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Arno Kopecky

@arnokopecky.bsky.social
1.4K followers 370 following 663 posts

Writer at large (but mostly Vancouver). Environment, culture, politics... All too earnest.

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Arno Kopecky @arnokopecky.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Litfest season is here! Wrote about my fave for @nationalobserver.com. "Writer-fests act as a kind of cultural intertidal zone. They’re a place where 2 narrative ecosystems overlap, the written and spoken word... where audience and authors nourish eachother. www.nationalobserver.com/2026/09/16/o...
nationalobserver.com
Reports of the death of reading are greatly exaggerated. Just ask the Vancouver Writers Fest
This year’s literary festival, starting October 18, will be its biggest yet.
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Arno Kopecky @arnokopecky.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Riding my bike through September sun today I saw something small and sparkly hovering in the air above me. Thought it was a tiny drone. Turned out it was just a dumb hummingbird.
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Arno Kopecky @arnokopecky.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
I’m in Edmonton with my 94-year-old dad, and the level of (publicly subsidized) care he’s received from home-caregivers is astounding. Every one of these angels is an immigrant. AB’s health care system relies on them utterly. So do many others. And the separatists resent their very presence.
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Arno Kopecky @arnokopecky.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
You had me at "Identity politics fade" www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...
theglobeandmail.com
Identity politics fade to the background in Quebec ahead of October’s provincial election
Divisive subject could return to the fore when Supreme Court issues landmark decision on Bill 21 in the coming months
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Arno Kopecky @arnokopecky.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Have the Indians stolen your house yet? Me neither. I had so much fun talking with The One And Only @harrisonmooney.bsky.social about the mass hysteria triggered by the Cowichan decision, and why First Nations regaining land & power is fucking great for everyone. www.thetyee.ca/Tyeenews/202...
thetyee.ca
The Tyee Podcast: Why We All Win with the Cowichan Decision | The Tyee
After a year of panic about property rights in Richmond, author Arno Kopecky explains why BC’s landmark court decision is something to celebrate.
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Arno Kopecky @arnokopecky.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Has any major figure from Alberta‘s oil patch said anything at all about separation? Any mention of support for Remain? Genuine question.
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Arno Kopecky @arnokopecky.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
"The fact Carney used an Indigenous name to argue for Canadian sovereignty carries far more weight than most may know. I just wonder if the prime minister knows what he did." Love this from @niigaanwewidam.bsky.social www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/2026/0...
winnipegfreepress.com
Opinion: Carney’s defence of Lake Ontario carries enormous weight
For centuries on Turtle Island (North America), explorers, map makers, and political leaders have erased Indigenous place names and substituted them — more often than not — with political, ethnocentri...
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Chris Turner @theturner.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
MAGA folks will likely miss the dry wit being employed here
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Arno Kopecky @arnokopecky.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
In light of ongoing BC Conservative claims that the province is being given away to those we shall not call First Nations...👇
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Blake Shaffer 🇨🇦 @blakeshaffer.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
You can’t make this up: Alberta seeks help from other Canadian provinces to run referendum on separating from Canada www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/alber...
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Canadaland @canadaland.com · 19/08/2026
“ Wildfire events are really good content creation events for the denizens of the internet that are really out to get attention and eyeballs.” @arnokopecky.bsky.social joins @julianabraham.bsky.social buff.ly/kSkAhTO
canadaland.com
British Columbia is Burning
B.C.’s wildfires spread at unprecedented speeds, resulting in tens of thousands of evacuations and a province-wide state of emergency. Yet, nationally, the fires didn’t garner the same level of media attention as Northern Ontario’s fires last month. Why the disconnect?
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Emerence 🍁 @damemyniah.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Gift article www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/c687ec3...
theglobeandmail.com
Inside the early battle against the ferocious Bald Range wildfire
As flames raced toward Summerland, B.C., this command centre had to make the tough calls
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Arno Kopecky @arnokopecky.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Stunning reporting from Jesse Winter & @andreawoo.bsky.social. Haven’t read anything like this since Fire Weather. As Jesse said in a related post “Canada is overdue for a mass casualty [wildfire] event. This fire could have easily been that, and almost was.” www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...
theglobeandmail.com
Inside the early battle against the ferocious Bald Range wildfire
As flames raced toward Summerland, B.C., this command centre had to make the tough calls
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Arno Kopecky @arnokopecky.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Jespo made me sound more potty-mouthed than usual in this clip, but...if there was ever a situation that merits an f-bomb, I suppose FIRE EVERYWHERE is it. And what a delight to chat with Alberta's funnest host. We covered a lot of ground -- wildfires, land claims, and of course fireflies.
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Arno Kopecky @arnokopecky.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
dare you not to
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Arno Kopecky @arnokopecky.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Stoked to hang with @ryanjespersen.bsky.social today. Thanks for all the real estate…
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Arno Kopecky @arnokopecky.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
A heartening counterpoint to their maddening editorial last week (lamenting how summers are getting smokier without noting why)
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Arno Kopecky @arnokopecky.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
jesus
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Arno Kopecky @arnokopecky.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
“Fire is, at its core, an ambitious energy-burning appetite. But so are we.” A bracing call to arms from @johnvaillant.bsky.social, as Canada’s wildfire season goes ballistic. time.com/article/2026...
time.com
What Happens When the World is on Fire
"From America to Algeria, dangerous blazes are occurring around the world, giving us a glimpse into an age ablaze," writes John Valliant.
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Arno Kopecky @arnokopecky.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
timely and timeless.
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Arno Kopecky @arnokopecky.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
Talking to my Summerland friends this morning, who had to run with a few minutes notice last night. The news is on your screen until it’s at your door, these days. www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...
theglobeandmail.com
More than 20,000 residents evacuate as Okanagan fire explodes in size
Evacuation orders cover the entire community of Summerland, home to 12,000, while a further 8,000 around Peachland were told to flee
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Greg Bester 🇨🇦 @gregbester.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Give us proportional representation and we'll check out that hypothesis.
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Arno Kopecky @arnokopecky.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
If anyone wants to know what it's reeeeaaallly like to work with this monster, give me a call. Or you know, hit him up directly cuz it's great. As is the whole team. @jameswsthomson.com
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Arno Kopecky @arnokopecky.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Happy 1st birthday to the Cowichan decision. My story about the longest trial in Canadian history, and the year of mass hysteria that followed, is out in print. (Yes it's long! But not quite 150-years-of-fighting-for-your-land-back long.) macleans.ca/longforms/ri...
macleans.ca
A Judge Recognized Aboriginal Title on Private Property. Panic Ensued. - Macleans.ca
How the Cowichan court battle is putting the real meaning of reconciliation to the test
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Arno Kopecky @arnokopecky.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Avi Lewis remains the only politician of any stature in Canada who's stated this obvious, essential fact.
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Arno Kopecky @arnokopecky.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
nice to get a little pushback
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Arno Kopecky @arnokopecky.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Nothing like a wildfire emergency to put a nation's climate policies into perspective. But as our leaders push to increase oil and gas production, a new inconvenient truth is emerging: this seems to be...what Canadians want? My latest for @thewalrus.ca thewalrus.ca/carney-endor...
thewalrus.ca
Carney Endorses Pipeline Expansion as Wildfires Rage Across Canada | The Walrus
He’s even considering overriding species protection laws to move quickly on big projects
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Arno Kopecky @arnokopecky.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
"When something that feels extraordinary happens, people are inclined to look for extraordinary explanations." As BC burns, @michellecyca.com's latest connects some very wild dots. (whatever you do, stay outta Onejebio!) thenarwhal.ca/wildfire-mis...
thenarwhal.ca
With AI slop, wildfire misinformation is mutating online | The Narwhal
How conspiracy theories, misinformation and AI-generated images anchored by social media engagement are playing out during Canada’s 2026 wildfires
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Arno Kopecky @arnokopecky.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
"The separatist movement is a bit like Mr. Kenney’s big blue truck: a powerful machine, but he didn’t know how to handle it." Been waiting for someone to say this the way @daniparadis.bsky.social just did. www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...
theglobeandmail.com
Opinion: Jason Kenney is trying to stop the separatists. But he deserves some blame for their rise in the first place
As premier, he gave vent to some of the grievances that now animate the movement
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Arno Kopecky @arnokopecky.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
tho they did find room for a "new normal"
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Arno Kopecky @arnokopecky.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
"Kodak’s board never voted to lose. It voted, again and again, to protect the business it understood, using numbers that were accurate every single quarter until they weren’t." Best case I've read yet for investing in a national grid, rather than a pipeline. calgaryherald.com/opinion/colu...
calgaryherald.com
Opinion: Is the energy transition Canada’s Kodak moment?
Billions being spent on a globally decreasing product but governments failing to acknowledge that and plan better for the future.
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Arno Kopecky @arnokopecky.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
"Everyone wants to talk about wildfires in July and August, and then it starts raining in October, and we all conveniently forget..." Great interview with Jesse Winter — made me think of climate disasters in the same way I think of mass shootings. And opioid harm reduction.
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Arno Kopecky @arnokopecky.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Others can correct me, but is this not exactly what a Trickster is? powerful but bumbling, transparently self-interested, as often tricked as tricking, inherently foolish and endlessly ambitious?
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Jimmy Thomson @jameswsthomson.com · 28/07/2026
The jackals at Juno News are celebrating a talented journalist being laid off. Must be nice to never have to do layoffs because you can just invent reporters and pretend you hired them instead, eh Keean?
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Arno Kopecky @arnokopecky.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Cue the thundering silence from the same groups who express outrage when a First Nation closes a park for a few days. thenarwhal.ca/bc-carmanah-...
thenarwhal.ca
Logging company closes access to B.C. provincial park | The Narwhal
Many B.C. parks are accessible only by resource roads controlled by private companies. The Carmanah Walbran closure raises questions about access to public land
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Arno Kopecky @arnokopecky.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
love a good threshold
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Arno Kopecky @arnokopecky.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
the (seemingly) genuine befuddlement of American pols and their dear leader over the increase in wildfires in the past decade -- "I don't remember ever happening before!" -- is really something.
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Arno Kopecky @arnokopecky.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
Forestry experts can correct me on this, but—wildfires in the boreal really seem like the truest expression of a changing climate. Further south, a century of fire suppression & monoculture plantations have contributed to flammability. But the northern boreal is untouched. Only one factor in play.
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Arno Kopecky @arnokopecky.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
Best publicity the climate movement could hope for www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...
theglobeandmail.com
Wildfire smoke smothers U.S. northeast, drawing concern for World Cup final
Officials hopeful precipitation will improve conditions ahead of Sunday’s World Cup ​final in New Jersey
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Mike Flannigan @mikeflannigan.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
Wildfire smoke war! The US is retaliating by sending smoke from fires in Oregon and Washington State into Canada. What do they say about smoke and borders? GOES-West geocolor loop below.
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Arno Kopecky @arnokopecky.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Let’s point our windmills south and blow the smoke smoke at him harder
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Jimmy Thomson @jameswsthomson.com · 17/07/2026
Trump has attacked Canada over the wildfire smoke, upstaging even his dumbest members of congress. My column:
nationalobserver.com
Donald Trump can spare Canada the lecture on climate disasters
The US president and members of congress lashed out at Canada over the smoke pouring across the border this week. They should look in the mirror.
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Arno Kopecky @arnokopecky.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
The backlash to Cowichan has included calls to amend the Constitution. It was Robert who first pointed out to me that Canada's tried this before: in 1927, we banned "Indians" from hiring a lawyer, partly in response to the Cowichan's land claim. That's how long they've been at this.
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Arno Kopecky @arnokopecky.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
How to express the character of a man who represents FN's in court and brandishes that career as proof of his character, while stealing millions from the *children's* trust he put himself in charge of? And as a side note: nobody's doing more to destroy AB's separatist movement than First Nations.
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Arno Kopecky @arnokopecky.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
I hate to say this but Canada could stop emitting entirely and this would still happen. our emissions are like 1-2% of global total. That is in no way an argument to give up on climate policy. but let’s not make false promises.
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Jens Wieting @globalhome.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
Important overview on massive infrastructure & impacts on ecosystems & species to expect at the mouth of the Fraser River & the Salish Sea if another oil pipeline bringing more oil tankers would go ahead. Thank you @arnokopecky.bsky.social #bcpoli #cdnpoli www.nationalobserver.com/2026/07/13/n...
nationalobserver.com
The mouth of a BC river could be ground zero for Carney's biggest environmental fight yet
Canada’s mightiest salmon river, the Fraser in BC, is already fighting for survival. Now, here come the oil tankers.
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Arno Kopecky @arnokopecky.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
a fun fact that didn't make it to the final draft: when the Constitution was being written in 1982, there was a big debate over whether to enshrine private property protections. They decided not to. But agreed to protect "Aboriginal rights."
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Arno Kopecky @arnokopecky.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
One year ago, the BC Supreme Court declared the Cowichan nation holds Aboriginal title over a slice of Richmond at the mouth of the Fraser River. Then came the backlash. I wrote about the trial, and the panic, for @macleans.bsky.social. macleans.ca/longforms/ri...
macleans.ca
A Judge Recognized Aboriginal Title on Private Property. Panic Ensued. - Macleans.ca
How the Cowichan court battle is putting the real meaning of reconciliation to the test
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Arno Kopecky @arnokopecky.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
almost there "The price tag for the project is between $35.2 billion and $43.7 billion...The Alberta government says it has already spent $18.3 million planning the project so far." www.ctvnews.ca/calgary/arti...
ctvnews.ca
Alberta pitches new bitumen pipeline route to B.C. coast with TMX, Pembina partners
Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announce a preferred route and interested parties for a new bitumen pipeline to the B.C. coast.
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Arno Kopecky @arnokopecky.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Excellent overview from the mighty @justinehunter.bsky.social, on the history of Supreme Court decision that led to Cowichan. Really captures how aboriginal law is evolving before our eyes, with one blockbuster court case after another. www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...
theglobeandmail.com
How we got to the Cowichan decision: The slow evolution of Aboriginal title in Canadian law
A recent B.C. Supreme Court judge shut down a landowner’s attempt to reopen the Cowichan title case, but the dispute itself is 148 years in the making
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