Denise Balkissoon
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balkissoon.bsky.social
Denise Balkissoon
@balkissoon.bsky.social
Executive editor @thenarwhal.ca. Still hate gum. The lakes, they are Great.

(Illo by Andrea Bell, from The Leak, a kid's graphic novel about a girl that does environmental journalism!)
Reposted by Denise Balkissoon
In Chicago, a Nativity scene features a zip-tied baby Jesus and Roman centurions in "ICE" vests.

Near Boston, Mary, Joseph, and Jesus are absent from a Nativity scene, replaced with a sign reading "ICE was here."

It's all part of growing religious blowback to ICE. religionnews.com/2025/12/05/i...
ICE Nativity scenes: Churches reimagine Christmas story amid deportations
(RNS) — 'We know that Jesus was born into a Roman imperial occupation, and pretty much immediately becomes a refugee in Egypt, has to flee and faces political violence,' the Rev. Michael Woolf said.
religionnews.com
December 5, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Reposted by Denise Balkissoon
if you're a WNBA or NWSL social media team you probably have mixed feelings about the growing popularity of Heated Rivalry because on the one hand a rising gay tide lifts all gay boats but on the other you've been grinding in the gay mines for years when these beefy fellas just waltzed in yesterday
December 7, 2025 at 7:42 PM
It's December 6 and I didn't notice until this minute. 💔
December 6, 2025 at 10:27 PM
Look at this + listen to an episode of Criminal about anti-ICE grassroots work in Chicago and remember that many people are good thisiscriminal.com/episode-339-...
December 6, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Please click on the story about eels! Help @michellecyca.com continue to support environmental journalism about ugly animals that play vital roles in our ecosystems!
Canada's most lucrative fishery — and a global black market — rely on American eel. But Canada was among the countries who voted against global trade restrictions on the eel last week, and won't list it under the Species At Risk Act, @moiradonovan.bsky.social reports. thenarwhal.ca/american-eel...
Illegal American eel fishing is big business in Canada. Ottawa just voted against protections | The Narwhal
Federal fisheries department also announced American eel will not be listed as a species at risk, despite illegal fishing pressures
thenarwhal.ca
December 5, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Excellent basketball
December 5, 2025 at 2:57 AM
Reposted by Denise Balkissoon
what’s more virgin than a computer
December 3, 2025 at 1:24 PM
This was a great panel with a very engaged audience - if you're interested in the national interest, please watch!
What’s really going on with Prime Minister Mark Carney’s major projects push?

Reporters for The Narwhal unpacked the process, politics and potential impacts earlier today in a lively online discussion. Watch the recording here:

thenarwhal.ca/major-projec...
Watch: Unpacking Carney’s major projects push | The Narwhal
Reporters for The Narwhal discuss the process, politics and potential impacts of Canada’s push to build major projects
thenarwhal.ca
December 3, 2025 at 1:54 PM
So happy my girl @supriya.bsky.social is out here opinionating again: "When Canada walks away from feminist policy, it abandons a key driver of poverty and strife. And when Canada appears to bow to bro-signalling ... it has joined the league of polite misogyny." www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...
Supriya Dwivedi: Mark Carney is giving in to the bros
Fighting poverty and violence around the world means embracing feminist ideas.
www.thestar.com
December 3, 2025 at 1:19 PM
Almost 1,000 people have signed up, but we still have some space ... Starting in eight minutes!
Trying to make sense of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s major projects push?

Join us TODAY at 9:00 a.m. PT (12:00 p.m. ET) for a free webinar featuring Narwhal reporters from across the country. We'll unpack the process, politics and potential impacts.

Register here: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
December 2, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Fast-track plans unclear
Set to fast track
Fast-tracking plans
Designated for fast tracking

The Major Projects Office is a plot against copy editors
December 2, 2025 at 2:51 PM
Today at noon Eastern Time: join some Narwhal Nerds to talk policy, major projects and the prime minister.
Major projects? Let’s talk about it!

Join us for a free Zoom event on Dec. 2 to unpack the process, politics and potential impacts of Canada’s push to build major projects. Register here:

thenarwhal.ca/major-projects-event
December 2, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Reposted by Denise Balkissoon
Someone said this is Klay Thompson and Megan the Stallion
October 25, 2025 at 9:08 PM
Reposted by Denise Balkissoon
The prime minister promises he’ll solve climate change … right after he gets a new pipeline built. @balkissoon.bsky.social asks: haven’t we heard that one before?
November 29, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Reposted by Denise Balkissoon
Company given $2M from Skills Development Fund run by Ford family dentist: sources
Company given $2M from Skills Development Fund run by Ford family dentist: sources
The company’s CEO also worked closely with the wife of the minister in charge of the grant program at the time
dlvr.it
November 27, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Our wee newsroom was never going to run the first Grand Bargain story, but @meyer.bsky.social and @drewanderson.bsky.social are absolutely the best at explaining what the pipeline of magical thinking means for the environment.
November 28, 2025 at 12:00 AM
For example, pipelines
Major projects? Let’s talk about it!

Join us for a free Zoom event on Dec. 2 to unpack the process, politics and potential impacts of Canada’s push to build major projects. Register here:

thenarwhal.ca/major-projects-event
November 27, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Reposted by Denise Balkissoon
Doug Ford's government claims the province isn’t privatizing water.

Experts aren't convinced.

pressprogress.ca/ontario-clai...
Ontario’s Government Claims the Province Isn’t Privatizing Water. Experts Are Not Convinced.
“The way that this act is written creates this slippery slope towards privatization”
pressprogress.ca
November 24, 2025 at 3:42 PM
This is an amazing piece of investigative journalism and probably the most upsetting grift story I've ever read.

I understand why shitty reproductive care makes people vulnerable. I am so grateful Ontario integrated real midwives into the healthcare system. www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int...
Influencers made millions pushing ‘wild’ births – now the Free Birth Society is linked to baby deaths around the world
A year-long investigation reveals how mothers lost children after being radicalised by uplifting podcast tales of births without midwives or doctors
www.theguardian.com
November 24, 2025 at 12:00 AM
Reposted by Denise Balkissoon
This is a stunning story. I've been tracking the "greenhushing" narrative for a while now: this is the idea that strict regulations on fake climate claims spooks companies into total silence; therefore we shouldn't regulate them.

@meyer.bsky.social asked for examples and the Carney gov't failed:
November 23, 2025 at 9:03 PM
At the Canadian Association of Journalists conference in March, a child exploitation researcher said Roblox and Fortnite are the worst for gaf about safety (Nintendo is best in his opinion). If it's free, your kid is the product. This interview didn't surprise me. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/21/p...
We Asked Roblox’s C.E.O. About Child Safety. It Got Tense.
www.nytimes.com
November 22, 2025 at 9:50 PM
Reposted by Denise Balkissoon
Major projects, major problems: anger at Carney’s unclear plans is the real shared national interest, @drewanderson.bsky.social writes:

thenarwhal.ca/alberta-pipe...
The real major project is politics, not pipelines | The Narwhal
Carney’s major projects push has angered many in Alberta over perceived lack of support for a pipeline project that doesn’t exist
thenarwhal.ca
November 21, 2025 at 7:00 PM
When asked by @meyer.bsky.social the federal government couldn’t name specific examples of Canadian companies failing to advertise genuine enviromnmental efforts because of last year’s legal changes over misleading claims. But it's still walking back greenwashing laws thenarwhal.ca/greenwashing...
Canada says anti-greenwashing rules silence industry | The Narwhal
Carney is moving to nix some of Canada’s rules that restrict how oil and gas companies and other industries advertise environmental claims
thenarwhal.ca
November 21, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Reposted by Denise Balkissoon
Join us for a free Zoom event on Dec. 2 to unpack the process, politics and potential impacts of Canada’s push to build major projects. Get the details on that, plus more fresh reporting from The Narwhal, in our latest newsletter: thenarwhal.ca/newsletter-r...
RSVP: Unpacking Carney’s major projects push | The Narwhal
Join The Narwhal for a free Zoom event on Dec. 2 to unpack the process, politics and potential impacts of Canada’s push to build major projects
thenarwhal.ca
November 21, 2025 at 1:10 AM
Reposted by Denise Balkissoon
when the fuck is this gonna end
November 20, 2025 at 5:12 AM