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Michèle Champagne @michhham.bsky.social · 2h

Les œuvres à surveiller.

Sur les planches

À surveiller à L’Illusion, au théâtre Outremont, au Centaur, au Périscope et à La Risée.

www.ledevoir.com

Michèle Champagne @michhham.bsky.social · 2h

À la Fondation Grantham.

Une exposition entre microcosme et macrocosme

Catherine Bédard présente une exposition où le monde se révèle un labyrinthe de liens entre des milieux en apparence lointains.

www.ledevoir.com

Reposted by Michèle Champagne

☠️mawls slaughter☠️ @oddletters.bsky.social · 3h

i published this in the post-sidewalk period that might be relevant as well reallifemag.com/seeing-witho...

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Michèle Champagne @michhham.bsky.social · 3h

For example, @oddletters.bsky.social's writing and talk at the @ccaconversations.bsky.social are already on our list.

What Can You Do With The "Smart" City? With Molly Sauter

YouTube video by CCAchannel

www.youtube.com

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Michèle Champagne @michhham.bsky.social · 3h

I’m working to fix this with @sarahkmoser.bsky.social at @mcgill.ca. An academic paper is in the works.

If you’ve written an essay, paper, or spoken publicly about the coalition, write to: [email protected]. You may already be on our reading list, but you never know.

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Michèle Champagne @michhham.bsky.social · 3h

The Block Sidewalk coalition played a key part the cancellation of Sidewalk’s “smart” city in Toronto, along with other vectors like bad public procurement, whack policy, wild PR, and the pandemic.

Since then, the coalition has received minor mention in academic journals, books, and theatre plays.

Michèle Champagne @michhham.bsky.social · 4h

I’m re-reading this from 2019:

#BlockSidewalk’s War Against Google in Canada

The tech company wants to rebuild a Toronto neighborhood—but residents aren’t having it.

www.thenation.com

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Michèle Champagne @michhham.bsky.social · 4h

I’m re-reading this from 2019:

#BlockSidewalk’s War Against Google in Canada

The tech company wants to rebuild a Toronto neighborhood—but residents aren’t having it.

www.thenation.com

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Michèle Champagne @michhham.bsky.social · 5h

Toronto’s Quayside after Sidewalk Labs. From The Globe’s architecture critic, @alexbozikovic.bsky.social:

Waterfront Toronto goes big on housing and urban design with new development

Toronto City Council approved a plan that will deliver 1,100 market-rental apartments and 550 affordable units

www.theglobeandmail.com

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Michèle Champagne @michhham.bsky.social · 1d

Something to remember in the framing of “urban innovation” tales. Political choices matter:

Brian F. Kelcey @stateofthecity.bsky.social · 2d

24/ And stop pretending tech is a magic wand. Bixi had good bikes & tech, but they only became great with the right service model. Given relative risks v benefits, the City decided it was its job to *spawn* a bikeshare rather than to 'own' it. Given the limits of local govt, this choice mattered.

Michèle Champagne @michhham.bsky.social · 1d

I’m thankful for Bixi in @villedemontreal.montreal.ca and for rapid backgrounds like these:

Brian F. Kelcey @stateofthecity.bsky.social · 2d

Praise for Montreal's bike-share system, from TIME. Worth a holiday thread on a couple of operational + political aspects of Bixi's history that are intriguingly left unsaid.

Cult MTL @cultmtl.com · 2d

“Montreal revolutionized the bicycle-sharing trend. The tech behind BIXI became the backbone for bike-sharing programs in London, New York, Chicago and dozens of other places, turning two wheels into a genuine option for navigating cities.”

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Reposted by Michèle Champagne

Soumaya Keynes @soumayakeynes.ft.com · 1d

"Dutch government takes control of Chinese-owned chipmaker Nexperia"

by @andybounds.bsky.social, Ryan McMorrow and Demetri Sevastopulo

www.ft.com/content/605e...

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Michèle Champagne @michhham.bsky.social · 1d

This news experience and chip story are a reminder that: Digital sovereignty is a choice.

Michèle Champagne @michhham.bsky.social · 1d

And @nrc.nl journalists like Jan Benjamin openly cite and credit other news sources.

“Ook de @financialtimes.com brengt het nieuws prominent.”

Dutch government takes control of Chinese-owned chipmaker Nexperia

Move escalates frictions between western countries and Beijing over access to high-end technology

www.ft.com

Michèle Champagne @michhham.bsky.social · 1d

And @nrc.nl journalists like Jan Benjamin openly cite and credit other news sources.

“Ook de @financialtimes.com brengt het nieuws prominent.”

Dutch government takes control of Chinese-owned chipmaker Nexperia

Move escalates frictions between western countries and Beijing over access to high-end technology

www.ft.com

Michèle Champagne @michhham.bsky.social · 1d

I’m rather more enjoying the @nrc.nl news experience: it’s timely, and the typesetting and photography are fantastic.

“The Netherlands takes tough action against chip manufacturer Nexperia due to fears of chip knowledge leaks to China.”

Nederland grijpt hard in bij chipfabrikant Nexperia uit angst voor lekken chipkennis naar China

Intellectueel eigendom: Het ministerie van Economische Zaken legt de bedrijfsvoering van chipfabrikant Nexperia grotendeels stil, om te voorkomen dat chipkennis naar China weglekt.

www.nrc.nl

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Michèle Champagne @michhham.bsky.social · 1d

Recently, @ledevoir.com newspaper—Montreal’s leading title—redesigned its website by abandoning its award-winning graphic design and typesetting in Lyon.

It has “0” results in a search for stories on the bold Dutch takeover of “Nexperia”. And its updated app has no search function.

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Michèle Champagne @michhham.bsky.social · 2d

I saw a government eager to transform research into innovation without protecting art, design culture, or IP legal aid. I saw a promise to transform defense spending into industrial spending but without Canadian suppliers.

In short, in the survey, I didn't see the seeds of a Canadian model

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Michèle Champagne @michhham.bsky.social · 2d

There is a narrow window to reclaim Canada’s sovereignty, democracy, and culture. This is about regulation but more about leading the creation of digital infrastructure that is democratically governed—with or without pushing “AI”—and an alternative to American Big Tech and Chinese Big State models.

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Michèle Champagne @michhham.bsky.social · 2d

– Innovation benefits from design culture, design builds IP, but AI-gen material has an IP problem.

– Health data are “sensitive”. Face “recognition” should be banned. Emotion “recognition” is a pseudoscience.

– Harms are not emerging. False arrests, deepfakes, and workslop are here.

– And more.

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Michèle Champagne @michhham.bsky.social · 2d

I didn’t fill it out but instead wrote to [email protected], which you can do too. I noted:

– Democracy didn’t figure much in the survey. Democratic governance requires digital regulation and enforcement.

– “AI” is a marketing term.

– “Creators is Silicon Valley’s preferred term ...

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Michèle Champagne @michhham.bsky.social · 2d

Canadians, fill out this survey on the federal government’s push to accelerate “AI”.

Its technological solutionism reminds me less of DOGE and more of Sidewalk Toronto’s pitch for a “smart city” where power faded into the background while trumpets promised wealth, ethics, and inclusivity.

Help define the next chapter of Canada's AI leadership

Current status: Open from October 1 to October 31, 2025 Canada helped invent modern AI. To stay a leader—and protect our digital sovereignty—we're running a 30-day national sprint to shape a renew...

ised-isde.canada.ca

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Michèle Champagne @michhham.bsky.social · 3d

S'il vous plaît, @ledevoir.com, ramenez Lyon comme police de lecture principale de votre site. Ne gâchez pas une bonne chose.

Renouveler nos plateformes, renforcer la confiance

Notre site Web et nos applications mobile et tablette ont pris du galon.

www.ledevoir.com

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Michèle Champagne @michhham.bsky.social · 3d

Sur la réutilisation.

Une usine de marbre reconvertie en centre d’art dans Ahuntsic

«Le Devoir» a visité en primeur le futur site des Ateliers CAB et du Centre CAB.

www.ledevoir.com

Michèle Champagne @michhham.bsky.social · 3d

I started perusing Bain’s Technology Report 2025, then stopped after diving into a few sub-sections. Despite the article in Futurism.com which reference The Register which references the “From Pilots to Payoff” section, the report overall itself is ... very different:

Technology Report 2025

AI leaders are extending their edge.

www.bain.com

Michèle Champagne @michhham.bsky.social · 5d

Ottawa rocks old libraries.

Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 5d

Today in Ottawa: Library Archives Canada, Mathers Haldenby, 1967.

This is just the lobby. What a feast of details.

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Reposted by Michèle Champagne

Simon Lewsen @simonlewsen.bsky.social · 6d

This piece is still the one I'm most proud of in my career. (And @chloeellingson.bsky.social's photos are gorgeous.)

The Local Magazine @thelocal.to · 8d

From the #LocalArchives: The Annex is shrinking. The towers of Crescent Town are exploding. @simonlewsen.bsky.social on a tale of two cities, and how the uneven, illogical densification pattern of the last 50 years created today’s Toronto. thelocal.to/density-the-...

In the Annex and Crescent Town, Two Sides to a Density Dilemma | The Local

The Annex had fewer residents in 2021 than 1971. The towers of Crescent Town had far more. How the uneven, illogical densification pattern of the last 50 years created today’s Toronto.

thelocal.to

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