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Derrick O'Keefe 🌹

@derrickokeefe.bsky.social
731 followers 459 following 144 posts

Vancouver-based writer, editor, non-profit worker & volunteer, community advocate, dad ... and candidate for Vancouver School Board with COPE. #323 on the ballot

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Reposted by Derrick O'Keefe 🌹
APTN News @aptnnews.bsky.social · 4m
The Memorial Cloth is a 60-metre commemoration the honours the names of thousands of children that died as a result of residential schools in Canada. It is displayed each year as part of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation event on Parliament Hill.
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COPE: The Coalition of Progressive Electors @copevancouver.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Our platform is out. Here's a sample. Read the whole thing here: www.votecope.ca/platform
COPE Platform 2026: Platform Highlights. 

Triple the Empty Homes Tax and close the loopholes that landlords and developers use to keep homes empty. 

A People's Audit to hold Ken Sim accountable, clean up his mess, and change direction for people. 

Tax mansions to end homelessness. 

Stop demovictions with a city-wide anti-displacement policy that protects tenants rights, converts rentals into coops, and prioritizes development without displacement. 

votecope.ca/platformCOPE Platform 2026: Platform Highlights. 

Increase access to 24/7 public washrooms across the city. 

Stop food waste with an edible food recovery law targeting big box stores and chain restaurants. 

A Climate Defence Strategy that invests in the circular economy, upgrades infrastructure, and prepares for future climate events. 

Build more public pools, and train and hire the lifeguards and swim instructors we need to keep pools open and staffed, and stop line-ups. 

votecope.ca/platformCOPE Platform 2026: Platform Highlights. 

Establish drop-in spaces at community centres and before-and-after school childcare at Vancouver Schools. 

Grow the urban forest canopy to 30% by 2050 with a priority for climate-resilient native species. 

Create a universal breakfast and lunch program for all VSB students. 

Fight for a fast and free public transit system in Vancouver and BC, and take steps on that path immediately, such as fare-free pilot routes, and a low-income transit pass. 

votecope.ca/platformCOPE Platform 2026: Platform Highlights. 

Make Vancouver a Restorative Justice City and fund the Restorative City Framework. 

Oppose the creation of urban data centers for AI in Vancouver, and fight for robust regulatory frameworks. 

Create a Vancouver Arts, Culture, and Creative City Navigator that supports arts organizations, festivals, and venues. 

Establish a "too hot to work" by-law that establishes safe temperatures in workplaces, including kitchens. 

votecope.ca/platform
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Dr. Devyani Singh @devyani.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Get your very own Devyani sign! If you're with me on building a solidarity city, one that's actually on your side, I'd love to personally hand you a sign for your lawn or window. And if you live on an intersection maybe you need a bigger sign of the amazing COPE council team!!
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COPE: The Coalition of Progressive Electors @copevancouver.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Taxing the rich is climate policy.
Taxing the rich is climate policy
We can’t get to the root of the climate crisis without addressing economic inequality and the power of the super-rich.
According to Oxfam International, the richest 1% is emitting more carbon than the poorest 50% of humanity combined.

Graph showing the percentage of CO2 lifestyle consumption emissions by global income deciles. The poorest 50% are responsible for only around 10% of total lifestyle consumption emissions. Meanwhile, the richest 10% are responsible for nearly half of total lifestyle consumption emissions. Devyani Singh for city council. 
Photo of Devyani, with an arrow pointing to her from the text: We need a climate scientist on Vancouver City Council
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COPE: The Coalition of Progressive Electors @copevancouver.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
The Climate crisis is already hitting us. How we respond to it will determine how hard we get hit going forward. Instead of backsliding and cuts under ABC, we can fund our climate programs and create a Climate Defence Strategy that saves lives and takes the fight on climate to the super-rich.
COPE POLICY 2026
Take the climate crisis seriously.

COPE’s plan for a Climate Defence Strategy to hold the super-rich accountable for climate destruction and turn Vancouver into a global leader on climate. The UN Environmental Programme’s September 2026 report “Limiting Overshoot” says that we can no longer avoid 1.5° of warming.

Every fraction of a degree beyond 1.5° will create more intense climate impacts, and increase 
the chances of extreme weather, flooding, disruptions to food supply, and threats to public safety.

Climate change is hitting us now. The 2021 heat dome killed 621 people in BC, atmospheric rivers cut off our highway shipping routes for days in 2021, and wildfire smoke chokes Vancouver residents almost every year.

How hard we get hit in the future will be based on how well we defend ourselves.
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Derrick O'Keefe 🌹 @derrickokeefe.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
I'm #323 on the ballot for Vancouver School Board. Numbers were determined by random draw. I'm a fan of #23🐐 With 23 days left in this campaign, incl Oct. 17th E-Day, I thought I'd start a list of 23 reasons to vote for me and my fellow COPE candidates Suzie Mah, Melanie Cheng & Gwen Giesbrecht.
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Derrick O'Keefe 🌹 @derrickokeefe.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
A must read for everyone in British Columbia www.motherjones.com/media/2026/0...
motherjones.com
ChatGPT helped the Tumbler Ridge school shooter focus on guns, tactics, and terror, our investigation reveals
OpenAI’s chatbot fed the shooter’s violent fantasies and planning up to the massacre.
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Derrick O'Keefe 🌹 @derrickokeefe.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
He closed renters' office, banned supportive housing, cut public services to give wealthy property owners $ they don't need, caused the eviction of countless renters ... ABC just voted for $18B asset manager Nicola Wealth's eviction of working families at Myron Manor. Now playing victim. Unreal.
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Derrick O'Keefe 🌹 @derrickokeefe.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Amidst all the confusion of having every election all at once, there is at least one extremely funny and satisfying thing: The first day of advance voting in Vancouver's municipal election is Oct. 3rd, the date Ken Sim proclaimed as Chip Wilson Day.
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Derrick O'Keefe 🌹 @derrickokeefe.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
The real existential threat to society & democracy is the disproportionate power of the ultra-rich. We aren't getting out of the crises we're in without getting to the root causes. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
cbc.ca
Jimmy Pattison optimistic about Donald Trump | CBC News
B.C. business magnate, investor and philanthropist Jim Pattison is confident U.S. president-elect Donald Trump will be able to use his business acumen to run the country.
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Sean Marshall @seanyyz.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Gotta love a government that sees labour rights and environmental protections as barriers to overcome because sovereignty or something like that.
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Coach Finstock @coachfinstock.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Lol.
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Derrick O'Keefe 🌹 @derrickokeefe.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
The first advance voting day is October 3rd, the date Ken Sim declared Chip Wilson Day in Vancouver. Plan ahead to celebrate Chip Wilson Day: vancouver.ca/election/202...
Ken Sim, Summer and Chip Wilson, Peter Meiszner. Chip is holding the official City proclamation.
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Derrick O'Keefe 🌹 @derrickokeefe.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
On School Board, ABC had trustees who barely ever bothered to show up to Board and committee meetings. So no surprise Ken Sim's party is no-showing community-organized forums and debates. Let's save them the trouble of skipping out and just vote them all off the Board.
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Tyler King @tyleraking.com · 17/09/2026
“A senior executive at Microsoft said A.I. systems built on the work of others will be seen as ‘an astonishing theft of unprecedented proportions’ and possibly the greatest robbery of labor in human history, according to court documents unredacted Thursday in an ongoing Manhattan lawsuit.”
orlandosentinel.com
Docs in A.I. copyright suit reveal startling admission by Microsoft exec over ‘astonishing theft’
The admission appeared in a newly unredacted filing in the landmark copyright infringement legal battle playing out between newspapers like the Orlando Sentinel and tech companies Microsoft and OpenAI...
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clnzjay 🌱 🐶 🇨🇦 @clnz.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
There is not rock bottom with the Trump regime.
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Sam Bagenstos @sbagen.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Universal free school breakfast and lunch is a great proposal. www.thebulwark.com/p/exclusive-...
thebulwark.com
EXCLUSIVE: The Next Big Dem Proposal: Let Kids Eat Free
School lunches were free to all kids during the pandemic; a prominent think-tank wants to bring back the idea and make it permanent.
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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
My grandfather, who is 102 and a medical doctor, has told me about the times before polio was cured. Most years, upon returning to school after summer’s break, there would be some children would didn’t make it back to school because of polio.
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Vision Zero Vancouver @visionzerovancouver.ca · 16/09/2026
Our much-anticipated Vancouver City Council full term report card is here! 📝 We look back over 4 years of council votes and give the mayor and each councillor a grade, backed up by solid numbers. How did your favourite councillor do? visionzerovancouver.ca/2026/09/16/v...
visionzerovancouver.ca
Vancouver City Council Full Term Report Card
Vancouver heads to the polls in October to vote for its Mayor and Council, so we’re looking back on how all the incumbents voted on road safety measures over the full 4 year term.
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COPE: The Coalition of Progressive Electors @copevancouver.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Notice served. One month til election day. Ken Sim and ABC have been working for their super-rich backers, while the rest of us get left behind. COPE is fighting to make the city more affordable, reverse the damage of Ken Sim, and to give power back to the people. Vote the COPE slate on Oct 17.
BRITISH COLUMBIA
One Month to End Tenancy for Cause
Residential Tenancy Act, s.47, s.48 and Manufactured Home Park Tenancy Act, s.40, s.41
#RTB-33

THIS IS AN EVICTION NOTICE

☑ Vancouver City Hall ☑ School Board ☑ Park Board

TO THE MAYOR AND RULING PARTY
SIM, KEN
ABC VANCOUVER

WE, THE TENANTS OF VANCOUVER, GIVE YOU ONE MONTH TO VACATE
You must move out of office by: 2026/10/17

REASON FOR THIS ONE MONTHS EVICTION NOTICE (CHECK ALL THAT APPLY)
☑ Giving $3.8M to rich developers earmarked for afforable housing
☑ Scapegoating the poor and homeless
☑ Stopping new supportive housing
☑ Slashing climate safety programs
☑ Shutting down the Renters Office

Residential Tenancy Branch
#RTB-33
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Derrick O'Keefe 🌹 @derrickokeefe.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Police out of politics. In 2022 ABC's campaign manager Kareem Allam said, "We are extremely honoured to have the endorsement of the VPU." That was a dangerous precedent. Glad it's not happening again this election.
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Cinema Tropical @cinematropical.com · 15/09/2026
In Memoriam: Chilean master documentarian Patricio Guzmán (1941–2026). Read our tribute.
cinematropical.com
In Memoriam: Chilean Master Documentarian Patricio Guzmán (1941—2026) — Cinema Tropical
Patricio Guzmán, Chilean filmmaker and master documentarian, passed away today in Paris at the age of 85. Known for a profound body of work tied to landscape, human rights, and political memory, he wa...
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Michael Ledger-Lomas @michaelledgerlomas.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
With any luck it will be the 'former mayor' who stands trial for the defamation of his colleague. CBC News share.google/r68osw6q5as0...
share.google
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim's defamation trial set for January 2028: court documents | CBC News
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim has changed the way he's depicting a media briefing where he told reporters a councillor "handed out illegal drugs" on Christmas Day in 2025, with an amended legal filing in th...
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Dave Zirin @edgeofsports.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Solidarity: the only way to win
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Derrick O'Keefe 🌹 @derrickokeefe.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Like they said they would, Ken Sim and ABC have run Vancouver like a business. More specifically, they've run it like a private equity aquisition they've slashed while giving themselves and their super-wealthy backers bonuses and handouts.
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Wajahat Ali @wajali.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Robert Kraft is in the Epstein Files.
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LawrieBhoy 🍀 @lawriebhoy.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
You can tell a lot about someone’s character by how they feel about the government providing free school breakfasts for children.
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Toronto Blue Jays @bluejaysbot.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
🇨🇦 Congratulations to OUR @vancanadians on winning the Northwest League Championship! 🏆
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Éditions Libertalia @libertalialivre.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
11 septembre. ¡Allende vive!
Photo de Salvador Allende entouré d'hommes en armes.
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Ordinary Notes @hystericalblkns.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Total global immiseration. The only possible ways through are ones we make together.
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London Review of Books @lrb.co.uk · 08/09/2026
‘A good critic is a kind of lightning conductor who picks out the energy in what they read and passes it on to others.’ Colin Burrow on Helen Vendler and the uses of criticism. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
lrb.co.uk
Colin Burrow · Good Weird or Bad Weird: Uses of Criticism
Literary criticism is a supremely occasional skill, where you have to be bold enough to operate where there aren’t any...
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Derrick O'Keefe 🌹 @derrickokeefe.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
"Where technology short-circuits the productive struggle of learning, it will undercut students' development." finance.yahoo.com/technology/a...
finance.yahoo.com
School Students Who Use AI Get Worse Test Scores, OECD Warns
Students who do not use AI chatbots for schoolwork are outperforming those who do, according to the OECD’s flagship educational report, providing some of the widest-ranging evidence yet that the techn...
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Ryan McDiarmid @ryanmcdiarmid.com · 09/09/2026
*gesturing to everything* the market that did this???
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Derrick O'Keefe 🌹 @derrickokeefe.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
This is blatant disinformation, sadly ;)
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Derrick O'Keefe 🌹 @derrickokeefe.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
UBC Business Mayoral debate on housing is a bit of a snorefest so far ... but Colleen Hardwick did come out as supporting Ken Sim's reversal of the ban on gas heating in new builds. "Let's the market decide." Clarifying.
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COPE: The Coalition of Progressive Electors @copevancouver.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
"This movement isn't about me or about COPE. It's about the people of Vancouver. And the people need us to defeat Ken Sim's right-wing government and reduce the harm being done by the sociopathic system we’re up against." - @stephanieformayor.bsky.social
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Daniel Aldana Cohen @aldasky.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
I'm thrilled to share our new chapter on green social housing, looking at Vienna *and* Uruguay. It was super fun to put state- and movement-led housing projects in dialogue. It's in the brilliant @joobilly.bsky.social's new book, Building Postcarbon Futures.
Chapter title: Decommodify, then Decarbonize: Lessons in Housing from Austria and Uruguay
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Derrick O'Keefe 🌹 @derrickokeefe.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Thanks to William Azaroff for putting himself out there over the past year and putting his ideas for Vancouver forward. Glad the unity deal was honoured. Now it's go time. We're gonna defeat ABC & elect a progressive majority at City Hall and on School Board & Park Board. #VancouverInCommon
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Andy Yan @ayan604.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Going to the PNE this weekend? Remember to stop by the new Japanese Canadian Hastings Park Interpretative Centre! 1-6 pm A reminder of how fragile Freedom can be. #cdnpoli #bcpoli #Vanpoli Here's the story on opening of the Centre: vancouver.citynews.ca/2026/08/28/v...
vancouver.citynews.ca
Memorial honours Japanese Canadians incarcerated at Hastings Park
For Daniel Tokawa, the pain of having his community ripped apart by prejudiced policies from eight decades ago is finally beginning to heal.
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Maria Dobrinskaya @mdobrinskaya.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Good for her. She was my preferred mayoral candidate, by a long shot, but something had to give in this messy political environment and I’m not surprised that she’s the one showing leadership here. Hopefully this ignites some necessary movement. #vanpoli
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Karl Bode @karlbode.com · 04/09/2026
nice quote from Mandami comms person Emilia Rowland to the New York Times
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Daniel Ahmad @zhugeex.com · 04/09/2026
It takes you 20 paragraphs to get to the part of the article where they admit that Mamdani isn't paying the influencers and the reason they are posting videos of the stuff Mamdani is doing is because people are interested in watching it.
The mayor’s office says that it does not pay the influencers. Still, their proximity and access to a figure as popular as Mr. Mamdani can help increase their own social media following and, by extension, potentially put them in a position to attract paid content sponsorships from commercial brands. Some influencers said that when they feature Mr. Mamdani, the videos get more likes and viewers watch longer.
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Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 03/09/2026
Mamdani issues AI moratorium in NYC schools
motherjones.com
Mamdani issues AI moratorium in NYC schools
Kids "need to wrestle with tough problems on their own,” New York's mayor said Wednesday.
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Derrick O'Keefe 🌹 @derrickokeefe.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
It's a shame the People's Primary never really happened. Would've been cool to see a real battle of ideas and policies ... even now it's mostly horserace stuff based on polls commissioned by Liberals and Conservatives.
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Katharine Hayhoe @katharinehayhoe.com · 02/09/2026
I am a scientist – and the answer is climate change. Yes, there is nuance. Yes, it could take a long time to identify the precise mechanisms. But there is no question why ice and snow-related disasters are on the rise. Our planet is warming at an unprecedented rate, and humans are responsible.
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Derrick O'Keefe 🌹 @derrickokeefe.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
We need a ban on AI chatbots in classrooms here in Vancouver too. ABC, ex-ABC, and Green trustees on School Board allowed Big Tech hype to go unquestioned. Time for change. @aicaution.ca
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Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 02/09/2026
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced a one-year moratorium on AI use for elementary and middle school students on Wednesday. Kids “need to wrestle with tough problems on their own,” New York’s mayor said Wednesday.
motherjones.com
Mamdani issues AI moratorium in NYC schools
Kids "need to wrestle with tough problems on their own,” New York's mayor said Wednesday.
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Portman Doe @portmandoe.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
I realize they are being strategic, but I think Stephanie Allen would have been incredible as our next mayor and is my favourite candidate for the position.
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Chris Hayes @chrislhayes.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
I don’t think there’s really even a colorable argument that this isn’t mass murder. theintercept.com/2026/09/02/m...
theintercept.com
The U.S. Has Killed 227 Civilians in Boat Strikes During “A Year of Murders”
“The boat strikes are, perhaps, the most stark testament to the lawlessness of the Trump administration.”
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