A grayscale photo of Mark Carney (an older man dressed in a suit and tie) is on the right hand side. White and yellow text against a navy blue background reads: The election might be over, but our advocacy isn’t. Tell Prime Minister Carney that Canada needs a Minister of Women, Gender Equality and 2SLGBTQIA+ Communities. Add Your Name: MomentumCanada.net/WAGE

The election might be over, but our advocacy isn't! Soon, Prime Minister Mark Carney will announce his cabinet. We need to make sure it includes a Minister of Women, Gender Equality and 2SLGBTQIA+ communities.

Add your name: momentumcanada.net/WAGE

Neat! I hope your ride today is okay despite the freezing rain! I rode to something this morning and then around noon had to walk my bike on some of the hills on my way home XP

I like Mike. I think he does a good job. I feel like he cares about our community. I've watched some of what he's said and done in parliament, and I feel like he really helps people in Kitchener Centre and across Canada be heard in Parliament. Glad to hear the campaign is starting so strong!

Just 24 hours into this election and we already have over 1000 signs out across Kitchener Centre. Thanks to all who requested them so far!

To show your support, request your lawn or window sign at mikemorrice.ca/sign or at the link in bio!

Kiwanis Celtic Cabaret! Join us for an evening of Irish Dance, Music & Comedy in support of Food4Kids Waterloo Region. $30.00 online $35.00 at the door.

I'm excited to be playing at KW Kiwanis's Celtic Cabaret this Sunday, March 16th! I'll be performing some of my favorite Celtic tunes on my new concertina! I'm also so excited to hear Mary Catherine and Onion Honey!

More info and buy your tickets here: www.eventbrite.ca/e/kiwanis-ce...

Vote as though your future depends on it.

Because it does.

9am-9pm TODAY!

Find out where to vote here and bring ID with you. You don’t need a voter card to vote:

voterinformationservice.elections.on.ca/en/election/...

A pedestrian crossing button partially covered by the top of a pile of snow next to a street with cars and a tram in the background.

Here's also a beg button atop a mountain of snow. It's at Block Line transit station and needs to be pressed in order for the light to allow people to cross the five lanes of 60km/h+ traffic on Courtland Ave.

Exhibit number 267, presented in evidence as to why cities need to budget for, coordinate & provide sidewalk snow removal.

King and John Streets, Waterloo, Ontario, in front of the Allen light rail stop.

Today, I launched an advocacy group and election campaign with @ocrhp.bsky.social. We demand that the next provincial government:

- Commit to building the housing people need/deserve
- Uphold homeless people's rights
- Have a compassionate plan to reduce homelessness

homelessrights.ca/get-involved

Irregular Galaxy Doods cartoon of mice discussing another mouse who is holding a sign saying he sets people on fire and a lighter: DUDE I THINK YOUR FRIEND SETS PEOPLE ON FIRE... WHAT? DON'T BE RIDICULOUS. HE'S HOLDING A SIGN AND A LIGHTER. I SET PEOPLE ON FIRE. HE'S SETTING YOU ON FIRE RIGHT NOW. YOU'RE TAKING THINGS OUT OF CONTEXT. THAT COULD MEAN ANYTHING.

Incredible work by Irregular Galaxy Doods, as shared by the Artist on Zuckerberg’s House of Horrors.

"Canada's not for sale" clearly doesn't include Ontario.

The Council Round-Up (January 2025) A snapshot of what's happening in council chambers around Waterloo Region

This week's #CitifiedWR provides a run-down of local municipal budgets, housing news, and an update on recent WRDSB meetings.

@cyclewr.bsky.social do you know if any of our local #WaterlooRegion municipalities are applying for that new federal funding? If not, I might mail some councillors or staff to check and to encourage them to. #Kitchener

October 26 2023 – The Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU) affirms its solidarity with the Drug User Liberation Front (DULF) following the October 25th arrest of co-founders Eris Nyx and Jeremy Kalicum. The repressive actions of the Vancouver Police Department are part and parcel with a coordinated campaign to discredit and dismantle harm reduction in British Columbia and Canada at large.1 This is a dangerous political strategy that stokes and preys upon stigma against drug users and the poor. 2023 alone has seen overdose prevention sites closed or prevented from opening across the province2 , the de-prescribing of medical safer supply3 , and Bill 34: proposed legislation that will criminalize people who use drugs in public spaces.4 We condemn this brutal escalation of the war on our community and stand with DULF at this critical juncture in drug policy history. DULF saves lives. VANDU has long advocated for access to a regulated, safer alternative to the increas

In one year of operation, DULF’s Compassion Club has proven to have vastly benefitted the health and safety of people who use drugs in our community. A rigorous evaluation of DULF’s Compassion Club found that enrolment (n=43) was associated with a 35% reduction in overdoses, while overdoses requiring Naloxone were reduced by 32%. There have been no deaths related to substances procured through DULF. Club members had fewer hospitalizations (-50%), experiences of violence (-39%), and police interactions after joining (-48%). Compassion Club enrollment also improved overall health, reduced reliance on the unregulated drug supply, and supported many to reduce their drug use.9 DULF’s findings are consistent with an extensive body of research and community testimony supporting the scaling of non-medicalized safe supply to reduce drug-related harm and death.10 By any reasonable scientific or moral standard, DULF’s life-saving work should be praised for its success and recognized as...

Laws are made and remade through social action. The Downtown Eastside’s activist history and the continued struggle of drug user movements worldwide prove that drug laws can and must be challenged to save the lives of those abandoned by society. Public health professionals have always relied on drug user knowledge to create policy. Across North America, life-saving harm reduction measures originated from the courageous actions of drug users fighting against the routine persecution and abandonment of their peers. DULF continues in this tradition of civil disobedience against a barbaric regime of drug prohibition. Like generations of freedom fighters before them, DULF strives to fulfill humanity’s moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws, especially those which cause provable harm. We will continue to defend the survival of our peers and honor those taken too soon by the drug war. With thousands of lives on the line, the drug user liberation movement will not be intimidated...

Statement from VANDU on the criminalization of the Drug User Liberation Front, the organization running Vancouver's heroin / cocaine / methamphetamine compassion club, by Vancouver Police following the sudden cut of their provincial funding.

The sun shines through trees behind a snow-covered lake with a path next to it.

Willow river park was beautiful this afternoon! It was so nice to go out and get some sun! #kitchener

I'm afraid people might still feel shame around getting hit by a car. I know there have been insidious campaigns by car manufacturers to frame victims of road violence as stupid, ("jaywalkers"). But with road violence, as Gisèle Pelicot said of sexual violence, the shame must change sides.

I want to organize an event in Waterloo Region to mark World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims (third Sunday in Nov.). If anyone has lost a loved one or been injured by road traffic, or if anyone wants to help organize, I'd be glad to get in touch!

This attitude is a pet peeve of mine. Some people seem weirdly motivated to discourage others from seeking a better life. Here's an essay from 2023 I wrote to address this common reaction to emigration. Don't let the naysayers hold you back.

I'm so happy to be a pianist and piano teacher. My only regret in my work is that I do too much of it. I feel like I need to overwork myself to pay rent to a numbered corporation. Maybe if I personally knew the shareholders whose wealth I'm supporting I would be happier to be growing their wealth

I want to hear about a #solarpunk future that revels in the joys of all our needs being met and acknowledges that when we stop wasting effort making a few people billionaires, and once people who enjoy their work continue to do it, there won't really be much left to do.

... and on the flip side, every post that mentions bikes or biking is doing unwitting, unpaid marketing for them. Also potatoes, libraries, neighbourhood associations, cooking meals for your friends, high-fives, etc.. So many good things in this world! So many lovely things to talk about!

I'm grateful to see Cambridge Mayor Jan Liggett's response to a troubling post that another Cambridge councillor made yesterday. It's good to have civic leaders who stand up for people in our community. #WaterlooRegion
#CambridgeON

City News: Federal government signs deal with Waterloo Region to house homeless

Dear Minister Fraser, I am writing today regarding your statement with respect to communities that have demonstrated an ability to quickly respond to encampments, to strongly urge you to consider the City of Kitchener and the Region of Waterloo in the next round of funding. In my community, there have been numerous encampments located throughout the region, with at least 1,100 unhoused folks last counted and these numbers expected to increase significantly in the currently underway point in time count. In your October 22 letter, you noted that the government will approach five cities first given their readiness to quickly adopt cost-matched responses. While Waterloo Region was not included, I’m glad that you have noted the government will be approaching more communities that have demonstrated an ability to quickly respond to encampments. I would appreciate a meeting with you or your staff to discuss criteria for involvement, and I look forward to discussing how the Region of Waterloo and the City of Kitchener can make the list for the next round of investments. Sincerely, Mike Morrice

When federal funding to address homelessness was announced last year, I raised the alarm that our community needed to be included.

While I continue to push for long-term solutions, I’m glad our calls for interim support have been successful: our community will be receiving funds in the second round

This starter pack has picked up some steam over the last month or so!

Or laws that allow sectorial bargain and real labour actions. Read this as an example of why unions get their will in the Nordics. It is all about large scale cooperation where almost a whole nation can be brought against a company. But we still haven't beaten Tesla

mattbruenig.com/2021/09/20/w...

Cool Things - Kitchener Public Library From sports equipment and games, to wireless hotspots and home energy meters, discover all the cool things you can borrow at the library!

If you think that libraries are only about books, think again. Museum passes, snowshoes, instruments, and vinyl records are just some of the many cool things you can check out from the Kitchener Public Library!

nebula.tv/videos/occ-w...
I enjoyed this short story set in an ecosocialist future by @ourchangingclimate.bsky.social on @nebula.tv . I love to see a positive view of the future these days. #solarpunk #ShortStories

Thank you! We're proud of this win—it makes Toronto accessible to more than just the wealthy. Waterloo ACORN is fighting for a renoviction bylaw NOW! Just yesterday, tenants from 250 Frederick St & 141/149 Borden Ave urged Kitchener Council to act. Join our town hall this Saturday! Join the fight!

MAJOR STEP: Our Anti-Renoviction Bylaw Demand Has Been Heard! - ACORN Canada Yesterday, we caused all the landlords in Toronto to shake in their boots. Tenants and ACORN members were ecstatic - as the drafted anti-renoviction bylaw that is prospectively going to be passed in t...

@acorncanada.bsky.social I just saw your summary of the #renoviction bylaw in #Toronto: acorncanada.org/news/major-s...

It sounds great! I hope we get something similar here in #WaterlooRegion!

1 month later we went up by 219 followers! We are now sitting at almost 600 followers on @bsky.app!

Let's see if we can get more than 1600 followers here to compete with our following on Twitter. 😊

#ActiveTransportation #BikeInfrastructure