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Councillor offers compromise in the Bathurst bus lane battle

We’re now hearing rumors that Transportation Services, in their collective fear, will recommend further abandoning the RapidTO plan on Bathurst, North of Bloor. Councillor Saxe wants to delay the project until AFTER the election. A tremendous disservice to the people of Toronto. Shame! 13/

thestar.com

On Tuesday, Dianne Saxe offered a compromise between transit advocates seeking faster commute and small area businesses anxious over the loss of their livelihoods with the removal of parking spaces

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Reposted by Phil Pothen 🇨🇦

Now onto GO Expansion - enough has been said about this terrible tragedy. This project would’ve served as the backbone of our network, bringing suburban cities like Oakville, Brampton, & Markham closer to downtown than the city’s inner neighbourhoods. That dream has largely been de-scoped. 14/

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Reposted by Phil Pothen 🇨🇦

And because of a few loud NIMBYs, Toronto’s spineless municipal politicians (Perruzza, Nunziata, and Pasternak) have now effectively killed the Jane RapidTO project, starving their wards of better transit service. This is all while they concern-troll the community with excuses. 12/

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Reposted by Phil Pothen 🇨🇦

To date, only one corridor has been built, with the rest being stonewalled by countless political delays and endless rounds of community consultation. Remember - this is for a project that consists ENTIRELY of RED PAINT! If you're wondering why soft costs are so high even for simple projects... 11/

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Reposted by Phil Pothen 🇨🇦

Unfortunately, as we know, two pillars - RapidTO and GO Expansion - are currently in a sorry state. RapidTO originally consisted of 5 initial corridors - Jane, Dufferin, Bathurst, Steeles, and Eglinton East - which by my rough math would’ve served more than 272,000 RIDERS PER DAY. 10/

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Reposted by Phil Pothen 🇨🇦

This is a common misunderstanding about the project: OL provides network relief precisely because it makes 2nd order connections to the bus network through GO - not just because it connects to the existing subway at Pape! Our 3 pillars MUST work together to deliver the new transport paradigm. 9/

Ontario Line boardings by station per hour (incl. transfers), Preliminary design business case

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Reposted by Phil Pothen 🇨🇦

RapidTO: Eglinton Avenue East

By rolling out bus lanes quickly with cheap RED PAINT, these corridors instantly gain better service - higher frequency, reliability, capacity, & speed. The first iteration on Eglinton East has been a smashing success - delivering nearly ALL the benefits of the $4 BILLION EELRT for $4 MILLION. 6/

toronto.ca

As part of RapidTO: Eglinton Avenue East, 8.5-kilometres of priority bus lanes were added along Eglinton Avenue East, Kingston Road and Morningside Avenue from Brimley Road to the University of Toront...

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Reposted by Phil Pothen 🇨🇦

Our first pillar, RapidTO, capitalizes on this. Toronto’s wasteland suburbs have many of the highest ridership bus lines on the continent - busier than frequent bus lines in central Manhattan! Currently, packed suburban busses are stuck in traffic, giving way to a small minority in cars! 5/

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Ontario fare integration program used 35M times in 1st year | Globalnews.ca

With fare integration - that number is growing, with more riders transferring from the GO network. This is why Toronto’s subway has been successful despite being small; although the vast majority of riders DON’T live on the subway, they DO live on a frequent bus that takes them to a station! 4/

globalnews.ca

In February last year, the Ford government launched its OneFare plan and promised to eliminate the barriers for commuters switching between transit systems in and around Toronto.

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Reposted by Phil Pothen 🇨🇦

Take the Yonge subway - the city’s most important transit artery. Many people think that its crowding comes from all the dense development along the line - this is FALSE. The vast majority of trips on the subway - 77% - come from Toronto’s world-class grid of connecting local busses. 3/

The Yonge Street corridor - lined with towers

Toronto's frequent connecting grid of suburban busses

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The Hill Times @hilltimes.com · 17/06/2025

It's a depressing time in Toronto - a city that once had the continent's most ambitious city-building initiative. This transformation had 3 KEY PILLARS: 1. RapidTO 2. GO Expansion 3. Ontario Line Two pillars have been watered down beyond recognition - DEVASTATING for the region. Here's why: 1/🧵

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Reposted by Phil Pothen 🇨🇦

Bill C-5 is being rammed through the House via a ‘non-democratic’ process and would result in governmental overreach, say the Bloc Québécois, who plan to vote against the bill. www.hilltimes.com/story/2025/0...

hilltimes.com

Bill C-5 grants ‘superpowers’ never before seen in ‘environmental law history’: Bloc critic Patrick Bonin

The One Canadian Economy Act is being rammed through the House via a ‘non-democratic’ process and would result in governmental overreach, say the Bloc Québécois, who plan to vote against the bill.

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Phil Pothen 🇨🇦 @pothen.bsky.social · 22/03/2025

@brenttoderian.bsky.social hope you'll add me to your starter pack. Ontario Environment Program Manager and lead on land use and land development at Environmental Defence

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Phil Pothen 🇨🇦 @pothen.bsky.social · 09/03/2025

It's amazing how the federal Liberals to seesaw between two, ideologically very different identities, while maintaining the loyalty of the same people. A centrist party espousing sympathies w progressivism... vs. European-style *right-leaning* classical liberal part (as under Chretien & now Carney).

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Oliver Moore @oliver-moore.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

Ontario: neighbourhood character is very important if you’re adding a four-storey apartment building into a de-populating established area, but if you’re building a key transport hub to anchor a new neighbourhood of thousands of people who gives a shit what it looks like

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Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

The centrepiece of a $30 billion transit system. Absolute bottom of the barrel crap designed by an engineering firm.

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Reposted by Phil Pothen 🇨🇦

PEIPolitical 🇨🇦 @peipolitical.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

Mexico President: 🇲🇽 "US Customs and Border Protection data show that 80% of those arrested for fentanyl trafficking at US ports of entry were US citizens" #cdnpoli

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Reposted by Phil Pothen 🇨🇦

Brian Platt @brianplatt.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

Justin Trudeau is cool to the idea of a "middle ground" settlement and will reject any scenario where Canada has to rescind all its counter-tariffs to get partial US tariff relief, a government official tells Bloomberg. Trudeau is set to speak to Trump later this morning.

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Reposted by Phil Pothen 🇨🇦

Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

Amazing. He has published *numerous* columns arguing that housing supply is not a useful goal. Utter hypocrisy.

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Reposted by Phil Pothen 🇨🇦

Charlie Angus @charlieangus104.bsky.social · 27/02/2025

A big shout out to Derek from Ottawa Police. He was my "liaison" when OPS heard I was supporting the Ukraine protesters. When the convoy crew showed up to confront me Derek said "Oh these are local journalists. You won't need me here anymore." And he tiptoed away. Classic Ottawa police.

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Reposted by Phil Pothen 🇨🇦

Charlie Angus @charlieangus104.bsky.social · 27/02/2025

Unlike the Maga-Maple Conservatives I don't feed coffee and donuts to trolls. Especially when they show up to harass peaceful protesters at the Russian Embassy. www.youtube.com/watch?v=yF6N...

youtube.com

Charlie Angus Takes on Troll Mob at Russian Embassy, Ottawa

YouTube video by Charlie Angus

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Phil Pothen 🇨🇦 @pothen.bsky.social · 27/02/2025

I think it's partly that we've forgotten what a *normal* winter looked like. Thanks to climate change, it takes an extreme La Nina year to bring NORMAL winter back.

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Reposted by Phil Pothen 🇨🇦

Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 27/02/2025

Toronto streets have looked basically fine the last few days. Seven days after an exceptional storm, things are clear. Is there any evidence that this snowstorm was badly handled? Or was this simply a case of limited resources being swamped by a massive storm?

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Theo Moudakis @theomoudakis.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

Tomorrow is election day in Ontario - so tonight's the night to evaluate the platforms. If your top priority is ending our province's housing shortage, THIS should be your litmus test. 🧵👇 environmentaldefence.ca/2025/02/20/o...

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Reposted by Phil Pothen 🇨🇦

Please enjoy my cartoon for Thursday's Toronto Star

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Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 26/02/2025

Let's be clear, there is NO constitutional path for AB, BC or SK to join the United States & no plausible constitutional path for Canada as a whole to do it. Even if there weren't crushing majorities opposed in all 3, the Constitution would require consent from all 10 provinces AND Parliament.

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Reposted by Phil Pothen 🇨🇦

Sharing these numbers because I wasn't aware of them myself. In the US: * 1 in 5 unvaccinated people who get measles are hospitalized * 1 in 20 children with measles get pneumonia * 1 to 3 in 1000 die If you're not immune, close contact with an infected person gives you measles 90% of the time

nfid.org

Measles – NFID

Measles is a highly contagious respiratory disease that can result in severe, sometimes permanent, complications including pneumonia, seizures, brain damage, and even death

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Reposted by Phil Pothen 🇨🇦

A person who talks about AB or Sask simply joining the U.S. isn't merely advocating an extremely unpopular idea, that *could* legitimately be pursued if they somehow changed people's minds. It is something not achievable through legal / constitutional means.

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In the Face of the Trump Tariffs, Ontario Needs to focus on Made-in-Ontario Energy over imported American Natural Gas - Environmental Defence

Europe's reliance on fossil gas made it vulnerable to Putin. By making Ontario's power grid reliant on fossil gas (mostly from the U.S.)- government plans for fossil gas plants would make CANADA vulnerable to Trump. Love Canada? NO MORE GAS PLANTS! environmentaldefence.ca/2025/02/25/i...

environmentaldefence.ca

In the Face of the Trump Tariffs, Ontario Needs to focus on Made-in-Ontario Energy over imported American Natural Gas

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Reposted by Phil Pothen 🇨🇦

NEW: Gas-fired power plants made Europe vulnerable to Putin. To protect Ontario from Trump's annexationist "economic force" we must CANCEL plans for power plants that depend on (mostly American) fossil gas. To save Canada, Ontario must stay laser focused on Made In Ontario energy.

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Reposted by Phil Pothen 🇨🇦

Let's be clear, there is no constitutional path for any province to join the United States & no plausible constitutional path for Canada as a whole to do it. Even if there weren't crushing majorities opposed in every province, Constitution would require consent from all 10 provinces AND Parliament.

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I grew up in an evangelical town, & was force-fed a diet of those "End Times" books and movies. It is just astounding that a GOP base raised on the same depictions of the Antichrist & narratives about his designs for this exact territory have become Trump & Musk's most adoring fanatics.

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Andrew Lewis FC @andrewlewisfc.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

The idea that there is a single "government official" in British Columbia who'd contemplate joining the U.S. British Columbians are even more appalled by the prospect of annexation than the other provinces, & supperers of their governing party (the social democratic NDP) oppose it 99-1 (literally!).

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Reposted by Phil Pothen 🇨🇦

I agree Canada can't & shouldn't strip the Nazi Elon Musk of his Canuck citizenship. However, I signed the petition because he's a petulant thin-skinned baby who might in reaction take his ball and run home to mom - voluntarily renouncing citizenship a la fellow Trumpist Lord Black of Crossgarters.

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Matt Lie-Paehlke @mattliepaehlke.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

I interviewed the co-founder of Chocosol Traders for my podcast Future Mending Radio. I new they took sustainability very seriously, that's why I interviewed them, but I did not expect him to take a stand on @thewaroncars.bsky.social while talking about chocolate.

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Canada Healthwatch 🍁 @canadahealthwatch.ca · 25/02/2025

Canada lures US doctors amid authoritarian shift canadahealthwatch.ca/newsletter/2... @nicktsergas.ca 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗹𝘆 𝘂𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀: CanadaHealthwatch.ca/newsletter 🍁

canadahealthwatch.ca

Canada lures US doctors amid authoritarian shift

US doctors are looking to leave an environment that’s become unstable and frankly, scary.

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Reposted by Phil Pothen 🇨🇦

Elon Musk's grandfather's Nazi past: "He used to support Hitler"

"Elon Musk's father, Errol, says "[Elon's Mother's parents] came to South Africa from Canada because they sympathised with the Afrikaner government. In fact, they were very fanatical about apartheid," www.marca.com/en/lifestyle...

marca.com

One of the most shocking images from Donald Trump's inauguration was Elon Musk's Nazi salute on a day when the businessman became the protagonist. The world's richest person, who w

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Reposted by Phil Pothen 🇨🇦

According to Musk's father "They [Musk's grandparents] used to support Hitler. Obviously I don't think they knew what the Nazis were doing".

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Elon Musk's grandfather's Nazi past: "He used to support Hitler"

marca.com

One of the most shocking images from Donald Trump's inauguration was Elon Musk's Nazi salute on a day when the businessman became the protagonist. The world's richest person, who w

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