump

And why stop at bike lanes, why not sidewalks, front lawns, setbacks, green spaces, trees. /s

While Houston and Filmore want to stop bike lanes in Halifax other countries build.

Here's the common sense approach that Tim Houston & Andy Fillmore should be promoting for #HaliSky, not more cars & more #CarHarm

From the fuckcars community on Reddit: Tim Houston, Premier of Niva Scotia, REALLY hates bike lanes. Explore this post and more from the fuckcars community

Oh good, Tim Houston and Nova Scotia (sorry, Niva Scotia) have found their way onto the r/fuckcars subreddit again

www.reddit.com/r/fuckcars/s...

Yet the city keeps building neighbourhoods without sidewalks and Houston wants to rip out bike lanes.

They don't care.

This drives me crazy as a stance towards Israel these days is really quite unrelated to attitudes towards Jews. We have anti-semites who are big fans and there are plenty of Jews and allies who are critics.

A stance towards a government and its policies is just that.

This seem to be a trend among the provincial premiers, and they're all from the Conservative parties.

"I don't even know who you are" Thanos quote from Avengers.

I also think Halifax's population and GDP share of the provincial total is increasingly becoming a political problem.

I don't know if someone has written a book, but half the stuff I read out of rural NS is basically this:

“Free speech” warriors were always about free speech for racists but have also always never said a word about the silencing of the speech of those opposed to the killing of Palestinians, BLM, etc.

If the Minister of Justice is counseling the Chief Electoral Officer to disregard the law, it makes you wonder what kind of advice he's offering the premier and the rest of government.

Predictably, the move is sowing further distrust in the democratic system, including elections and courts.

🧵 1/
@brendanboyd.bsky.social and I have a new article in Governance
👇

Populist politicians love to bash bureaucrats.

But does this actually erode public trust in the public service in Canada?

Short answer: Yes.

Link: doi.org/10.1111/gove...

It is pretty noticeable that even as mainstream opinion on Israel and Gaza finally shifts, you don’t hear the Responsible Adults apologizing for punishing all the college kids protesting the atrocities. Quite the opposite in fact!

Nova Scotia among least accessible provinces for non-drivers | CBC News A recent report from Statistics Canada shows basic needs are difficult to access in Nova Scotia if you’re not travelling by car. One non-profit organizer says this brings further challenges for vulner...

Houston and Filmore will make sure Halifax and NS stay that way.

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Wide street with no cars

Good news. Since I have a picture of a street with no cars in it, we don’t need streets for cars.

I know that because of all the helpful people who have told me over the years that because they have a picture of a bike-lane with no bikes in it, we don’t need bike-lanes.

“Common sense,” right? #not