Hamilton Is Home

I was at the Waterdown Library this week and got such a thrill seeing Broken prominently featured. My publisher, Mark Coakely at Fire Ant Press shares my deep love for public libraries and encouraged me to make Broken available. Libraries matter. They always have. @markcoakley.bsky.social

Authors in the Park, 1-5pm Aug. 24, Victoria Park, #HamOnt

Savouring food with a story: the appeal of farm gate shopping There's something deeply satisfying about purchasing produce just steps from where it was grown, writes Michelle Stark

#hamont
www.flamboroughtoday.com/columns/flam...

A black swallowtail butterfly perched on a zinnia

Finally I’m seeing butterflies in my #PollinatorGarden! So many black swallowtails! Only a couple of monarchs - so far.

#HamOnt

Elections aren’t a cost. They’re an investment.

An investment in trust.
An investment in turnout.
An investment in democracy itself.

#HamOnt

An important message for #HamOnt about preserving local democracy. City Hall wants to hand our voting data to a US-controlled company (Amazon Web Services) owned by a Trump ally. All cybersecurity experts say that online voting is insecure, hackable and not transparent (i.e. recounts are impossible)

Tomorrow, City Council votes on adopting online voting—via a sole-sourced contract.

This move will cut polling stations, eliminate jobs, and make it harder to vote the way you always have. Speak up before they take that option away. #HamOnt

"Verified cases of voting fraud" will be difficult, as the tampering can be done without a trace. Only the private, for-profit companies running online voting might possibly learn about it after the vote is done - & they would have an interest in keeping it quiet so as to not lose future contract$.

The governments of Canada, Ontario, Toronto and Ottawa do not use online voting because it is insecure. Hamilton should not trust it either. Why does Hamilton staff trust the salespeople peddling online voting over other gov'ts and all of the computer experts? Online voting -- not worth the risk.

Hamilton City Council will vote next Thursday on a staff recommendation to add online voting for the 2026 municipal election.
Anon-competitive sole-source $850,000 contract.
Note: vote is at Audit Finance and Administration Committee not GIC. #yhmcc #HamOnt

This is deeply concerning. I encourage everyone to talk to their friends and neighbours to help make sure this doesn't move forward.

Every independent cybersecurity expert says that online voting is insecure and hackable. Even the CEO of Neuvote, the company that ran the Ward 4 byelection online voting, said at a public meeting that such concerns are "very, very valid." The integrity and legitimacy of local democracy is at risk.

Thanks, well said.

In a new era of cyber risk, Canada must lead the charge In 2025, Canada must massively scale up its own cybersecurity capabilities and invest in Canadian cyber like never before.

"Cyberattacks and potential disruptions of digital infrastructure erode public trust in democracy ... Public sector systems are particularly vulnerable to cyber threats, with critical systems like election infrastructure ... increasingly vulnerable." #HamOnt
www.thestar.com/business/opi...

Thanks, Joshua. Well said.

Ward 8 By-Election: 2022 Runner-Up Faces Off Against Her 2022 Campaign Manager Robert Cooper managed Sonia Brown's 2022 campaign and was her largest single donor. Now both are running against each other for the Ward 8 seat vacated by John-Paul Danko.

Good article by Joey Coleman. He says that #HamOnt Council will decide in July whether to allow online voting in the Ward 8 byelection.

Seems proper to hold public consultations before making such a radical and controversial change to our democracy.

thepublicrecord.ca/2025/06/ward...

Hamilton council backs $200K byelection to fill Ward 8 vacancy Residents will choose new Ward 8 councillor, rather than politicians pick one

Will this by-election be reliable and public - or will council put it under the control of a private, for-profit online voting company that stores voter data on servers controlled by a US company (AWS) owned by a Trump supporter? Will the results be trusted?

#HamOnt
www.thespec.com/news/council...

We need public consultation before risky online voting is imposed on #HamOnt

@mayorandreahorwath.bsky.social
@ward1wilson.bsky.social
@ward2hamilton.bsky.social
@marktadeson.bsky.social
@tammyhwang.bsky.social
‪@nrindernann.bsky.social‬
‪@cllrbradclark.bsky.social‬
‪@craigcassar.bsky.social‬

Changing U.S. relationship has thrust Canada’s data sovereignty into the spotlight Canada’s current dependency on U.S. tech firms is a vulnerability that the White House can exploit

Neuvote ran #Hamont Ward 4 byelection e-vote. Its CEO called security concerns "very valid" at public meeting. Neuvote keeps voter data on AWS, a US company owned by a Trump ally. "Canadian data on a cloud owned by a US company could be accessed by US govt."
www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...

Globe editorial: In praise of a democracy on paper The use of paper ballots and hand counts for federal elections may be inefficient. But it does display a proper reverence

No online voting in Ward 8 byelection!

"There are practical arguments in favour of the system used for federal elections. Paper ballots cannot be hacked. A hand-count allows for maximum transparency. A paper ballot gives physical form to democracy."
www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/edit...

#HamOnt

Globe editorial: In praise of a democracy on paper The use of paper ballots and hand counts for federal elections may be inefficient. But it does display a proper reverence

Globe & Mail is against online voting:

"There are practical arguments in favour of the system used for federal elections. Paper ballots cannot be hacked. A hand-count allows for maximum transparency. A paper ballot gives physical form to democracy."

www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/edit...

#HamOnt

Foreign disinformation is a looming threat in Canada’s election. Here’s where it might come from As tariff war strains trust between Ottawa and Washington, experts sound the alarm about what digital bad actors might do next

"A senior [Canadian] intelligence official told a news conference ... that cyber threats pose a growing risk to democratic processes ... [with tactics that include] hacking election systems."
www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...

Don't trust online voting, #Hamont

China, Russia and Iran will ‘very likely’ use AI to target Canada’s 2025 federal election, cyber agency warns CSE report details high-tech ways foreign actors could to spread disinformation, harass politicians and conduct espionage

Globe article says AI-based foreign election interference is likely in 2025, but notes that risk of some harms is low because "Canada’s general elections are conducted by paper ballot" ... Online voting is at high risk from AI-based foreign threats
www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/art...

#HamOnt

Changing U.S. relationship has thrust Canada’s data sovereignty into the spotlight Canada’s current dependency on U.S. tech firms is a vulnerability that the White House can exploit

"As long as Canadian data is on a cloud infrastructure owned by a US company, they aren’t safe ... data could be accessed by US govt without notification”

Online voting firms (eg Neuvote, used in Ward 4 byelection) store voter data on US-owned A.W.S.

#HamOnt
www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...

Microsoft creates chip it says shows quantum computers are ‘years, not decades’ away Microsoft’s Majorana 1 chip has been in the works for nearly two decades and relies on a subatomic particle called the Majorana

Globe & Mail reports that Microsoft is close to making a quantum computer that can crack encryption, including the encryption used by online voting companies
www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...

Then, the content of every vote in every online election ever held will be publicly revealed

#HamOnt

Threats to democratic integrity pose challenge for Canadian elections Minimal use of technology provides shields, but digital interference targets trust in the process

A great article about why #hamont should not trust online voting:

www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...

Aaron Shull of Centre for Intl Governance Innovation in today's Globe:

"There's a higher degree of foreign interference in elections. Municipalities have the lowest level of cybersecurity. The main game is municipalities."
globe2go.pressreader.com/article/2822...

Don't trust online voting

#HamOnt

Professor Holly Garnett of Queen's U. says in today's Globe & Mail:

The best protection for integrity of elections is a "paper-based system with physical ballot boxes ... impossible for a foreign actor to mess with that."

Don't trust online voting

globe2go.pressreader.com/article/2822...
#HamOnt

Online voting ‘not on the radar screen’ for federal elections, chief electoral officer says Stéphane Perrault believes Canadians are better served by, and trust, the outcome of a paper ballot more

Federal Chief Electoral Officer Stéphane Perrault rejects online voting, saying in 2025:

"Voters are better served by a system in which ballots are on paper, even though it may be less convenient, because Canadians trust the outcome more."

#HamOnt #yhmcc
www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/art...