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Megan Kinch

@meganysta.bsky.social
266 followers 122 following 62 posts

Electrician/writer of journalism and creative non fiction. New column in @CDN_Dimension, contributor to @westendphoenix @TheGrind. linktr.ee/meganysta twitter: @meganysta

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Megan Kinch @meganysta.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
My latest drawing of kensington market:
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Megan Kinch @meganysta.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
Worked on the bench today. Some of the old art is peeling off.
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Niko Stratis @nikostratis.com · 07/05/2026
Happy one year of Dad Rock to me and all my friends (you)
A woman with grey hair and glasses holding a book called the dad rock that made me a woman by Niko Stratis
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The Grind @thegrindto.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
Coming up on Sunday! A discussion on the legacy of social movement journalism in Toronto and the path ahead, featuring Eric Mills, @meganysta.bsky.social, @aliyapabani.bsky.social and @dgrdon.bsky.social. Tickets are PWYC: eventbrite.ca/e/1985960054...
Join us for a fundraiser for The Grind
Covering the Struggle
Journalism in a time of crisis
Innis Town Hall
2 Sussex Ave, Toronto
Sunday May 3rd, 2026
Doors 6:30, Start 7:00 PM
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Great Worm Express Distro - Zines and books @greatworm.ca · 21/04/2026
That's TRIPLE 2026 AURORA AWARDS-NOMINATED author and podcaster Rachel A. Rosen discussing speculative fiction on Thursday, along with @cycling2asylum.bsky.social, moderated by @meganysta.bsky.social, on Thursday, by Kensington Market!
csffa.ca
Current Ballot – The Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association (CSFFA)
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Megan Kinch @meganysta.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
Time for a green beer? Or maybe not. What does it mean to be Irish Canadian? WE have a history beyond the famine and the Fenian raids? We also have a choice... canadiandimension.com/articles/vie...
canadiandimension.com
No Danny Boy
St. Patrick’s Day is more than green beer and parades. For Irish-Canadians, it’s a reminder of a complex history—of famine, migration, and complicity in colonization. This year, writes Megan Kinch, we...
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Canadian Dimension @canadiandimension.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
St. Patrick’s Day isn’t just green beer and parades. For Irish-Canadians, it’s a history of famine, migration, and complicity in colonization. This year, @meganysta.bsky.social calls to embrace solidarity and remember the struggles that shaped Irish-Canadian identity.
canadiandimension.com
No Danny Boy
St. Patrick’s Day is more than green beer and parades. For Irish-Canadians, it’s a reminder of a complex history—of famine, migration, and complicity in colonization. This year, writes Megan Kinch, we...
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David William with a 'This IS my costume' pin @nrvscrcts.bsky.social · 14/03/2026
NOT NOW, MYSTERIOUS LARGE STEEL CYLINDER
ctvnews.ca
Mysterious large steel cylinder suddenly emerges from the ground in Japan
Japanese authorities were investigating Friday how a large steel cylinder suddenly emerged from the ground during sewer construction work and rose to the height of a four-storey building in the city o...
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Megan Kinch @meganysta.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
For international women's day I'd like to be real. Women in trades are dealing with some really messed up stuff at work. Stuff you probably don't of. Death threats, false imprisonment, attempted murder- and this is happening on big union sites even. My latest: canadiandimension.com/articles/vie...
canadiandimension.com
The trades remain a danger zone—especially for women workers
This year opened with the murder of a Minnesota woman by ICE agents. Last year closed with a workplace murder of an American woman tradesworker, also in Minnesota. This is not mere coincidence. The sa...
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Canadian Dimension @canadiandimension.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
"The same forces that devalue women’s lives and organize to attack us in our neighbourhoods are at play in both the killing of Renee Good and the life and death dramas that women are prey to in our construction workplaces." NEW from @meganysta.bsky.social:
canadiandimension.com
The trades remain a danger zone—especially for women workers
This year opened with the murder of a Minnesota woman by ICE agents. Last year closed with a workplace murder of an American woman tradesworker, also in Minnesota. This is not mere coincidence. The sa...
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Megan Kinch @meganysta.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
Ok Canadians. Who does the land belong to? a) Indigenous people b) A King with a Crown living across the ocean who has better bloodlines than the rest of us
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Julie S. Lalonde @julieslalonde.bsky.social · 24/07/2025
For weeks now, us experts have been saying that this is fundamentally the crux of this trial : Does the legal system understand coercion? Today's conclusion is a loud and resounding no.
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Allison Smith @allisonsmith52.bsky.social · 22/04/2025
In her latest, @meganysta.bsky.social argues Conservative politicians' attacks on harm reduction impact a constituency they say they hold dear: skilled trades workers.
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West End Phoenix @westendphoenix.bsky.social · 02/04/2025
“The moment I got some work, I got my phone stolen. And that was it,” he says. “I lost the job.” SLEEPING IN CARS, THE RAVINE, ON A JOB SITE @meganysta.bsky.social talks to construction workers dealing with homelessness while trying to hold down a job. www.westendphoenix.com/stories/slee...
westendphoenix.com
Sleeping in cars, the ravine, on a job site — West End Phoenix
Writer Megan Kinch talks to construction workers dealing with homelessness while trying to hold down a job. “People with addictions or mental health problems are especially vulnerable, but the last fe...
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Allison Smith @allisonsmith52.bsky.social · 06/03/2025
"The battle over trades workers’ votes and trade unions’ endorsements is not only pivotal to electoral politics — we are also the manual labourers that bring election promises to fruition." From @meganysta.bsky.social
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Allison Smith @allisonsmith52.bsky.social · 05/03/2025
Excited to publish @meganysta.bsky.social and her nuanced take on the growing trend of construction and manufacturing unions endorsing Doug Ford. Megan, a construction electrician, argues manual labourers are the people who bring election promises to fruition.
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Canadian Dimension @canadiandimension.bsky.social · 20/02/2025
"When I show up to a worksite having been dispatched by my union, I feel like Anne of Green Gables, with the foreman silently conveying, 'We clearly requested a boy.'" Megan Kinch (@meganysta.bsky.social) on life as a single mom working in the construction industry:
canadiandimension.com
On life as a single mom working in the construction industry
In that time of morning that seems like the dead of night, I quietly get dressed. My six-year-old stirs and I ask her to climb onto my back like a tiny monkey. I leave my apartment unit and carry her ...
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Robert Evans (the Only Robert Evans) @iwriteok.bsky.social · 16/02/2025
most journalists today can be divided into two groups: dedicated, impoverished people who mostly write for publications you've never heard of that started eighteen months ago or JP Random House The First, who writes columns for the New York Times about which ethnic groups it should be OK to hunt
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Canadian Dimension @canadiandimension.bsky.social · 12/02/2025
From Canadian Dimension, 1992
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Megan Kinch @meganysta.bsky.social · 12/02/2025
I got laid off last month. My kid's dad and my brother got laid off the same week. Working in food and construction,we are the canaries in the coal mine of recession. Hard times are here. My second column in @canadiandimension.bsky.social canadiandimension.com/articles/vie...
canadiandimension.com
Hard times are here
People like me and my family members who work in the construction and restaurant industries are canaries in the coal mine of the economy. New condo starts have been down for some time, which is an ear...
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The Grind @thegrindto.bsky.social · 12/02/2025
My Tweet About a Librarian Not Letting My Kid Use the Phone Went Viral. Here’s Why Toronto electrician and writer Megan Kinch talks about how her super-viral tweet sparked conversations about libraries, parenting and the state of the world. @meganysta.bsky.social www.thegrindmag.ca/tweet-librar...
thegrindmag.ca
My Tweet About a Librarian Not Letting My Kid Use the Phone Went Viral. Here’s Why
Toronto electrician and writer Megan Kinch talks about how her super-viral tweet sparked conversations about libraries, parenting and the state of the world.
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Canadian Dimension @canadiandimension.bsky.social · 11/02/2025
"People like me and my family members who work in the construction and restaurant industries are canaries in the coal mine of the economy." NEW from @meganysta.bsky.social on Canada's painful slide into recession:
canadiandimension.com
Hard times are here
People like me and my family members who work in the construction and restaurant industries are canaries in the coal mine of the economy. New condo starts have been down for some time, which is an ear...
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Canadian Dimension @canadiandimension.bsky.social · 09/02/2025
"If we want to turn the tide of deindustrialization and create manufacturing jobs for the economy of the future, we need to be bold. And it starts now, not in some distant future." NEW from @stevenhigh.bsky.social:
canadiandimension.com
Now is the time to turn the tide on the deindustrialization of Canada
The rise of the populist right in deindustrialized areas, like the US Rust Belt, is a legacy of neoliberalism and free trade. We need to break this cycle. If we want to turn the tide of deindustriali...
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Niko Stratis @nikostratis.com · 10/02/2025
In the spirit of Go Birds, I wrote a few thousand words about trying to capture a bird call, singing, being alive and Marshmallow on Bob's Burgers www.anxietyshark.ca/seagulls-sin...
anxietyshark.ca
Seabirds singing like doves
For months I thought there was an owl outside.
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Julie S. Lalonde @julieslalonde.bsky.social · 10/02/2025
If you saw someone being sexually harassed on the bus, would you know how to help? If you witnessed transphobia at a coffee shop, would you feel safe to step in and de-escalate? If not, give me 1 hour of your time and I'll teach you effective intervention - it's free! Feb 17 Noon EST
zoom.us
Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Stand up against street harassment!. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar.
It starts by taking action right now. Join us for a one-hour, interactive, virtual training to learn how to intervene when you see harassment happening. We’ll talk about what harassment looks like — f...
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irina cerić @irinaceric.bsky.social · 20/01/2025
OMFG. With literally minutes to go, Biden has commuted Leonard Peltier's sentence www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-roo...
whitehouse.gov
Statement from President Joe Biden | The White House
I am issuing pardons to Gerald G. Lundergan and Ernest William Cromartie. I am also commuting the life sentence imposed on Leonard Peltier so that he
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West End Phoenix @westendphoenix.bsky.social · 09/01/2025
“Sometimes I would go to work, and go to the booze can here, then sleep in that alley. Then I’d go to work hanging off the side of a building doing balcony construction,” SLEEPING IN CARS, THE RAVINE, ON A JOB SITE From the December Home Issue www.westendphoenix.com/stories/slee...
westendphoenix.com
Sleeping in cars, the ravine, on a job site — West End Phoenix
Writer Megan Kinch talks to construction workers dealing with homelessness while trying to hold down a job. “People with addictions or mental health problems are especially vulnerable, but the last fe...
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Kim Siever @kimsiever.bsky.social · 09/01/2025
30% Of LA fires are being fought by inmates They’re being paid between 16¢ to 74¢ an hour. They’re fed a bologna sandwich and an apple while fighting the fires. www.forbes.com/sites/dougme...
forbes.com
Due To “Slavery Clause,” 30% Of LA Fires Are Being Fought By Inmates
30% of those battling the Los Angeles wildfires are Inmates firefighters. There maximum day rate of $10.24 is due to the 13th Amendment's 'Slavery Clause'. Is this fair?
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West End Phoenix @westendphoenix.bsky.social · 02/01/2025
“Sometimes I would go to work, and go to the booze can here, then sleep in that alley. Then I’d go to work hanging off the side of a building doing balcony construction,” SLEEPING IN CARS, THE RAVINE, ON A JOB SITE From the December Home Issue www.westendphoenix.com/stories/slee...
westendphoenix.com
Sleeping in cars, the ravine, on a job site — West End Phoenix
Writer Megan Kinch talks to construction workers dealing with homelessness while trying to hold down a job. “People with addictions or mental health problems are especially vulnerable, but the last fe...
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Megan Kinch @meganysta.bsky.social · 19/12/2024
I'm so happy to see that my op-ed in the grind- about my young daughter denied help at the public library- is the second most read (by clicks) in The Grind this year. Much thanks to everyone who read my long form analysis and story and went beyond just the viral tweet
Screencap of a tweet from The Grind newspaper with #2 and a link to an article "my tweet about a librarian not letting my kid use a phone went viral. Here's why" with a slightly incongrous photo of my happy independent kid wearing a backpack, chosen to empower my kid's indpendence and good decision making in a crisis even when adults failed her
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Megan Kinch @meganysta.bsky.social · 19/12/2024
I'm so happy to see that my op-ed in the grind- about my young daughter denied help at the public library- is the second most read (by clicks) in The Grind this year. Much thanks to everyone who read my long form analysis and story and went beyond just the viral tweet
Screencap of a tweet from The Grind newspaper with #2 and a link to an article "my tweet about a librarian not letting my kid use a phone went viral. Here's why" with a slightly incongrous photo of my happy independent kid wearing a backpack, chosen to empower my kid's indpendence and good decision making in a crisis even when adults failed her
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West End Phoenix @westendphoenix.bsky.social · 12/12/2024
SLEEPING IN CARS, THE RAVINE, ON A JOB SITE… @meganysta.bsky.social talks to construction workers dealing with homelessness while trying to hold down a job. From the latest issue of WEP, out now. www.westendphoenix.com/stories/slee...
westendphoenix.com
Sleeping in cars, the ravine, on a job site — West End Phoenix
Writer Megan Kinch talks to construction workers dealing with homelessness while trying to hold down a job. “People with addictions or mental health problems are especially vulnerable, but the last fe...
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West End Phoenix @westendphoenix.bsky.social · 09/12/2024
SLEEPING IN CARS, THE RAVINE, ON A JOB SITE… @meganysta.bsky.social talks to construction workers dealing with homelessness while trying to hold down a job. From the HOME ISSUE, out now. www.westendphoenix.com/stories/slee...
westendphoenix.com
Sleeping in cars, the ravine, on a job site — West End Phoenix
Writer Megan Kinch talks to construction workers dealing with homelessness while trying to hold down a job. “People with addictions or mental health problems are especially vulnerable, but the last fe...
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Megan Kinch @meganysta.bsky.social · 09/12/2024
This is what i really do as a writer- hard-hitting literary journalism about lives in our city. I talked to homeless construction workers for the West End Phoenix about the struggle to stay working while living rough and construction as a lifeline- maybe www.westendphoenix.com/stories/slee...
westendphoenix.com
Sleeping in cars, the ravine, on a job site — West End Phoenix
Writer Megan Kinch talks to construction workers dealing with homelessness while trying to hold down a job. “People with addictions or mental health problems are especially vulnerable, but the last fe...
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MamãBear @alsolearning.bsky.social · 08/12/2024
“What the difficulties in public spaces tell me is that much more support needs to be given to vulnerable community members. At a basic level, libraries should be the best face of the community. And a good community supports our young people.“
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West End Phoenix @westendphoenix.bsky.social · 07/12/2024
SLEEPING IN CARS, THE RAVINE, ON A JOB SITE… @meganysta.bsky.social talks to construction workers dealing with homelessness while trying to hold down a job. The first story from the Home Issue, which is out today. www.westendphoenix.com/stories/slee...
westendphoenix.com
Sleeping in cars, the ravine, on a job site — West End Phoenix
Writer Megan Kinch talks to construction workers dealing with homelessness while trying to hold down a job. “People with addictions or mental health problems are especially vulnerable, but the last fe...
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Lanrick Bennett @lanrickbennett.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
This is #TorontoDanforth "We all have a collective responsibility to ensure the safety of our youth," @meganysta.bsky.social It's a disappointing incident that goes against so much of what the #torontolibrary stands for, a safe space for children. #ImLibraryPeople youtu.be/ab7hlosD8vo?...
youtu.be
Toronto Public library branch denies a lost child to make a phone call, library apologizes
YouTube video by CityNews
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🇨🇦 Kari Raymer Bishop @kariraymerbishop.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
"Any kid at any age can get lost, and we should all be willing to help them." I'm still so upset that the Toronto Public Library staff member refused to help a lost child. What is wrong with people?!?!
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Megan Kinch @meganysta.bsky.social · 05/12/2024
Heres my own take on why i think the story went so viral after a librarian told my lost 11 year old they couldn't use a phone to call their mom (me). In The Grind magazine www.thegrindmag.ca/tweet-librar...
thegrindmag.ca
My Tweet About a Librarian Not Letting My Kid Use the Phone Went Viral. Here’s Why
Toronto electrician and writer Megan Kinch talks about how her super-viral tweet sparked conversations about libraries, parenting and the state of the world.
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Megan Kinch @meganysta.bsky.social · 30/11/2024
Have a viral tweet over on the app formerly known as twitter and its nerve wracking esp since it touches on parenting which is not usually my lane due to the general toxicity but people are mostly being awesome. But biting nails
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Gilberto Fernandes @gilbertofernandes.bsky.social · 26/11/2024
An important piece to understand how simply promoting the building trades is not enough to make it appealing and accessible to new apprentices or retaining existing ones, especially women, indigenous peoples, and other groups who have been historically marginalized in the construction industry. 1/2
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Megan Kinch @meganysta.bsky.social · 26/11/2024
10 years ago i picked up my first call with the IBEW and started my apprenticeship. First job was at the cathderal that i had sometimes gone to as a kid with my mom...amazing first job, great crew, got to work with stone masons and the best electricians in the city @ibewinternational.bsky.social
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Megan Kinch @meganysta.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
My latest essay. Start of a new column in @canadiandimension.bsky.social which I'm really excited about. canadiandimension.com/articles/vie...
canadiandimension.com
Working construction in a housing crisis
I shouldn’t have to live in substandard housing while building and repairing homes for others. Everyone deserves housing and a decent quality of life, but there is a major paradox when the people who ...
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Megan Kinch @meganysta.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
Ok i tried it here a while ago and it was pretty dead but seems like there is more of a migration going on now.
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Megan Kinch @meganysta.bsky.social · 16/10/2023
Look at these amazing squashes for sale at kensington fruit. I want to try eating more squashes
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Megan Kinch @meganysta.bsky.social · 12/09/2023
There are so many layers in these old neighborhoods, overlapping, scraped off, repainted, re-installed, repaired well, broken, repaired in a half assed manner....
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Megan Kinch @meganysta.bsky.social · 07/09/2023
The Augusta fruit van is almost a more iconic symbol of kensington market than the garden car.
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Megan Kinch @meganysta.bsky.social · 10/08/2023
So, this is Connie Converse, a 1950s/60s innovative and overlooked singer/songwriter and NY resident said to have disappeared mysteriously- they packed up their car in 1974 and never came back...idk why there's not discussion of the strong possibility this person started a new life as a man
photo of connie converse from an NPR article. They look very gender ambiguous, minimal makeup, wear large glasses and a collared shirt with what looks like a short men's haircut (possibly longer hair is obscured by dark lighting that obscures the back of the head).
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Megan Kinch @meganysta.bsky.social · 03/08/2023
Been secretly (well secret from the internet) working on the kensington market street piano and we got that thing tuned, protected from water at night, and people are out there enjoying it.
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Megan Kinch @meganysta.bsky.social · 01/08/2023
Hello! i think i'm here
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