Samantha Agtarap

This 👇

To defend international law does not mean supporting the horrific Iranian regime, and to defend international law is not merely principled but an act of self-interest for Canada.

I wrote about just that earlier this year: justiceinconflict.org/2026/01/12/f...

People of all ages in walk, stand, play and sit in a Bilbao "school street". The traffic filtered pedestrian zone contains bollards, planters, playground equipment, painted murals, and benches, and is lined with trees and buildings.

People of all ages in walk, stand, play and sit in a Bilbao "school street". The traffic filtered pedestrian zone contains bollards, planters, playground equipment, painted murals, and benches, and is lined with trees and buildings.

People of all ages in walk, stand, play and sit in a Bilbao "school street". The traffic filtered pedestrian zone contains bollards, planters, playground equipment, painted murals, and benches, and is lined with trees and buildings.

People of all ages in walk, stand, play and sit in a Bilbao "school street". The traffic filtered pedestrian zone contains bollards, planters, playground equipment, painted murals, and benches, and is lined with trees and buildings.

A compelling case of advocacy affecting policy, Lersundi Kalea is Bilbao’s first pedestrianized “school street”. Rather than a top-down initiative, it was a product of years of activism by families from nearby Colegio Público Cervantes concerned about safety, pollution, and quality of public space.🧵

Got my dose of Canadian winter. Au revoir Ottawa.

The weather here is a bit different than Vancouver.

These photos are a great example of how unsustainable asset management is with single family zoning of this scale. There is no way to reasonably expect current rates of property taxes to fund the massive scale of infrastructure debt looming in communities everywhere. You can't refute the real data.

Personally, I think we should publicly fund elections. Not only would we remove any appearance of influence, I think it would remove barriers. Obviously, there are a lot of details to be worked out but I think it could be done.

At tonight's Finance meeting, on the agenda:
⬆️ Increase Utility rate to maximize revenue
🐶 End the "dog park loophole"
⚠️ Note: $14M lost revenue to provincial port tax caps since 2004.

How Port Moody funds services:
💰 55.6% Property taxes
💧 30.6% Fees & charges

Read the report: buff.ly/361yIjD

The title page of the book I am reading says Chapter 1: A preacher, a prosecutor, a politician and a scientist walk into your mind. Progress is impossible without change; and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything. ~ George Bernard Shaw

Latest library book: Think Again.

Tomorrow, the City Initiatives and Priorities Committee will be hearing presentations from Metro Vancouver staff on two studies: Housing and Transportation Cost Burden and Affordable Housing Gap Analysis. The meeting starts at 4 pm (& will be recorded if you miss it). Agenda is here: buff.ly/d2GgQFT

Why many B.C. seniors struggle with poverty and homelessness Half of B.C. seniors live on an after-tax income of less than $35K per year

Government income supports for seniors must be improved: adjusted for inflation food & rent costs have risen significantly more than inflation.

Senior economist Iglika Ivanova calls for non-market housing to be expanded as one way to address seniors' poverty.

Verified Tumbler Ridge fundraiser organized by Parent Advisory Council

My heart is with the people of Tumbler Ridge.

But I do know that Port Moody has roughly 3 m of water sin per person - this is similar to Ottawa.

Unfortunately this is still on my “to do” list!

Canadian Province New Brunswick to Quit Using Elon Musk’s X New Brunswick, an east coast Canadian province of about 900,000 people, will no longer use billionaire Elon Musk’s social media platform X for routine government communications, its leader announced T...

New Brunswick dumps X
"government agencies around the world have launched probes into X, and its parent company xAI, for the way its artificial intelligence chatbot Grok was used to generate and share sexualized images of people without their consent."
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
#cdnpoli #yyj

This is content I didn’t know I needed. It’s so relaxing.

It’s a multi-espresso kind of day ☕️

I hope to have a good discussion on these points when we see the report from staff on minimum unit sizes.

The latest edition of my newsletter is out. In it, I share my thoughts on the Public and Social Media Communications Guidelines Task Force, the Anthem application (specifically, unit size) and the differences between TOA & OCP. Reminder: the OCP public hearing is tonight. buff.ly/Jn8qA09

Notice of Public Hearing – February 3, 2026, 7pm. Council is holding a Public Hearing to consider Bylaw No. 3522, relating to the Official Community Plan. Details at https://portmoody.ca/publichearing

The Most Efficient Traveler Isn’t a Bird or a Fish—It’s You on a Bike A famous graphic, now updated, compares locomotion in the animal kingdom

Remember this one? “Humans aren’t very efficient movers—until you put us on a bicycle, when we become some of the most energy-efficient land travelers in the animal kingdom.” Proven science via Scientific American @sciam.bsky.social #CityMakingMath

Missing Saanich teen: police asking for public’s help with search efforts Joshua, a 17-year-old from Saanich is missing and police are asking for the public's help with their search efforts.

Joshua, a 17-year-old from Saanich is missing and police are asking for the public's help with their search efforts.

International Holocaust Remembrance Day We remember We honour We act We resolve

Today, we remember the more than six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust, and the millions of others murdered by the Nazi regime. As survivors grow fewer, our responsibility to remember and our resolve to act grows stronger. (1/3)

What do casinos, traffic cameras and congestion tolls all have in common? They are revenue ideas that #portmoody can't implement on its own. The new blog breaks down your suggestions for increasing revenues, explaining the limits of municipal power and what we CAN do. Read it here: buff.ly/aPunH7z

I agree we need to support agricultural communities for our own food security. Resorted munis get a portion of the hotel tax already, but are we creating extra classes of munis …what about port communities etc. maybe we need an overhaul how muni generate revenue.

Parliament must ban Canadian firms from doing business with ICE - Halifax Examiner An unbridled fascist state next door will necessarily lead to the end of Canadian sovereignty.

Parliament must ban Canadian firms from doing business with ICE

Morning File by me

And while you are sending a letter, would you consider adding noise cameras to your list? Municipalities have asked to be able to deploy these but they need permission from the gov. Not a safety thing but a livability thing.

A colourful painting of a boardwalk overlooking the ocean with a sun setting in the distance over the hills. Fish and ducks can be seen in the water and there is a bear peeking around a tree.

It’s community banner painting day! These banners are designed and painted by community members every 2 yrs. #portmoody #cityofthearts

They are hoping to have this done in the next couple of days.

I'll check in on the dog park next week, but please reach out here or via my official email if nothing changes in a reasonable amount of time.