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Reposted by Stephen Harrison

Gabriel Geiger @gabrielgeiger.bsky.social · 5h

On a Saturday night I stumbled across something on the internet that made me feel like ****** my pants. A giant dataset of real surveillance operations targeting 1000s of people across nearly every country. Unraveling it and the mysterious company behind it has consumed 1.5 years of my life

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Defund VicPD @defundvicpd.bsky.social · 4h

VicPD is Back in Local Schools.

New on the blog: details about the school officer program and how to push back against more police in Victoria schools! #defundVicPD #yyj defundvicpd.org/2025/10/13/v...

VicPD is Back in SD61 Schools

School is back in session, and School Police Liaison Officers (SPLO) are back too. To learn more about the history of the SPLO program and what it means for communities now that it is back, check o…

defundvicpd.org

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Reposted by Stephen Harrison

Garth Mullins @garthmullins.bsky.social · 3h

We started DULF because we knew nobody was coming to save us, so we had to save ourselves. It worked. But right wing politicians made themselves famous off scapegoating us. The government de-funded us. The cops raided us. But our day in court is here. thetyee.ca/News/2025/10...

Safe Drugs on Trial: DULF’s Trafficking Case Begins | The Tyee

The founders are charged with trafficking. Their lawyers argue they had a legal exemption from drug laws.

thetyee.ca

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Euan Tombstone @drugdatadecoded.ca · 2d

Worthwhile analysis in @ricochetmedia.bsky.social on the place we end up when our only response to poverty is criminalization.

ricochet.media/justice/hous...

In Barrie, poverty is the crime and visibility the emergency

The Ontario city’s so-called ‘state of emergency’ is a manufactured crisis built on cruelty, not care

ricochet.media

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Reposted by Stephen Harrison

GenderQueeries 🇨🇦 @genderqueeries.ca · 5d

One thing to really note is that while the anti trans bill was defeated, BC Conservative leader John Rustad - and 39 others - voted in favour of the bill moving to first reading.

www.castanet.net/news/BC/5769...

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Reposted by Stephen Harrison

Jimmy Thomson @jameswsthomson.com · 6d

As climate disinformation groups move into the shadows, @nationalobserver.com has developed an unprecedented new tool: Civic Searchlight. To build it, we assembled a database of council meetings in more than 550 municipalities.

How Canada's National Observer tracked a climate misinfo group going 'under the radar'

As KICLEI's campaign moves into the shadows, Canada’s National Observer has developed an unprecedented new tool: Civic Searchlight. To build it, we assembled a database of council meetings in more tha...

www.nationalobserver.com

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Reposted by Stephen Harrison

Michelle Gamage @michellegamage.bsky.social · 8d

A single Vancouver police officer made $397,258 last year, making $239,258 in overtime on top of their base pay of up to $158,000.
This is the wildest FOI I've seen in a long time. Well done Liam Britten for digging this up. #CBC
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

47 VPD officers made over $100K in OT last year — and one banked $239K, FOI data shows | CBC News

A single Vancouver police sergeant was paid $239,258 in overtime alone last year, on top of the rank's base pay of up to $158,000. The figure comes from a freedom of information request filed with the...

www.cbc.ca

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Stephen Harrison @stephenharrison.bsky.social · 7d

I went to look at the moon on the advice of this post and it delivered.

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Stephen Harrison @stephenharrison.bsky.social · 7d

VicPD is set to announce its draft 2026 budget later this month, where they will ask for millions more than the $82 million they already get. But budget increases aren't inevitable, and people can push back! 23% of the city's budget is too much, and we can always tell councillors "No, thanks."

Defund VicPD @defundvicpd.bsky.social · 24d

Announcing DefundVicPD.org! Your new favourite local resource and info hub for defunding the Victoria Police Department (BC).

Defund VicPD

Defund VicPD is a community abolitionist group calling for defunding the Victoria Police Department (VicPD) and reallocating resources to community supports and services.

DefundVicPD.org

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Stephen Harrison @stephenharrison.bsky.social · 10d

Good summary, and this is a particularly satisfying part: "Van Blokland came to the conclusion that two central memos were not written on Soviet-era typewriters but with a digital font he himself created in 1993—three years after the documents were supposedly produced."

David Pugliese @davidpugliese.bsky.social · 11d

thewalrus.ca/a-veteran-re...

A Veteran Reporter Was Branded as a Russian Spy. The Proof Didn’t Hold Up | The Walrus

Former MP Chris Alexander accused David Pugliese of treason. Experts now argue his evidence was fake

thewalrus.ca

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Stephen Harrison @stephenharrison.bsky.social · 13d

Yesterday's wind warning reminded me of this guy jumping the breakwater back in 2012. www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cee... #yyj

kiteboarding Larry Dennis jumping breakwater wall

YouTube video by Larry Dennis

www.youtube.com

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Stephen Harrison @stephenharrison.bsky.social · 14d

Overdose prevention is "just one part of the work," and, PS, we are not doing that work.

karen ward @kwardvancouver.bsky.social · 15d

enough of this murderous bullshit.

In an email to CHEK News today Island Health said:

Island Health is committed to investing in a full continuum of mental health and addictions care from prevention to recovery, because recovery is not a straight-line journey, and people need to be met and supported where they are. Overdose prevention services are just one part of the work to build a seamless system of mental health and addictions care, which spans prevention, early intervention, harm reduction, and treatment and recovery.
Ensuring all people are treated with respect and dignity, and patients who use substances receive equitable and accessible care that is free from stigma and judgement is a priority for Island Health. We are focused on enhancing care and connecting people to health services wherever they are at in their journey, particularly in the face of the enduring toxic drug crisis.
Our major hospital sites, including Royal Jubilee and Nanaimo Regional General hospitals, have Addictions Medicine Consult Service (AMCS) teams embedded within them. These expert teams, including specialized physicians, work closely with patients who use substances to develop unique and tailored care plans that meet the needs of patients, protect the safety of staff and other patients, and align with provincial policies and regulations. AMCS clinicians are focused on care planning that manages withdrawal symptoms related to substance use, with the goal of supporting patient comfort and reducing the need to use substances while admitted to hospital.
Currently, there is no new or standalone funding available to health authorities for this type of service expansion. We are continuing to support patients during their hospital stay with our existing AMCS services, while also working with our partners and clinicians to explore additional ways to support patients who are unable to abstain from substance use during inpatient admission.

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Reposted by Stephen Harrison

Kelly B @kellyblack.ca · 24d

Municipal elections in 2026. Here’s a resource for #yyj folks!

Defund VicPD @defundvicpd.bsky.social · 24d

Announcing DefundVicPD.org! Your new favourite local resource and info hub for defunding the Victoria Police Department (BC).

Defund VicPD

Defund VicPD is a community abolitionist group calling for defunding the Victoria Police Department (VicPD) and reallocating resources to community supports and services.

DefundVicPD.org

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Reposted by Stephen Harrison

Euan Tombstone @drugdatadecoded.ca · May 29

I do not care if Canada post is ever profitable. It is a public service, everyone owns it. That’s valuable in and of itself.
We don’t ask the emergency room or public schools to turn a profit.
We ask them to be accessible for everyone to use.

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Stephen Harrison @stephenharrison.bsky.social · 20d

Police drone operators aren't impartial observers. I'd support lots of road safety ideas, but given everything we know about police, if the goal is to keep people safe, it shouldn't be police doing that work. There are some alternate ideas linked here. www.crimlawpractitioner.org/post/greenli... 3/3

Greenlighting non-police alternatives to traffic enforcement and road safety

Though traditional notions of public safety have long regarded law enforcement as the only effective means of keeping communities safe, the current state of policing—marked by abuses of discretion, ci...

www.crimlawpractitioner.org

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Stephen Harrison @stephenharrison.bsky.social · 20d

I'm also concerned about entrenching police in traffic enforcement. VicPD data shows they disproportionately police Black, Hispanic, Middle Eastern and South Asian drivers. And from 2018-21, they filed 57 use of force reports related to traffic incidents, including 13 where they injured people. 2/3

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Stephen Harrison @stephenharrison.bsky.social · 20d

Thanks for the comment! The CCF go into constitutional issues here. theccf.ca/wp-content/u... Police are regularly busted for violating Charter rights for saying one thing when they're really after something else (e.g., using traffic violations as a pretense; Kingston is headed down that line). 1/3

theccf.ca

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Stephen Harrison @stephenharrison.bsky.social · 21d

FOI helps show the real cost of VicPD's drone program. www.needsmorespikes.com/blog/vicpd-d...

VicPD is watching you (more than they already were) — Needs More Spikes

Despite VicPD’s claims, drones are not new to VicPD, there will be no meaningful limits to how they use them, and they will not keep people safe. The program is also more expensive than has been repor...

www.needsmorespikes.com

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Stephen Harrison @stephenharrison.bsky.social · 22d

"The average VicPD officer made $156,293 in 2024. … Defunding the police is the logical first step to balancing the resources that communities need to thrive and survive. This is not about finding new sources of funding – the money is already there." #yyj defundvicpd.org/2025/09/20/h...

Defunding the police is a move towards community safety

“Defund should not be a dirty word”, writes Associate Professor of Criminal Justice, Kevin Walby in this 2022 article. “In fact, defunding public police is a step towards choosing…

defundvicpd.org

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Reposted by Stephen Harrison

Defund VicPD @defundvicpd.bsky.social · 24d

Announcing DefundVicPD.org! Your new favourite local resource and info hub for defunding the Victoria Police Department (BC).

Defund VicPD

Defund VicPD is a community abolitionist group calling for defunding the Victoria Police Department (VicPD) and reallocating resources to community supports and services.

DefundVicPD.org

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Reposted by Stephen Harrison

karen ward @kwardvancouver.bsky.social · 24d

this failure of political imagination is a comms strategy for expanding police power and police budgets

The Globe and Mail @theglobeandmail.com · 24d

Street disorder, homelessness key issues as B.C. civic leaders meet

B.C. politicians are set to meet for a convention in Victoria next week to discuss issues facing the province’s municipalities

www.theglobeandmail.com

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Stephen Harrison @stephenharrison.bsky.social · 25d

Here's an old thread, timely today given VicPD is complaining about its funding again. They are over-resourced; they take up 23% of the city's budget; and for police forces serving more than 50,000 people in Canada, only Montreal has both more police and a higher authorized strength per capita. #yyj

Stephen Harrison @stephenharrison.bsky.social · Nov 26

VicPD is bloated. They complain they have ‘only’ 257 deployed officers, but StatsCan reports “the rate of police strength” in Canada is 178 police per 100,000 people. VicPD have 221 per 100,000. Other ‘downtown’ police forces (e.g. VPD) aren’t as overstaffed as VicPD. tinyurl.com/VicPDStatsCan

Table from Stats Can showing VicPD’s “Police officers per 100,000 population” in 2023, with 251 police officers, was 216.8. With an authorized strength of 255, the table shows the “Authorized police officer strength per 100,000 population” was 221.

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Reposted by Stephen Harrison

prym! @prymofthecrypt.bsky.social · 25d

they say this every year and every year we increase their budget exponentially and it makes me feel like i’m fucking insane. stop giving these people more money — clearly they can’t manage themselves!!!

Times Colonist @timescolonist.bsky.social · 25d

VicPD is 'woefully understaffed,' new police chief tells city council

Fiona Wilson says staffing numbers have not kept pace with population growth, or the change in complexity in policing.

dlvr.it

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Stephen Harrison @stephenharrison.bsky.social · 25d

I read too fast and thought she was scheduled to speak for 4 hours.

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Stephen Harrison @stephenharrison.bsky.social · 26d

One thing I don’t get into is this old email where VicPD said purchasing a drone was an option instead of “waiting for Civil Forfeiture again.” Were they seizing drones? Using seized money to buy drones? We all know the hardship of having to wait to seize our new toys instead of using public money.

Email from Brian Asmussen to Trevor Stephen, cc’ing Jonathan Sheldan. Subject: Drone. Dage: June 11, 2025, 1:08 pm.

Hey Trevor,

Hope all is good 22(1)

Jonathan wanted me to set you loose on doing some

drone research for the unit in the event we decide to purchase one instead of waiting for Civil Forfeiture again. We are looking for a good camera and possibly the ability for IR and FARO compatible?

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