Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Jamie MacKinnon @jamiemackinnon.bsky.social · 1h

What DOESN'T work is sucking up to Washington one day and lambasting them the next.

Oh, and pouring CANADIAN whiskey made from CANADIAN ingredients onto the ground.

1

Jamie MacKinnon @jamiemackinnon.bsky.social · 1h

The Doug Ford slush fund & Greenbelt scandals continue apace. . .

#ONpoli

TorStar:

1 3

Jamie MacKinnon @jamiemackinnon.bsky.social · 4h

Rob't Fife:

Brian Clow, former deputy chief of staff to Trudeau, said

“It’s not helpful to the federal negotiators when premiers are openly lobbying Ottawa to support their sectors at the expense of another province.”

#cdnpoli
#ableg
#saskatchewan
#manitoba
#ONpoli

2 1

Jamie MacKinnon @jamiemackinnon.bsky.social · 21h

Threatening assault is a crime in Ontario, and "can lead to serious penalties, including jail time."

1

Reposted by Jamie MacKinnon

Dare to Dare @daretodare.bsky.social · 21h

Ford is literally selling Ontario’s education to his ultra-rich friends.

Education money should stay in education, not in private, well connected companies.

We demand stricter oversight, transparency, and accountability now.
#onpoli #oned #Accountability #WorkersFirst #VoteFordOut #SaveOurColleges

Chris Glover @chrisgloverndp.bsky.social · 22h

Ford's gravy train

Clients of Ford's campaign manager received $100 million from the Skills Development Slush Fund.

The Auditor General called the fund "not fair, transparent or accountable."

#ONpoli

1 1

Jamie MacKinnon @jamiemackinnon.bsky.social · 21h

2/2

The St. Michael's Hospital contract with Bondfield was awarded in 2015 when the Ontario Liberal Party was in power.

Thus, perhaps, the lack of Liberal party interest in this scandal.

Jamie MacKinnon @jamiemackinnon.bsky.social · 21h

Why did Infrastructure Ontario give a small company, Bondfield, contracts worth $840 million?

Is the Minister responsible for IO, Kinga Surma investigating? (Surma was accused of "a pattern of preferential treatment" in the Ontario Place boondoggle.)

1/2

#ONpoli

2 2

Jamie MacKinnon @jamiemackinnon.bsky.social · 22h

3/3

If Premier François Legault decides to leave office before next year’s provincial election, as I believe he will, he will be desperate to add something — anything — to his record beyond failed investments, record deficits and collapsing health and education systems.

1

Jamie MacKinnon @jamiemackinnon.bsky.social · 22h

2/3

Talk of such a constitution has surfaced periodically for more than 60 years. The obvious questions are: why now, and why without public consultation before tabling it in the National Assembly?

The answer seems straightforward.

1

Jamie MacKinnon @jamiemackinnon.bsky.social · 22h

Tom Mulcair:

Quebecers learned last week that the Coalition Avenir Québec government, acting entirely on its own, plans to bestow upon us a Quebec constitution.

1/3

#Quebec
#Charter
#humanrights

1

Jamie MacKinnon @jamiemackinnon.bsky.social · 22h

NYT:

"The Trump administration has secretly authorized the C.I.A. to conduct covert action in Venezuela, according to U.S. officials."

The "isolationist" president strikes again.

#foreignpolicy
#Venezuela

Jamie MacKinnon @jamiemackinnon.bsky.social · 1d

G&M:
High-level trade talks between Canadian and U.S. officials have resumed in Washington as a united front among the provinces has begun to unravel.

Jamie MacKinnon @jamiemackinnon.bsky.social · 1d

Green energy as a percentage of primary energy. Canada has made virtually no progress in 45 years.

Europe and UK, making rapid progress. The US, despite Trump, making progress.

Will the federal budget next month get Canada moving in the right direction?

#environment
#energy
#green
#Carney

Jamie MacKinnon @jamiemackinnon.bsky.social · 1d

Doug Ford would rather pour Canadian whiskey on the ground than make Ontario an attractive place for investment.

1 2 5

Jamie MacKinnon @jamiemackinnon.bsky.social · 1d

bsky.app/profile/arad...

The greatest threat to Canadian unity – indeed to its viability – is the premiers. They ALL defend their anti-interprovincial-trade & anti-labour-mobility laws.

And Doug Ford attacking a CANADIAN whiskey made with CANADIAN ingredients.

The "enemy within."

#cdnpoli

Adam Radwanski @aradwanski.bsky.social · 1d

I'm not an expert on current Newfoundland politics. But from a national perspective, the election of a new government that campaigned against a rare example of interprovincial cooperation on a major energy project seems unfortunate timing.

1 2 3

Reposted by Jamie MacKinnon

NOELREPORTS @noelreports.com · 1d

More footage from the 93rd Mechanized Brigade shows Ukrainian forces repelling a large-scale Russian assault near Pokrovsk. Russian troops attempted to breach Ukrainian engineering barriers but were caught in a deadly crossfire and suffered heavy losses.

9 79 620

Jamie MacKinnon @jamiemackinnon.bsky.social · 1d

Elderly man eludes his keepers.

bsky.app/profile/robe...

Robert Benzie @robertbenzie.bsky.social · 1d

NEW: Premier Doug Ford says he threatened an alleged shoplifter at a Toronto @HomeDepotCanada store with a “beating” after apprehending him on July 19. Ford had eluded his @OPP_News security detail. He made the comments today in front of 1,000 people.

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

Doug Ford says he threatened Home Depot shoplifter with ‘a beating’

Premier Doug Ford said he personally stopped a shoplifter at a Home Depot in July and warned him he would "kick your ass all over the parking lot" if he

www.thestar.com

1 1

Jamie MacKinnon @jamiemackinnon.bsky.social · 1d

The "attack dealt a heavy blow to the peninsula’s energy supplies, though Kremlin-controlled media downplayed the incident, calling reports of damage “exaggerated” and assuring residents that fuel shortages and empty filling stations were “temporary.”

#ukraine
#russia

www.kyivpost.com/post/61953

SBU, Special Ops Drones Strike Feodosia Oil Terminal and Power Substations in Russian-Occupied Crimea

The same oil depot was also hit last week, a day before Russian President Vladimir Putin’s birthday, as part of a larger wave of drone attacks launched by Ukrainian forces against Russia.

www.kyivpost.com

1

Jamie MacKinnon @jamiemackinnon.bsky.social · 1d

André Picard on Doug Ford's barring international medical graduates from residency spots:

It will almost certainly mean fewer family medicine residents. That’s right: this change is likely to lead to fewer, not more, doctors in Ontario." Another day, another Ford disaster.

#ONpoli
#health
#doctors

unclear.in

3 2

Jamie MacKinnon @jamiemackinnon.bsky.social · 2d

Doug Ford's disastrous legacy:

A "decade of stagnant post-secondary funding"

A "budget focused on cars more than on people."

"Health spending not enough to maintain service"

From 2021 - 2024, more than 100,000 people (on net) left the province.

#ONpoli

www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc...

Don’t be fooled by big numbers—Ontario budget fails to address years-long funding shortfalls - CCPA

A lot has happened since the last Ontario budget. U.S. President Donald Trump launched a trade war against Canada and the rest of the world. Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives won a third majority ...

www.policyalternatives.ca

2 5

Jamie MacKinnon @jamiemackinnon.bsky.social · 2d

"Removing the coca leaf from the dangerous-drug list would free countries that have signed a U.N. convention on drugs from their requirement to criminalize coca."

#agriculture
#Bolivia
#coca

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/12/w...

Coca Isn’t Just for Cocaine, Bolivia Wants the World to Know

www.nytimes.com

2

Jamie MacKinnon @jamiemackinnon.bsky.social · 2d

It goes without saying it’s illegal,” Tamer Qarmout, associate professor in public policy at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, told Al Jazeera.

#humanrights
#israel
#palestine

www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/10...

‘Inhumane’: 154 freed Palestinian prisoners forced into exile by Israel

Palestinian families awaiting return of imprisoned relatives are shocked to learn they will be deported.

www.aljazeera.com

1

Jamie MacKinnon @jamiemackinnon.bsky.social · 2d

Not sure. There have been initiatives within specific domains, such as law, and at the provincial level.

Jamie MacKinnon @jamiemackinnon.bsky.social · 3d

www.newswire.ca/news-release...

Hope these standards help.

Canada has been slow in adopting the principles of Plain Language.

#Orwell
#language
#accessibility

Accessibility Standards Canada publishes Canada's first Plain Language Standard

/CNW/ - Accessibility Standards Canada is pleased to announce the publication of the CAN-ASC-3.1:2025 Plain Language standard. This equity-based standard is...

www.newswire.ca

1 1

Jamie MacKinnon @jamiemackinnon.bsky.social · 3d

www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNYb...

Stop the Lansdowne madness.

if we have to subsidize sports, shouldn't we be subsidizing PARTICIPATORY sports, not "professional" sports?

@mayormarksutcliffe.bsky.social @jleiper.bsky.social
#Ottawa
#fitness
#ONpoli

Ottawa City Council is preparing to spend $419 million on Lansdowne Park

YouTube video by Better Ottawa, with Neil Saravanamuttoo

www.youtube.com

2