iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Scott Harrison @scottharrisonqb.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Don't rock the boat, we're in Eurovision.

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Scott Harrison @scottharrisonqb.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

"It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog."

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Scott Harrison @scottharrisonqb.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

I'll check with the federal EDA I'm involved in about advocating for a 50% tax on all revenue for any tech company that displays "Lake America" in Canada. I know it should be the world, but I don't think our laws are set up that way.

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Scott Harrison @scottharrisonqb.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Perhaps Howard Lutnick is a huge fan.

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Scott Harrison @scottharrisonqb.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

There was a ruling by an EU body that Canada doesn't qualify as a "European" country. Broader integration where standards make sense would facilitate more trade, but Canada's niche is that I think we have more trade access to the world than any other country. Being in EU might not be in our interest

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Scott Harrison @scottharrisonqb.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Maine's senator voted in favour of confirming Jamieson Greer.

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Scott Harrison @scottharrisonqb.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

you minimize damage to both economies.

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Scott Harrison @scottharrisonqb.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

But in the short-term you cause maximum political headwinds which hopefully can sway the Senate race to ensure more accountability and less insanity. The lack of tourism is starting to bite in several states like Vermont. By choosing economically marginal sectors, you maximize blowback while

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Scott Harrison @scottharrisonqb.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

You play hardball with key demographics in close Senate races. Alaska is close. Temporary tariff on sockeye and pollock. New Hampshire and Maine are reasonably close. About 70% of US lobster is processed in Canada. Export tax on processed lobster. Long-term, this creates pain in Canada as well,

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Scott Harrison @scottharrisonqb.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Why stop at provincial when you can pull a Count Binface and go for galactic jurisdiction?

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Scott Harrison @scottharrisonqb.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

To be fair there are some First Nations members I've talked to from Alberta who prefer the term "Indian." However, I don't think she's running to be premier of Alberta. I look forward to reading about her party's guidance on how to refer to the balcony seats in a movie theatre.

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Scott Harrison @scottharrisonqb.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Maybe I shouldn't be saying this, but given how contentious I'm sure the public hearing was, this may be a trial balloon to see how readily the plan can be deferred. "We need change in the housing market, but the foreign interference ruined the process."

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Scott Harrison @scottharrisonqb.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

There's something about retired landscape architecture profs. There's one on the island trying to convince people that we shouldn't be building duplexes. No, we should add another storey on top of the existing building. Said no one ever. (Which I know is the point.)

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Scott Harrison @scottharrisonqb.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

Yellow wizard needs food more badly now than ever before.

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Scott Harrison @scottharrisonqb.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

The US implemented a series of unjust measures on Canadian softwood lumber, the latest under Section 232 citing national security. Can you give a Canadian local government official an update on the number of Americans dying from Canadian splinters so that I can effectively lobby within my country /s

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Scott Harrison @scottharrisonqb.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

There are a lot of trends in smaller communities that need to be addressed that the communities themselves are unaware of because of the lack of in depth local journalism. It's a very, very sad state of affairs.

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Scott Harrison @scottharrisonqb.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

/as investor owned. Also, the per unit costs of most affordable housing projects, driven by unique requirements set out in the rfp from provincial and federal funders, tends to be significantly higher than building to code. There's a lot more information needed on this topic in general.

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Scott Harrison @scottharrisonqb.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

...new rental construction is a benefit. Vancouver has the highest amount of rental vacancies (over the 3% threshold) in decades for a reason. Historically, CMHC data defined an "investor" as someone who owned more than one property, and as such a huge portion of the housing in Canada was defined/

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Scott Harrison @scottharrisonqb.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

The REIT conversation is a bit of a red herring in Canada. www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/professional... While there are limitations with the data that are pointed out, the conclusion is worth considering. While there could be predatory behaviour if left unregulated, the ability of access capital for...

cmhc-schl.gc.ca

Are REITs Behind Higher Rent Prices?

This Research Insight examines the role of REITs in rent increases across Montréal, Toronto and Vancouver. It highlights trends, purchasing strategies and the nuanced impact of REITs on rental markets...

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Scott Harrison @scottharrisonqb.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Careful though. Morocco had a higher FIFA ranking (barely) than the Netherlands before the match.

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Scott Harrison @scottharrisonqb.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

...sector by GDP by a mile and b) it sets us up for further increases in housing costs by having a freeze in new construction. Ideally developers are learning that the shoebox condo is no longer desirable within the market, but that remains to be seen. We need the #s, but this can be a good policy.

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Scott Harrison @scottharrisonqb.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

...to non-market projects to keep their crews together. www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art... www.ctvnews.ca/montreal/art... Note the discrepancy in cost per sq ft. Working with the development community is better than letting it collapse in a fit of sanctimony, because a) it's BC's largest...

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Scott Harrison @scottharrisonqb.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

At least, that's what was on the news in Edmonton and on the tip of the tongue of Alberta local gov officials at FCM. I digress. 3) This will likely result in more units being put in the care of non-profits than if they were purpose built through a direct program. 4) Developers are pivoting...

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Scott Harrison @scottharrisonqb.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

...existing practice. 2) The migration of skilled trades is to our detriment as a province. There's a lot of work from the military expenditures coming down the pipe (talk to local gov officials in Esquimalt, as an example), and Alberta is always dreaming big. Data centers are the new oil, atm.

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Scott Harrison @scottharrisonqb.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

...the cost of non-market projects. I've talked to project managers who waited several months for carpenters, for example, which increases costs as a whole for the project. I'll recognize this could go south if it's poorly implemented, but 1) it's not new policy. It's a new implementation of an...

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Scott Harrison @scottharrisonqb.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

A big condo developer goes bankrupt, and people are asking why intervene at the federal level? I get the desire to break out the world's smallest violin, but the risk is the skilled trades who build leave elsewhere if the whole sector goes through a slump. Fewer trades will drastically increase...

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Scott Harrison @scottharrisonqb.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

...because they know what they're doing. The affordable housing project in my community had a stipulation I put in that only non-profit builders could apply. The crew that actually did the work works in the private sector in our area. The wages are the same for the workers. Why does this matter?

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Scott Harrison @scottharrisonqb.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

Well, the requirements is one lens, as mentioned earlier. Another is the workers. This is a crucial link that really needs to be examined. The skills to build 30 storey buildings is not the same as building a fourplex. Developers often have a crew that do the work who bring down project costs...

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Scott Harrison @scottharrisonqb.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

I've talked to market developers who've built housing for BC Housing, and the deal is that you take less of a profit than you'd make in the market in return for a defined return and less stress in terms of marketing the units and risk. The province gets units built quickly and on budget. Why?

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Scott Harrison @scottharrisonqb.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

In fact the province already buys market housing to turn into affordable housing both through programs like the Community Housing Fund (now paused) and the Rental Protection Fund. The former was new construction, the latter buys older rental buildings and renovates the building.

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Scott Harrison @scottharrisonqb.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

1/ Incipit. One lens is the cost per sq ft for purpose built non-market vs. market. Market housing is way, way cheaper to build (25-50% cheaper). Mainly this is because of what Klein/Thompson describe as "everything bagel liberalism," aka trying to cram too many different objectives in one project.

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Scott Harrison @scottharrisonqb.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

Ok, so I have a pretty strong background with affordable housing. I ran on it, made sure we built a 56 unit development with a major proportion of 3 BR units for young families. I know a lot of people in local gov. facing roles with BC Housing, and the BCNPHA. There are several lenses missing.

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Scott Harrison @scottharrisonqb.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

If you were on the field in Houston, you might disagree.

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Scott Harrison @scottharrisonqb.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

There's a petition with the House of Commons that you can still sign for a few more days.

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Scott Harrison @scottharrisonqb.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

I'm not sure if I'm sufficiently woke to know if this is lit. Seriously though, this reminds me of some of comms work from the City of Prince George, which is a good thing.

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Scott Harrison @scottharrisonqb.bsky.social · 16/05/2026

"Technically, Mr. Blofeld, if you re-read the bylaw it clearly states..."

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Scott Harrison @scottharrisonqb.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

Thanks for highlighting this Kelly. Climate change is going to have significant impacts on municipal infrastructure.

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Scott Harrison @scottharrisonqb.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

I've also seen some interesting data coming from youth themselves in several jurisdictions stating that they would prefer to not have social media impacting them at school, and in some cases, at all. It's worth doing, as I don't have any confidence the platforms will take necessary steps.

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Scott Harrison @scottharrisonqb.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

Thanks for this. John Jack did a good Facebook post on this recently, and it really is a matter of basic operation of rule of law. There's a lot of work to be done, but jazz hands-ing your way through legal obligations is a great way to kill the economy via lawsuits.

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Scott Harrison @scottharrisonqb.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

I have family in Montreal that don't even own a car, they just rent a car when they want to drive out into the countryside. You don't have a depreciating asset, and don't have to pay for maintenance.

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Scott Harrison @scottharrisonqb.bsky.social · 18/04/2026

Vancouver is a unique and wonderful unicorn as a local government, but overall there's a lot of pressure on finances because we have to rebuild a lot of stuff in a way which is more expensive, and for decades we haven't been saving enough for several reasons (optics and lack of preparation, chiefly)

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Scott Harrison @scottharrisonqb.bsky.social · 18/04/2026

A water main set up 100 years ago may be a different diameter than today, and may use different materials. That can result in a lot of engineering. Water treatment in particular is held (justifiably) to a very high standard. In BC, seismic requirements are also considerable. (penultimate)

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Scott Harrison @scottharrisonqb.bsky.social · 18/04/2026

... would already be seeing tax increases above CPI (unlike income taxes where inflation automatically provides more revenue. House prices going up [which I know you know, but others might not] do not generate more revenue. And then there's the third factor, new standards when replacing stuff. ...

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Scott Harrison @scottharrisonqb.bsky.social · 18/04/2026

Not entirely. There is a fair comment about a diversity of issues and a lack of diversity of funding. However, a big factor is inflation for infrastructure is going up much faster than CPI, and a lot of infrastructure is coming due because of when BC boomed. Maintaining a no frills status quo...

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Scott Harrison @scottharrisonqb.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

Traditionally Orban's party would get about 45% and about 5 other parties would split. Then all the votes above say 20% get sent into the main national pool. It's totally rigged. Luckily, no other opposition parties are polling above 5% these days.

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Scott Harrison @scottharrisonqb.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

Moldova has entered the chat. It's possible. But Hungary has a really, really weird way of assigning seats (votes carry over from ridings to impact the generic pool in a hybrid proportional rep system)

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Scott Harrison @scottharrisonqb.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

Our council passed on dealing with it. The problem is that it's an all or nothing proposition. Allowing local gov's flexibility to designate areas where we want STRs, and then banning them elsewhere under the rules, would have been preferable. However, that might be an implementation nightmare.

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Scott Harrison @scottharrisonqb.bsky.social · 02/04/2026

Kamloops, Harrison Hot Springs, interesting choice of supporting quotes.

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