Thorben Wieditz

You’ve got my full support, expand to sidewalks.

You can’t make that shit up.

Just as you thought food delivery companies couldn't inflict any more misery on society:

Instead of using lowly-paid gig economy contractors to deliver groceries, they're replacing humans with robots, who, in turn, force humans off the pavement into road traffic.

How to explain AI to your family this holiday season | CNN Business Politics, football and movies are among the many topics that tend to come up around Thanksgiving. In 2025, a new question may arise at the table: Why the heck is everyone talking about AI, and what sh...

"Imagine you stole all of the intellectual property in the world. And you're using it to help people write middling emails and make revenge porn about women, and also children. And you're powering this plagiarism and non-consensual porn machine by eating up what's left of humanity's carbon budget."

Federal government takes down labour strike data relied upon by unions, researchers Ministry says ‘stakeholders raised concerns’ about data on its website, gives no timeline for republishing

Research on strikes and lockouts depends on consistent longitudinal data. We need it to identify trends & shifts in labour relations. Without good data, you can’t properly analyze, compare & contextualize current labour conflicts.

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

#canlab #cdnpoli

Good eye.

i had a feeling …

Wow, must be nice. I hope the City of Whitehorse holds firm on its plans.

Airbnb urges Whitehorse host to oppose proposed short-term rental changes One motel operator who lists with Airbnb says they received an email from the company titled, "Protect hosting in Whitehorse". An Airbnb spokesperson told CBC the proposed rules, “over-regulate a smal...

Airbnb is at it again…

Whitehorse is experiencing a housing crisis, with very low vacancy rates, rising rents, and growing homelessness, yet the U.S. platform giant tells locals to oppose housing protective rules that restrict short-term rentals to principal residences.

www.cbc.ca/player/play/...

With a side of corruption…

The Fall-Winter 2025 legislative session is a full assault on municipalities, schools, pedestrians, cyclists, local democracy, and accountability.

What I always found interesting, especially in cycling, is that if one renders an adverse finding, the onus is on the athlete to proof that they are innocent. It seems like the inverse of the innocent until proven guilty principle that is being pioneered here.

Well done. That’s the kind of environmental policy review to contextualize the Ford government’s environmental track record in light of current policy proposals/legislative changes. We need the same for labour policies and the incremental loss of democratic oversight/ transparency in this province.

Thank you @ricochetmedia.bsky.social for publishing my analysis of #Onpoli’s Skills Development scandal.

Has the nature of political scandals shifted in the past decade under populist right-wing governments? I do think so.

Ontario passes controversial bill giving the province more power over schools — The Globe and Mail Bill 33 allows the government to more easily remove elected trustees and temporarily take over school boards

“We are deeply concerned about this concentration of power in the Minister of Education’s office, regardless of who is in power at Queen’s Park” apple.news/AB1zcw4PuSpq...

The condo model is collapsing. What comes next? | Corporate Knights Condo prices have crumbled and speculators are scrambling for the exits. Can we finally have housing that meets our real needs?

corporateknights-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/corporat...

It's tricky, I suppose your initial hunch to start off with a phone call is probably right.

Maybe verifying whether the person is real, and known, to start. If there is no verifiable history, it's probably not off to a good start.

Wow. It doesn't sound like this person wasted your time, @nickhunebrown.bsky.social. It made for a really great story and a fascinating read. It reminds me of people offering services to write assignments for students willing to pay, except this is now reaching an entirely different level of fraud.

This GTA rideshare driver says his earnings have never been lower. Why he and others say Ontario’s new minimum wage law isn’t helping Rules guarantee minimum wage $17.20/hour for “engaged time” — spent actively completing trips or deliveries — but ignore time spent waiting for work.

Hot take: It's a bad thing for a ride-hailing driver to work 139 hours in a week. Bad for him, bad for traffic safety. Just bad
www.thestar.com/news/gta/thi...

This GTA rideshare driver says his earnings have never been lower. Why he and others say Ontario’s new minimum wage law isn’t helping Rules guarantee minimum wage $17.20/hour for “engaged time” — spent actively completing trips or deliveries — but ignore time spent waiting for work.

Ford’s so-called Digital Platform Workers’ Rights Act doesn’t protect workers — it protects Uber.

All it really does is help U.S. platform giants suppress wages, with Ford and Piccini setting up the system for them.

Thank you, Captain Canada.

www.thestar.com/news/gta/thi...

Inside Ontario’s plan to merge 36 conservation authorities to 7 | The Narwhal Doug Ford’s government is seeking public feedback on its plan to overhaul Ontario’s conservation authorities, reducing local agencies from 36 to 7

ICYMI: I spoke to 12 staff from 12 conservation authorities (many of them anonymously for fear of government retribution) who say Doug Ford's plan to consolidate the unique agencies from 36 to 7 may ‘slow approvals, create confusion’ over development & flood protections
thenarwhal.ca/ontario-cons...

After secretly working to destroy it, Ford government silent on long overdue review of Ontario’s Greenbelt After secretly working to destroy it, Ford government silent on long overdue review of Ontario’s Greenbelt

What an incredible article. I feel like I read it before, but for anyone interested in greenbelt legislation and the Ford government’s consistent undermining of environmental protections in ON, take a few minutes and read this piece.

thepointer.com/article/2025...

Inside Ontario’s plan to merge 36 conservation authorities to 7 | The Narwhal Doug Ford’s government is seeking public feedback on its plan to overhaul Ontario’s conservation authorities, reducing local agencies from 36 to 7

The Doug Ford government is setting its sites on conservation authorities for the fifth time, merging the watershed protection agencies. Staff tell @fatimabsyed.bsky.social it may ‘slow approvals, create confusion’ — not to mention it's leaving them with ‘whiplash.’ thenarwhal.ca/ontario-cons...

PC government abandons controversial Ontario Place vendor plan backed by Ford-supporting union Restaurants and bars proposal also involved nightclub operator who provided alcohol for ‘Ford Fest’ events a decade ago

Just realized Ford was about to cut a deal with the same nightclub operator and labour union at Ontario Place that scored tens of millions in SDF money. No wonder those names looked familiar. Small world, huh.🤔

www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...

Secret data reveals which low-scoring applicants still received millions of dollars from the Ford government’s skills fund Secret government data obtained by the Star shows 26 applicants scoring 50 per cent or lower received $36.6 million from Premier Doug Ford's controversial Skills Development Fund earlier this year.

Superb skills development fund scoop from the Toronto Star, which has got its hands on a database of scores for applications.

It reveals several with scores of 50 or less where the minister overruled civil servants to hand out the money anyway. #OnPoli

www.thestar.com/politics/pro...

Another dental sector biz that got millions in Ontario labour funds had ties to then-minister’s wife The company of a dentist-turned-businessman who worked with the ex-minister’s wife through another organization received $5.1 million of taxpayer funds

What a racket.

“Before McNaughton stepped down as labour minister shortly before leaving elected politics altogether in the fall of 2023, the ministry paid about $5.1 million to Carlo Biasucci’s Elite Practice business.”

www.thetrillium.ca/news/politic...

Edward Keenan: Zohran Mamdani has advice for progressives everywhere. Is Olivia Chow listening? The impulse for left-wing politicians to meet voters in the middle is understandable but deeply flawed.

👀

… “there are plenty of progressives up here — the people you might call Chow’s base — who wish she would take advice from Mamdani. Because nothing in Chow’s own campaign or unfolding agenda seems quite as dramatic.“

www.thestar.com/opinion/star...

First tracks. Winter’s here early.