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karen ward

@kwardvancouver.bsky.social
3.6K followers 1K following 19K posts

once called «Canada's only public intellectual» drug policy researcher ⁕ historian ⁕ artist ⁕ schemer ⁕ disorganizer ⁕ ephemera vancouver bc canada institute for the history of possible futures free-futures-society.org

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Reposted by karen ward
Nick Young @nickofnz.bsky.social · 9h
Nicky Hager's book Dirty Work charts the tawdry history of the Taxpayers Union, the front organisation formed by National Party operators Jordan Williams and David Farrar, from its formation in 2013 through to its involvement in the 2023 election.
stuff.co.nz
How NZ’s right turned culture war into political strategy
Nicky Hager’s latest book argues the tactics of New Zealand’s organised right have changed, but the interests behind them have not.
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The Serfs (youtube.com/theserfstv) @theserfstv.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Zero people lost their properties. Repealing the rights of Indigenous people as your core policy is nazi shit
A new Conservative AI campaign ad showing that they will repeal the rights of Indigenous people "FULL STOP"
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Trudi @trudiagogo.bsky.social · 17h
Port Coquitlams election could be dominated by 3 families: 3 husbands on council. 1 wife on council, 2 wives on school board. That just doesnt land well for me. Kitchen table caucusing? @jmcelroy.bsky.social
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Misty Magikarp ✨ 🏳️‍⚧️ 🌈 🇨🇦💍 @mistymagikarp.bsky.social · 13h
Confronted white supremacist bigots in my town here in Delta BC again today. Our neighbourhood chased them out again. Students joined us this time and old, young and middle aged people alike stood up against hate 🫶🇨🇦🪶 #bcpoli #cdnpoli #everychildmatters #loveisstrongerthanhate
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karen ward @kwardvancouver.bsky.social · 12h
shit is bleak. and I lost my blanket. i can't with this
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garethhutchens.bsky.social @garethhutchens.bsky.social · 13h
Back in February, Steve Bannon’s right hand man, Benjamin Harnwell, told Australian conservatives to stop voting for centre-right parties and to vote for parties further to the right.
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karen ward @kwardvancouver.bsky.social · 13h
I call bullshit on that bullshit and this story is from last year globalnews.ca/news/1108980...
globalnews.ca
Work begins on East Vancouver detox facility 6 years after approval - BC | Globalnews.ca
The project on city land at East 1st Avenue and Clark Drive will include 97 non-market homes, along with a withdrawal centre.
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karen ward @kwardvancouver.bsky.social · 13h
H O U S I N G
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Reposted by karen ward
Ben Eltham @beneltham.bsky.social · 17h
What’s happening to our climate is utterly terrifying. We’re looking at 4 degrees above average this southern summer www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
‘Jaw-dropping’ El Niño bursts through temperature record months before peak
‘Godzilla-level’ phenomenon is supercharging the climate crisis and will have a huge impact on communities across the world
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Tobias Wilson-Bates @phdhurtbrain.bsky.social · 15h
Taxes are the direct means by which we communally fund our most precious public goods. I wish politicians of every stripe would stop pledging to cut the very taxes we depend upon to build our shared institutions.
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Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics @bermaninstitute.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Rock Bottom Is Not a Motivator: From Opioid Addiction to Human Flourishing | Shiv Ayappa BA, Divya Manikandan BS, Katharine Press Callahan MD, MSE, Travis N. Rieder PhD, Michael Fingerhood MD & Margaret S. Chisolm MD | Journal of General Internal Medicine link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com
Rock Bottom Is Not a Motivator: From Opioid Addiction to Human Flourishing - Journal of General Internal Medicine
Background “Hitting rock bottom” is widely used in narratives of addiction and recovery. Recovery programs often assume, implicitly and explicitly, that “hitting bottom” is necessary to motivate recov...
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BC Policy Solutions @bcpolicy.bsky.social · 19h
🎉The BC elections hub is live. We hope that our analysis of what’s at stake will help you: 1️⃣ vote with confidence and 2️⃣ hold the government accountable long after election day. bcpolicy.ca/BCelection
bcpolicy.ca
BC Provincial election 2026
Welcome to BC Policy Solutions’ election hub—our analysis of the issues voters identified as their top election priorities.
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karen ward @kwardvancouver.bsky.social · 18h
i have to go to surrey to replace the card, so that's tomorrow so if you could help, the bank closes at 5pm, 30 minutes phone bill paid and I have 7$ etransfer: thefool.ward@gmail.com
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karen ward @kwardvancouver.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
ok, godammit. my bank card fell out my jacket (?) and the finder emptied my account on chocolate bars and a vape. FFS. this is rathrr desperate now. the bank is doing its thing but I need your helps etransfer: thefool.ward@gmail.com
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Kay @ifyouseekay.bsky.social · 23h
If ABC's own polling is anything like this, expect some heinous last-minute moves, including efforts to disqualify voters during and after the polls.
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karen ward @kwardvancouver.bsky.social · 23h
perhaps some random stranger attacks
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🦋🏳️‍⚧️🪷}{BAMBII}{🪷🏳️‍🌈🦋 @ildeenach.bsky.social · 23h
My body my choice, no? Sex workers Trans people PWUD (people who use drugs) Children Autistics Mad folk/crips People seeking abortion ..... my body my choice should be universal.
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karen ward @kwardvancouver.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
ok, godammit. my bank card fell out my jacket (?) and the finder emptied my account on chocolate bars and a vape. FFS. this is rathrr desperate now. the bank is doing its thing but I need your helps etransfer: thefool.ward@gmail.com
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karen ward @kwardvancouver.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
im short 15$ and could someone please help with this
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🦋🏳️‍⚧️🪷}{BAMBII}{🪷🏳️‍🌈🦋 @ildeenach.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
#drugssky #pwud #harmreduction
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Joanne Hammond @joannehammond.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Canadian Conservatives supporting the Liberals’ labour-busting, environment-trashing, Indigenous-betraying omnibus bill IS SUPER BAD NEWS for democracy, and @rachelgilmore.bsky.social is the only one reporting this like it matters. Where is #cdnmedia?
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CCPA — Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives @policyalternatives.ca · 09/10/2026
"The Saskatchewan government needs to take the initiative granted by its position of power and do its part to address homelessness,"said @policyalternatives.ca senior researcher @simonenoch.bsky.social #skpoli discoverestevan.com/articles/rep...
discoverestevan.com
Report highlights growing homelessness crisis
A new report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives says Saskatchewan needs greater provincial involvement to address the housing and homelessness crisis in Regina and Saskatoon, while a res...
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Big Dracula Energy @mayawest.online · 09/10/2026
THEY WON 🥳🥳🥳
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karen ward @kwardvancouver.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
here's a thread by @godfrey.work of some articles on the ruling and what happened bsky.app/profile/godf...
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Kelly B @kellyblack.ca · 09/10/2026
Change law so people can claim citizenship using archival records, then cut funding to archives. Top notch policy work here
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Andrew Longhurst 🇨🇦 🍉 @alonghurst.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
UN says Pentagon plan to livestream execution of Fort Hood shooter would amount to torture Condemnation comes amid fierce backlash from US lawmakers who branded the move ‘grotesque’ and compared it to actions of some terror groups and oppressive governments www.theguardian.com/us-news/live...
theguardian.com
UN says Pentagon plan to livestream execution of Fort Hood shooter would amount to torture – US politics live
Condemnation comes amid fierce backlash from US lawmakers who branded the move ‘grotesque’ and compared it to actions of some terror groups and oppressive governments
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karen ward @kwardvancouver.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
fossil-fuelled bsky.app/profile/meye...
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karen ward @kwardvancouver.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
the same Atlas Network "think tanks" have been advocating against the implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Canada for a long time here is a report from 2019 web.archive.org/web/20190331...
report title:
Atlas Network 

the MacDonald Laurier Institute 
Aboriginal Canada and the natural resource economy project 

MLI: Engaging non-traditional allies to create free market change
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karen ward @kwardvancouver.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
from VPDs 2020 year-end report to the police board
The following is a summary of the year-end 2020 KPI Report (all results compare 2020 to 2019 based on a full year). Of note, 2020 marks a historical anomaly due to the global pandemic and, as a result, has statistically affected metrics such as crime (i.e. volume, trends and types) and P1 response times. The pandemic has resulted in:

Less people working and driving to work

More people working from home

Less businesses open and for shorter hours

Less general activity by people

All of the above directly affect multiple crime categories for a variety of reasons including there being less access to available victims. In addition, increased access to social supports, including the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), are believed to have reduced low-level property crimes, which are frequently committed to support untreated addiction.
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Kelly B @kellyblack.ca · 07/10/2026
Arguably the number one issue that has consumed the school board over the last 4 years is police in schools. The province fired the whole board over it! But apparently almost none of the candidates running for election have developed an opinion on it? Wild stuff #yyj
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karen ward @kwardvancouver.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
yikes to all this
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Pulpfiction Books @pfbvan.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Everyone losing their minds on Quebec Street (SOUND UP)
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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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Peter Waldkirch 華彼德 @pwaldkirch.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Follow up q to sim about pushing people around with enforcement etc Sim: Julian Somers (barf). There is no silver bullet. But we can try new things. If it works great, if not we pivot. Can't go back to failed policies. Decrim, drug injection sites.
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karen ward @kwardvancouver.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
the city could regulate camping spaces and provide amenities to ensure safety.
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karen ward @kwardvancouver.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
both vaccines were available at the Carnegie today
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Susan Kim 김수잔 @susankimyyj.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Amendment bylaw for tenant protection during redevelopment carries. Amendment bylaw for market building revitalization tax exemption carries. Amendment bylaw for 1276y/1278 Gladstone housing agreement carries. Bylaw for advisory panels carries.
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karen ward @kwardvancouver.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
if you could spare anything
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karen ward @kwardvancouver.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
oh that's me. I'm not doing great and I need 40$ for various survival supplies and my phone bill (30$) is due tomorrow, if anyone could chip in to help, its most appreciated etransfer: thefool.ward@gmail.com
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Tessa Rowland @tessarowland.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
things you say when you don't have to observe pre-election quiet periods & have more PR resources than any city/PB dpmt could fathom: "Today we are sharing crime trend statistics and inviting media to report on them so the public knows exactly what is happening when it comes to crime in Vancouver."
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Gord Johns @gordjohns.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Canada is wealthy, yet 65K people are homeless. Only 3.3% of our housing is non-market, far behind European countries. I challenged the Liberals: shouldn't nation-building mean ensuring everyone has a home? Housing is infrastructure. Ending homelessness must be a nat'l priority. #NationBuilding
youtube.com
MP Johns: there are 65,000 unhoused Canadians, getting them into a home is nation building
YouTube video by Gord Johns
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karen ward @kwardvancouver.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
re-upping, with emphasis
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Mary Stuart (she/her) @marylouisestuart.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Was grateful to speak with Quinn Slobodian, who said “[T]he possibility of breaking up existing nation-states, especially very large ones like Canada, has been on the mind of these radical libertarians now for at least 30 plus years,” www.desmog.com/2026/10/07/m...
desmog.com
MAGA Tech-Aligned Group Offers Advice To Alberta Separatists
The Free Cities Foundation promotes free-market projects backed by Peter Thiel, Sam Altman, and Marc Andreessen.
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karen ward @kwardvancouver.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
re-upping, with emphasis
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Stephen Harrison @stephenharrison.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Here they withheld the outgoing and current chiefs’ names (partial year salary) and other public roles. There’s no risk in releasing high-profile officers’ names, which they publish in police board agendas anyway. Per a past OIPC order, VicPD is required to release them. They just don’t want to.
Screenshot showing VicPD redacted the names of its Director, Community Engagement, an inspector, and a police chief. Screenshot showing VicPD redacted the names of its Manager, Info Support Services, and a police chief.
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Stephen Harrison @stephenharrison.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Here are some things we did learn from this FOI. The average VicPD officer made $159,000 in 2025. 184 VicPD constables made an average of $149,000, with 7 making more than $200,000, topping out at $240,000. For context, see this past FOI on VicPD overtime. www.needsmorespikes.com/blog/vicpd-o...
Remuneration for VicPD’s top 10 earning constables in 2025, ranging from $196,000 to $240,000.
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Stephen Harrison @stephenharrison.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Because they won’t release it themselves, each year I FOI VicPD’s salary info. VicPD is required to disclose staff and public-facing officers’ names, but they’re now claiming that releasing any name, including Chief Fiona Wilson’s, is a security risk. www.needsmorespikes.com/blog/vicpd-s... #yyj
needsmorespikes.com
VicPD redacts own chief’s name while trying to obscure 2025 salaries — Needs More Spikes
VicPD withheld the name of its own police chief in 2025 salary information obtained via FOI, arguing that releasing Chief Fiona Wilson’s name presented a security risk. Records show the average VicPD ...
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karen ward @kwardvancouver.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
something is wrong with this phone
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karen ward @kwardvancouver.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
oh that's me. I'm not doing great and I need 40$ for various survival supplies and my phone bill (30$) is due tomorrow, if anyone could chip in to help, its most appreciated etransfer: thefool.ward@gmail.com
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