Stewart Prest
@stewartprest.ca
Recalcitrant Canadian. Political scientist at UBC in Vancouver. I research, teach and talk international relations, BCpoli, comparative democratic institutions, and contentious politics. stewartprest.ca | https://stewartprest.substack.com
Pinned
It would happen no matter what. The US President is basically a Roomba. When he runs into opposition he turns and starts devouring in another direction. Sooner or later he always circles back, though.
Reposted by Stewart Prest
February 10, 2026 at 4:31 AM
Reposted by Stewart Prest
This story barely got any mention today, which is crazy because it's a sign of just how broken the RCMP really is.
More than 600 RCMP officers faced gender-based violence disciplinary charges since 2014, CBC analysis finds | CBC News
A CBC investigation of RCMP disciplinary records reveals hundreds of cases of alleged gender-based violence by members. Through a series of access requests, CBC received more than 10 years of discipli...
www.cbc.ca
February 10, 2026 at 4:14 AM
This story barely got any mention today, which is crazy because it's a sign of just how broken the RCMP really is.
Reposted by Stewart Prest
Super Bowl viewers Sunday speculated that 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos appeared in the halftime show. In fact, he has been in hiding with his family.
“He can’t sleep well at night. He wakes up three or four times a night screaming, ‘Daddy, Daddy,’” Liam's father Adrian Conejo Arias, said.
“He can’t sleep well at night. He wakes up three or four times a night screaming, ‘Daddy, Daddy,’” Liam's father Adrian Conejo Arias, said.
‘He’s not the same’: Father of Liam Conejo Ramos says 5-year-old continues to suffer
Some people thought they say the 5-year-old during the Super Bowl halftime show. But Liam is still in hiding with his family, after he and his father were detained and then released from a Texas deten...
www.mprnews.org
February 10, 2026 at 1:11 AM
Super Bowl viewers Sunday speculated that 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos appeared in the halftime show. In fact, he has been in hiding with his family.
“He can’t sleep well at night. He wakes up three or four times a night screaming, ‘Daddy, Daddy,’” Liam's father Adrian Conejo Arias, said.
“He can’t sleep well at night. He wakes up three or four times a night screaming, ‘Daddy, Daddy,’” Liam's father Adrian Conejo Arias, said.
Reposted by Stewart Prest
What this man is describing would seem to constitute crimes against humanity under international law. Other governments could and should contest the abuses he’s describing the U.S. government committing against migrants.
“It’s just a horrible, horrible, horrible place,” he said of his detention camp. “I’m not in fear of the other inmates. I’m afraid of the staff. They’re capable of anything.”
And here is my story: ‘Absolute hell’: Irishman with valid US work permit held by Ice since September
www.irishtimes.com/world/us/202...
www.irishtimes.com/world/us/202...
February 9, 2026 at 9:17 PM
What this man is describing would seem to constitute crimes against humanity under international law. Other governments could and should contest the abuses he’s describing the U.S. government committing against migrants.
Would be an interesting research project to interview those responsible for the decision. It does seem risks are higher given both polarization (a loss is not just a time-out, but empowering the "other side") and the tendency for time-outs to be punishing on opposition, even existentially fraught.
Stealing David's note from Substack so that I can add a thought of my own:
Previous to the 2021 federal campaign, the conventional wisdom was that voters would ultimately not care why an election was called.
After 2021, I think that seems like a much riskier bet.
Previous to the 2021 federal campaign, the conventional wisdom was that voters would ultimately not care why an election was called.
After 2021, I think that seems like a much riskier bet.
February 9, 2026 at 4:13 PM
Would be an interesting research project to interview those responsible for the decision. It does seem risks are higher given both polarization (a loss is not just a time-out, but empowering the "other side") and the tendency for time-outs to be punishing on opposition, even existentially fraught.
Reposted by Stewart Prest
“For 280 days we haven’t eaten a single piece of fruit, banana, apple, orange, or anything fresh. We are all in one big room with no doors or windows. We can’t see any grass or trees. We are all constantly sick.”
Conditions in a San Diego concentration camp, via message hurled out in a bottle.
Conditions in a San Diego concentration camp, via message hurled out in a bottle.
![“Good afternoon. My name is [redacted] and my wife and I have been at OMDC since April 15 2025,” reads a handwritten note, wrapped around a lotion bottle that was thrown by a man held captive inside the Otay Mesa Detention Center (OMDC) on Sunday.
“It’s cold here all the time and the food is poor,” the missive continues. “For 280 days we haven’t eaten a single piece of fruit, banana, apple, orange, or anything fresh. We are all in one big room with no doors or windows. We can’t see any grass or trees. We are all constantly sick.”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:tgw3d4hvw3x5ijrxax7lg26u/bafkreiet46krrk7ovnqxsd6vr7ogw2lgame43jsqw25u2ygi5el5i5toom@jpeg)
February 8, 2026 at 1:29 PM
“For 280 days we haven’t eaten a single piece of fruit, banana, apple, orange, or anything fresh. We are all in one big room with no doors or windows. We can’t see any grass or trees. We are all constantly sick.”
Conditions in a San Diego concentration camp, via message hurled out in a bottle.
Conditions in a San Diego concentration camp, via message hurled out in a bottle.
Reposted by Stewart Prest
In 2023 NYT laid out Trump’s mass deportation plan: detain immense numbers of people in such miserable conditions that they’re compelled to stop fighting their cases & agree to leave.
They’re still getting to “immense numbers.” But the core concept is working for them. mailchi.mp/43a225b48ded...
They’re still getting to “immense numbers.” But the core concept is working for them. mailchi.mp/43a225b48ded...
The Throughline: Don’t Lose Sight of Detention Atrocities
mailchi.mp
January 30, 2026 at 3:16 PM
In 2023 NYT laid out Trump’s mass deportation plan: detain immense numbers of people in such miserable conditions that they’re compelled to stop fighting their cases & agree to leave.
They’re still getting to “immense numbers.” But the core concept is working for them. mailchi.mp/43a225b48ded...
They’re still getting to “immense numbers.” But the core concept is working for them. mailchi.mp/43a225b48ded...
Reposted by Stewart Prest
BC apparently has a clone of the Alberta separatist group
February 8, 2026 at 4:44 PM
BC apparently has a clone of the Alberta separatist group
Reposted by Stewart Prest
Reposted by Stewart Prest
Fixing the Midterms is now the main driver for Trump.
February 8, 2026 at 4:09 PM
Fixing the Midterms is now the main driver for Trump.
Reposted by Stewart Prest
ICE told nurses this Minneapolis man “purposefully ran headfirst into a brick wall.”
What actually happened is that they pulled him from a car, beat him so viciously with a steel baton that he had 8 skull fractures, 5 life-threatening brain hemorrhages, and couldn’t remember he had a daughter.
What actually happened is that they pulled him from a car, beat him so viciously with a steel baton that he had 8 skull fractures, 5 life-threatening brain hemorrhages, and couldn’t remember he had a daughter.
February 7, 2026 at 5:54 PM
ICE told nurses this Minneapolis man “purposefully ran headfirst into a brick wall.”
What actually happened is that they pulled him from a car, beat him so viciously with a steel baton that he had 8 skull fractures, 5 life-threatening brain hemorrhages, and couldn’t remember he had a daughter.
What actually happened is that they pulled him from a car, beat him so viciously with a steel baton that he had 8 skull fractures, 5 life-threatening brain hemorrhages, and couldn’t remember he had a daughter.
I'm about as hawkish as they come on Canada insulating itself against developments in the US. Ironically it's because of that I think Canada nuclearizing is a bad idea. It is one of the few ways to open the door to support in the US for an attack on Canada. www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/art...
Canada should ‘keep our options open’ on acquiring nuclear weapons, former defence chief says
Retired general Wayne Eyre told an Ottawa crowd that developing a nuclear deterrent is not an immediate concern, but should be an option
www.theglobeandmail.com
February 6, 2026 at 10:05 PM
I'm about as hawkish as they come on Canada insulating itself against developments in the US. Ironically it's because of that I think Canada nuclearizing is a bad idea. It is one of the few ways to open the door to support in the US for an attack on Canada. www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/art...
Reposted by Stewart Prest
Here's the gift link: www.thestar.com/opinion/star...
Justin Ling: For years, Canada has used a secret U.S.-run terror watchlist. Now Trump could use it against us
It's called TUSCAN, and it's a nightmare for civil liberties. We need to put a stop to it.
www.thestar.com
February 6, 2026 at 2:27 PM
Here's the gift link: www.thestar.com/opinion/star...
Reposted by Stewart Prest
As America weaponizes its post-9/11 security state to terrorize migrants and target dissidents, her (former) allies need to unplug from it ASAP. www.thestar.com/opinion/star...
Justin Ling: For years, Canada has used a secret U.S.-run terror watchlist. Now Trump could use it against us
It's called TUSCAN, and it's a nightmare for civil liberties. We need to put a stop to it.
www.thestar.com
February 6, 2026 at 12:47 PM
As America weaponizes its post-9/11 security state to terrorize migrants and target dissidents, her (former) allies need to unplug from it ASAP. www.thestar.com/opinion/star...
Reposted by Stewart Prest
BC is seeking leave to appeal the Gitxaala decision to the Supreme Court of Canada
The provincial appeals court deemed the Declaration Act legally enforceable and the mineral claim-staking system inconsistent with that law in Dec. 2025
Premier David Eby has repeatedly criticized the ruling #bcpoli
The provincial appeals court deemed the Declaration Act legally enforceable and the mineral claim-staking system inconsistent with that law in Dec. 2025
Premier David Eby has repeatedly criticized the ruling #bcpoli
February 5, 2026 at 7:36 PM
BC is seeking leave to appeal the Gitxaala decision to the Supreme Court of Canada
The provincial appeals court deemed the Declaration Act legally enforceable and the mineral claim-staking system inconsistent with that law in Dec. 2025
Premier David Eby has repeatedly criticized the ruling #bcpoli
The provincial appeals court deemed the Declaration Act legally enforceable and the mineral claim-staking system inconsistent with that law in Dec. 2025
Premier David Eby has repeatedly criticized the ruling #bcpoli
I regret to inform you AI is not going to save the Canadian economy. www.ctvnews.ca/business/art...
Canada must ‘lean into’ economic disruption, BoC’s Macklem urges
Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem says businesses ought to “lean into” the forces disrupting the economy or risk failing to adapt.
www.ctvnews.ca
February 5, 2026 at 6:29 PM
I regret to inform you AI is not going to save the Canadian economy. www.ctvnews.ca/business/art...
Reposted by Stewart Prest
The long-winding saga for the Eglinton Crosstown LRT goes back further than you think...
Check out this super fun and interactive timeline made by McKenna Hart with words from me!
thestar.com/interactives... via
@thestar.com
Check out this super fun and interactive timeline made by McKenna Hart with words from me!
thestar.com/interactives... via
@thestar.com
Relive the twists and turns in the Eglinton LRT’s 50-year odyssey before Sunday’s launch — if you’re game
For more than five decades, rapid transit along Eglinton Avenue has been a must-have in any city plan. What took it so long?
thestar.com
February 5, 2026 at 3:29 PM
The long-winding saga for the Eglinton Crosstown LRT goes back further than you think...
Check out this super fun and interactive timeline made by McKenna Hart with words from me!
thestar.com/interactives... via
@thestar.com
Check out this super fun and interactive timeline made by McKenna Hart with words from me!
thestar.com/interactives... via
@thestar.com
Reposted by Stewart Prest
Set aside one's horror at the depravity evinced by the ICE officers here and consider coldly, logically, this question: would an agency that defies a court order so brazenly be restrained by any other regulation that Congress might pass?
‘One officer told me that I "had no chance of returning to Minnesota" and that "the best thing for (me] is self-deportation." …
She offered me $2600 to self-deport.
I refused.
I wanted to talk to my attorney.
They didn't tell me the judge had already ordered my release and return to Minnesota.’
She offered me $2600 to self-deport.
I refused.
I wanted to talk to my attorney.
They didn't tell me the judge had already ordered my release and return to Minnesota.’
February 5, 2026 at 2:54 PM
Set aside one's horror at the depravity evinced by the ICE officers here and consider coldly, logically, this question: would an agency that defies a court order so brazenly be restrained by any other regulation that Congress might pass?
Reposted by Stewart Prest
“U.S. employers announced 108,435 layoffs for the month, up 118% from the same period a year ago. The total marked the highest for any January since 2009, while the economy was in the final months of its steepest downturn since the Great Depression.”
Layoffs in January were the highest to start a year since 2009, Challenger says
With the recent narrative centering on a no-hire, no-fire labor market, the data suggests that the layoff part of the equation could be stepping up.
www.cnbc.com
February 5, 2026 at 3:01 PM
“U.S. employers announced 108,435 layoffs for the month, up 118% from the same period a year ago. The total marked the highest for any January since 2009, while the economy was in the final months of its steepest downturn since the Great Depression.”
Reposted by Stewart Prest
While we are reading the news about journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort being arrested, a reminder that a Canadian journalist was arrested while covering a protest action in Northern B.C. in 2021. thetyee.ca/News/2026/01...
The Narwhal Is Suing the RCMP. Stakes Are High for Journalism | The Tyee
The judge’s ruling could reinforce the right of journalists to report from inside police ‘exclusion zones.’
thetyee.ca
January 30, 2026 at 3:17 PM
While we are reading the news about journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort being arrested, a reminder that a Canadian journalist was arrested while covering a protest action in Northern B.C. in 2021. thetyee.ca/News/2026/01...
Reposted by Stewart Prest
Sir Ian McKellen performing a monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More on the Stephen Colbert show. Never have I heard this monologue performed with such a keen sense of prescience. Nor have I ever been in this exact historical moment.TY Sir Ian, for reaching us once again.
#Pinks #ProudBlue
#Pinks #ProudBlue
February 5, 2026 at 11:50 AM
Sir Ian McKellen performing a monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More on the Stephen Colbert show. Never have I heard this monologue performed with such a keen sense of prescience. Nor have I ever been in this exact historical moment.TY Sir Ian, for reaching us once again.
#Pinks #ProudBlue
#Pinks #ProudBlue
Reposted by Stewart Prest
Canada considers the US to be a safe country for asylum-seekers.
🚨HOLY CRAP. The Trump admin just took a SLEDGEHAMMER to due process, largely eliminating the Board of Immigration Appeals process and MANDATING DISMISSAL of ALL appeals (which cost $1,000 thanks to OBBBA) filed after tomorrow unless a majority of the BIA votes to hear the case.
February 5, 2026 at 2:41 PM
Canada considers the US to be a safe country for asylum-seekers.
Reposted by Stewart Prest
We are deciding right now whether we want to be a country with ethnic cleansing and concentration camps.
This is another effort that has taken a HUGE amount of local activism, led by community folks who care.
It CAN be done. Get involved where you live and push back.
www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/i...
It CAN be done. Get involved where you live and push back.
www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/i...
New Mexico Senate approves bill to ban ICE detention centers
The New Mexico Legislature approved the Immigration Safety Act. House bill 9 bars the state from allowing ICE detention centers.
www.elpasotimes.com
February 5, 2026 at 2:01 AM
We are deciding right now whether we want to be a country with ethnic cleansing and concentration camps.
Editors, any chance you can stop putting pictures of Epststein on every article about anything even vaguely Epstein related? Really don't need to see his face every time I venture online.
February 5, 2026 at 2:03 AM
Editors, any chance you can stop putting pictures of Epststein on every article about anything even vaguely Epstein related? Really don't need to see his face every time I venture online.