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TomatoHat

@tomatohat.bsky.social
152 followers 451 following 219 posts

Professional lurker 🇨🇦

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Reposted by TomatoHat
shaunt @shaunvids.bsky.social · 4h
i resent how there's a stable of a couple dozen dudes whose whole thing is 'has a racist blog' & they regularly get mainstream newspaper and magazine profiles. i have trouble keeping track of them all, i'm like 'what did he do again' & check his wikipedia & it's ah, has a racist blog, that's all
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Conrad Nobert @conradnobert.bsky.social · 1h
in Danielle Smith's Alberta, cities MUST sprawl outwards (today's zoning announcement) and you MUST drive a car (bike lane repeal). Oh and most expensive car insurance in the country. What a doom loop.
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Troy Pavlek @troypavlek.ca · 12h
Sources tell me Danielle Smith will force Edmonton to repeal its zoning bylaw. Smith's UCP loyalist friends in Edmonton Neighbourhoods United, whose agenda lost in the last election, asked for her help, just like she helped the separatists. Local democracy is dead.
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Grow Together Edmonton @growtogetheryeg.bsky.social · 12h
Imagine a provincial government saying, "Actually, we think we need FEWER homes".
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Jacob Loo Dawang @jacobdawang.com · 16h
The UCP has gone full NIMBY. Is there any other provincial/state government in North America that has pre-empted of local zoning to DECREASE permissions?
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TTCriders @ttcriders.bsky.social · 23h
What?? Bradford is an urban planner. He was on the TTC Board when the Eglinton East lanes were put in, and even moved a motion supporting continued implementation and reporting on transit priority measures. He should know better.
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The Goose 🇨🇦 @the-goose-media.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
I’m once again telling you we need proportional representation.
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John Michael McGrath @jm-mcgrath.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
And it won't even be customers spending money for the most part! Business owners whine about losing parking because they're the ones parking on the street!
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Michael Wiebe @michaelwiebe.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Why do people get mad at new apartments for being expensive, but are totally fine with the city creating entire mansion-only neighborhoods? If you think an expensive apartment isn't helping you, a poor renter, that can only be more true for a $10 million mansion.
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Paul Fairie @paulisci.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Every accusation is a confession.
Trump trade adviser says Canada will 'pay even more dearly' if 'you interfere' in U.S. midterms
Peter Navarro said Canadian lobbyists should 'get the hell out of our country'
-CBC, Sep 29 2026
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Jacob Loo Dawang @jacobdawang.com · 02/10/2026
NEW BLOG POST Edmonton permitted 27% fewer homes through Q3 2026 than in record-setting 2025. But look under the hood: 5–8 unit rowhomes are now the largest category of new homes in the city. Read my Q3 building permit report 🧵 #yeg #yegcc #yimby #housing www.jacobdawang.com/blog/2026/q3...
jacobdawang.com
2026 Q3 Edmonton building permit report – Jacob Dawang
Fiveplex to eightplex rowhomes are now Edmonton’s largest category of new homes, even as overall permits fell 27% through Q3 2026, mostly because of fewer large apartments. With the province eyeing th...
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Kanchan @kayehm.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Reminds me of the Hallam residents who were SO angry about losing "their" street parking directly in front of their house (lots on the other side), despite having a driveway & double garage. They said it was too hard to turn their heads & reverse in/out of their driveway. You shouldn't be driving.
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Shawn Micallef @shawnmicallef.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
When bloor lanes were put in one woman said she had to look over her shoulder to see if a bike was coming. If you can't look over your shoulder (or equivalent safety check) you, sorry, shouldn't be driving.
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John Maynard @jmaynard.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Reminds me of the people against residential bike lanes quoted as saying that it would require them to pay attention backing out of their driveway lest they hit someone They weren't paying attention before?
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Troy Pavlek @troypavlek.ca · 02/10/2026
Went to a concert in downtown Edmonton tonight. Drove there. No traffic. Parked directly outside the front door. Cost $2.62 Transit would have taken 2.5x the time, with 10x the walking and would cost $12. We apply user fees to public options, and subsidize private ones. And we reap what we sow.
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Oh The Urbanity! @ohtheurbanity.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
I appreciate that the Ontario Greens were the only opposition party in the last election to put reversing Doug Ford’s bike lane meddling in their platform. The Liberals and NDP did not.
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Qagggy! @qagggy.bsky.social · 30/10/2023
America has a thing called Trunk or Treat where people dress up, drive to a parking lot, and pretend it's ok we don't have walkable communities anymore.
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Grow Together Edmonton @growtogetheryeg.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Is infill "destroying" Edmonton's neighbourhoods? Here are the facts: 📊 Only 1% of RS-zoned properties redeveloped since 2024 🏡 Half of new units have 3+ bedrooms 🚇 Density is clustering near LRT 📉 Most mature neighbourhoods have fewer people than 50 years ago #yeg #yegcc #yimby
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Abundant Housing Vancouver @ahvancouver.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Shaughnessy Walking Tour this Saturday, Oct. 3rd @ 2pm You won't be seeing these rezoning signs in Shaughnessy anymore. Find out why! www.eventbrite.com/e...
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The Goose 🇨🇦 @the-goose-media.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Toronto’s smartest drivers rushed to the comment section to demand bike lanes be removed. #toronto
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John Michael McGrath @jm-mcgrath.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
And yes I am adopting "going bikelane" as a shorthand for "premier of a Canadian province decides to reverse municipal policymaking specifically because of the irritation of noisy reactionary minority"
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Grow Together Edmonton @growtogetheryeg.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Edmonton's small-scale infill has led to thousands of homes built for in the places people want to live, millions of dollars invested in this province, and a stable demand for construction jobs. We don't need the province making it harder to build homes. Freedom to build: that's the Alberta way.
Christine called ☎️ in about the infills going up in her community. She is not the only one.

Edmontonians have been telling me the same thing for weeks.

I am listening. Would appreciate seeing your comments below from folks who live in Edmonton. What do you think about infill and blanket rezoning?"Stacked area chart showing H1 building permits issued in Edmonton from 2009 to 2026, broken down by four neighborhood types (Downtown, Mature, Between Mature and Henday, and Outside Henday) and seven project types (Single detached, Addition/Conversion, Backyard House, Duplex to Fourplex, Fiveplex to Eightplex, 9+ Row House, and 9+ Apartment). Downtown shows minimal permits throughout the period. Mature neighborhoods peak at over 3,000 permits in 2024, dominated by single-detached homes. Between Mature and Henday and Outside Henday neighborhoods show more volatile trends, with Outside Henday reaching nearly 4,000 permits in 2023. Single-detached homes (dark purple) comprise the largest share across most neighborhoods and years, while apartment and row house projects (orange tones) remain a smaller but consistent portion.
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David Roberts @volts.wtf · 25/09/2026
Every single word of this article seems custom designed to make me more furious than the last.
cbc.ca
Toronto needs more homes. These neighbours say they're paying the price | CBC News
An elderly downtown couple says they’re shocked and upset that the city has approved a duplex next door to their three-story Victorian home that they say will tower metres above their chimney and rend...
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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Please don’t assume anything, Alberta. Vote against the Russian and American-fuelled separation self-sabotage. Send a strong message to the rest of Canada that we’re in this together. Foreign actors want you to vote for your own Brexit or Trump… or to help them win by just staying home.
bbc.com
US and Russia fuelling separatist debate in Canada, new report says
Researchers warn that foreign actors are meddling in the Alberta separatist movement in ways that threaten Canada’s "democratic integrity".
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Michael Wiebe @michaelwiebe.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Hard to overstate how crazy this is. Vancouver planners designed the multiplex zoning so that multiplexes would be barely competitive with single-family houses. If we cared about housing supply, we would make them *more* attractive, so they outcompete SFHs.
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Mike Schreiner @mikeschreiner.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Ford can spin and blame the feds all he wants, numbers don't lie. Ontario's staring down a $13B deficit, record unemployment, costs skyrocketing, public services starving.
toronto.citynews.ca
Ontario posts deficit as health care, education spending surges
The province reported health-sector investments rose by $6.6 billion, or 7.2 per cent, compared to 2024-25.
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John Michael McGrath @jm-mcgrath.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
We let national immigration policy be thwarted by the median council votes in Toronto and Vancouver and it's nuts to me that's not how this is understood.
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Corey Atad @coreyatad.com · 22/09/2026
“If you are staring at an example of social disorder or social inefficiency, and the left refuses to explain either why it has happened or how they will fix it, then the right gets to point at someone in the immediate area and say, ‘That’s who did it.’” crazy how much Mamdani speaks my language
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Oh The Urbanity! @ohtheurbanity.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Calgary and Edmonton are just too spread out for public transit? Edmonton pioneered modern LRT in North America. Calgary’s C-Train was the highest ridership LRT among all cities in the US and Canada for 2025, beating out systems in much bigger cities.
Annual ridership for LRT systems in North America https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_North_American_light_rail_systems
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Oh The Urbanity! @ohtheurbanity.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
These towers sure ruined the neighbourhood. Nobody wants to live in the Annex anymore. /s
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Peter Waldkirch 華彼德 @pwaldkirch.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
The defeat of Vancouver’s Villages Plan is a major setback for addressing our housing crisis and appears to mark the end of the Vancouver Plan, which has been the main focus of our planning department since 2018. Read more in my first piece for Sightline!
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Jacob Loo Dawang @jacobdawang.com · 14/09/2026
The number one sign that someone's against infill is when they start their posts/speeches/rants by saying "I am NOT against infill".
Post by Mark hillman on Facebook.

It's time for the Province to step in on Edmonton's infill mess.

Let me be crystal clear up front: I am NOT against infill. Responsible, thoughtful, and truly affordable infill has a place in a growing city like Edmonton. What I am against is what our city council is currently rubber-stamping — and calling it either "responsible" or "affordable" is a stretch neither honesty nor the numbers can support.

Consider what's actually happening on the ground:

At one single intersection near a recent protest site, the city is allowing SEVEN eightplexes to be built. Seven. On one intersection.

For most Edmontonians, their home isn't just where they live, it's their single largest investment and their retirement plan. Council's current "steamroller" approach isn't just changing neighborhood character; it's quietly stripping tens of thousands of dollars out of the pockets of the very homeowners who built these communities in the first place.

A new group, that I am proud to be on the board for, the Edmonton Infill Action Campaign, isn't trying to stop all infill. We are pushing back on the behemoths being approved at breakneck speed with little regard for the people already living next door. We are asking Premier Danielle Smith and the ministers of Municipal Affairs, Transportation, Environment, Infrastructure, and Public Safety to use the powers granted under the Municipal Government Act to make sure Edmonton is actually following the rules.

when a council becomes deliberately deaf to the citizens who elected them, when they treat densification like a religion instead of a policy, the province stepping in to enforce the rules is not overreach. It's accountability.

Homeowners deserve a seat at the table. Neighborhoods deserve a say in their future. And Edmonton deserves an infill strategy that is genuinely responsible AND genuinely affordable, not the current free-for-all being sold to us under those labels.

What do you think?
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Michael Janz @michaeljanz.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
What did the Premier think was going to happen?
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The Goose 🇨🇦 @the-goose-media.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
boy if you think AI data centres use a lot of water let me introduce you to... oil sands tailings ponds
aerial photo of a massive black lake of oil sands tailings
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Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 @notjustbikes.com · 06/09/2026
After six years of delay and a billion in cost-overruns, Toronto finally opened their newest transit line this year. I had a chance to ride it in July and believe it or not ... it’s actually pretty good. #Toronto #TOpoli
youtu.be
They Finally Built Good Transit!?
YouTube video by Not Just Bikes
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Cycle Toronto @cycletoronto.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Ford walked away from an offer to restore travel lanes and keep bike lanes. The RFP makes clear that the province is still targeting EVERY SINGLE METRE of Bloor, Yonge, and University. This wasn't just a ploy to remove bike lanes in Etobicoke. It's an attempt to gut Toronto's entire cycling network.
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John Michael McGrath @jm-mcgrath.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
One of the things that I've said before on the podcast and will say again is that aside from everything else, there are things that ought to be beneath the notice of the provincial government. You make law for 16 million people and you're whining about bike lanes! www.thestar.com/news/gta/dou...
thestar.com
Doug Ford’s government rejected Toronto’s proposals to restore traffic lanes and keep bike lanes: sources
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow says the province walked away from compromises to restore traffic lanes while keeping bike lanes on major streets.
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Troy Pavlek @troypavlek.ca · 03/09/2026
The public has been banned from police commission meetings. EPS costs over half a billion dollars every year, and the commission is supposed to keep them accountable. Instead of answering questions about the chief flying to Israel, they've decided the public is the problem.
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Mike Schreiner @mikeschreiner.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
What do you have to hide Doug? Ford is slowly eroding the media’s access to the government, because they know their policies are unpopular. Press freedom is a critical part of our democracy and the Ontario Greens will always be transparent and available to our media, since we have nothing to hide.
x.com
Colin D'Mello | Global News (@ColinDMello) on X
NEW: Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who just held a news conference style event in Mississauga, without any members of the media says: “Thank God, we don’t have the media. No questions, no answers. We are good to go.” #onpoli
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Aaron @abud.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
My main reflection halfway through week WITHOUT bike lanes is that riding on the road with drivers is slooooooow. Easily +10 minutes to get around compared to bike lanes. BIke lanes don't cause traffic congestion, it's too many people trying to get around using inefficient vehicles (cars). #yegbike
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The Breakdown AB @thebreakdownab.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Holy crap. Danielle Smith issued an "Alberta Day" statement this morning... And then reissued it, removing the acknowledgement of First Nations peoples in Alberta. And included a shout out to oil and gas instead. #abpoli #ableg #cdnpoli
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TheTrillium.ca @thetrillium.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Ontario teachers flag higher prices on Ford government's new Staples portal
dlvr.it
Ontario teachers flag higher prices on Ford government's new Staples portal
‘It's not meant to be perfect from day one,’ said the education minister as the Ford government’s $750 classroom supply program faces scrutiny over pricing and rollout
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John Michael McGrath @jm-mcgrath.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Gas is $1.85 a litre at my local station and the majority opinion of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario is that we need more cars on the road. (Not even a joke, this was literally the government's argument on appeal. More cars = better.)
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Matt Elliott @graphicmatt.com · 01/09/2026
Obviously ridiculous and huge waste of time/money but I guess I find solace in strong belief that the outcome Ford and co want will not be achieved. Driving in this city will not suddenly be pleasant and efficient because of this change. Wonder what they’ll blame next www.thestar.com/news/gta/for...
thestar.com
Doug Ford is hiring contractors to remove Toronto’s major bike lanes, as advocates warn of bidding ‘minefield’
Following a victory at the Appeal Court earlier this month, the Ford government has issued a request for proposals to remove bike lanes on the city’s busiest streets.
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TheTrillium.ca @thetrillium.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Ford government begins Toronto bike lane removal process
dlvr.it
Ford government begins Toronto bike lane removal process
Some lanes could stay if they don’t contribute to congestion, province says
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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
“When mayors in other cities ask me how #Copenhagen afforded to invest in its cycling networks, I ask them how on earth they have been able to afford highway projects. We invested in bike lanes because that was the cheapest option.” What the world can learn from Copenhagen’s cycling revolution.
theprogressplaybook.com
Copenhagen Cycling Revolution: Lessons for Cities
Close to two-thirds of the city’s residents commute by bike to school or work every day.
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Oh The Urbanity! @ohtheurbanity.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
People recognize that restricting AirBnB, putting more housing on the (long-term) rental market, brings down rents. But if you suggest *building* more market-rate housing, critics question whether the market could ever bring down rents.
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John Michael McGrath @jm-mcgrath.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Most of the good stuff we can get out of the EU is stuff we don't need European permission for (ie adopting their standards, lowering our trade barriers.)
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Kanchan @kayehm.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Contrary to a narrative being propagated by a certain double name person, gun violence is not actually increasing in Toronto Do you know what is? Traffic fatalities. Including pedestrians, people cycling, and people riding motorcycles. Don't believe the hype. Source: www.tps.ca/data-maps/da...
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Conrad Nobert @conradnobert.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
"the destruction of 50 minutes of a human life" oh you put the blame for that on the person crossing the street?
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