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Val A

@vainto.bsky.social
95 followers 274 following 40 posts
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Reposted by Val A
Tabatha Southey🇨🇦 @tabathasouthey.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Doug Ford lighting traffic-snarling bonfires of your money and throwing the odd body on in the hopes of keeping his base warm.
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Shawn Micallef @shawnmicallef.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Aside from that, I'd like to see a breakdown of every subsidy or state-supported program Shopify has benefitted from.
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Val A @vainto.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Never fails to provide some delicious word-nerdy giggles
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Val A @vainto.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Metrolinx is very quietly cutting GO train service. If Ford is SO worried about traffic congestion, why allow this? share.nwmd.social/s/DiPfJxHJ
share.nwmd.social
Tell your Federal Representatives: Protect federal funding for Public Transit in Canada's Budget unlisted
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Val A @vainto.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Truly some good advice in here (I too share these frustrations as someone who has to stay on top of events at a much smaller scale for my job!!)
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Frog and Toad Bot @frogandtoadbot.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Toad woke up. “Drat!” he said. “This house is a mess. I have so much work to do.” Frog looked through the window. “Toad, you are right,” said Frog. “It is a mess.” Toad pulled the covers over his head.
Toad hides in bed from the mess of his house, while Frog looks on.

From "Tomorrow"
In *Days with Frog and Toad*
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Julie S. Lalonde @julieslalonde.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
I know they released this in time to mark the 25th anniversary of 9/11 but it sure does feel like a very timely reminder that we do not deserve what America is doing to us right now. 
youtu.be
NEW Heritage Minute: Gander and 9/11
YouTube video by Historica Canada
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Shawn Micallef @shawnmicallef.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Ontario elected a labels and tags man and they got a labels and tags man.
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Emmett Macfarlane 🇨🇦 @emmettmacfarlane.com · 31/08/2026
Ontario: governed not just by idiots, but monsters.
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Effin' Birds @effinbirds.com · 28/08/2026
A painting of a bird beside the text "ignore some worthless bullshit today"
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The Goose 🇨🇦 @the-goose-media.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
An independent analysis shows that Meta’s data centre in Alberta will raise electricity bills by up to $460 a year. We’re all paying for AI, even if you don’t use it. www.pembina.org/media-releas...
pembina.org
New Meta data centre could add up to $460 a year to Albertans’ electricity bills due to government policy | Pembina Institute
CALGARY — New independent analysis from the Pembina Institute explores the impact of Meta’s new hyperscale data centre on Alberta’s electricity market, and concludes that this project could add betwee...
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Euan Thomson @drugdatadecoded.ca · 11/08/2026
The advisory group appears to have been misled on multiple turns by Health Canada — an important and particularly sad part of this story. You can find their pleas for release if reports and open communication with Health Canada in the FOIP documents provided at the bottom of the story.
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Jake Goldsbie @jakegoldsbie.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Every time I think the 2026 Blue Jays can't get any more 2026 Blue Jays
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Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
Irritating to see the Toronto island airport battle framed as NIMBYism. This was a project with zero business case that would have destroyed economic value and soft power – and stopped homebuilding! It was a terrible project that deserved to die. When people say no, sometimes they are correct.
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Shawn Micallef @shawnmicallef.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
Will will have to write and call their MPs again. Your efforts thus far have been met largely with condescension from Toronto's Liberal caucus.
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Robert Zaichkowski @rzaichkowski.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
Opposition MPP's from #ONDP #OLP & #GPO - along with @environmentaldefence.ca - have called for an independent financial review of Highway 413 while criticizing the project as a waste of funds and generator of sprawl. #ONpoli #StopThe413 www.nationalobserver.com/2026/06/03/n...
nationalobserver.com
Stop Highway 413 until someone does the math, Ontario's opposition say
Ontario's opposition parties have joined environmental advocates in calling for an independent financial review of Highway 413, arguing the project could cost taxpayers up to $18 billion while failing...
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Diana Chan McNally @dianachanmcnally.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
Education is not a business; it is an essential public good. These changes impose a corporate management structure on public education, replacing evidence-based practices and teacher discretion — informed by their professional expertise — with ministerial directives.
thestar.com
Ontario school board trustees to lose many powers, TDSB trustees to be slashed, minister announces
English school boards will also soon have a chief executive officer in charge to oversee budgeting and negotiations, and a chief education officer.
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jenny (phire) @phirephoenix.com · 19/03/2026
The @showuptoronto.ca newsletter is switching to a Thursday schedule! Subscribe to get a weekly digest of all the events on the calendar, along with whatever's on my mind that week. This week, it's supervised consumption sites and not hardening your heart buttondown.com/showup/archi...
buttondown.com
Show Up Toronto - March 19, 2026
Hi friends and neighbours, You may have noticed this newsletter is coming to you two days later than usual. This is because Show Up is switching to a...
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Oliver Moore @oliver-moore.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
Is Ford feeling heat over proposed changes to FOI laws? Perhaps. His govt dropped another alcohol announcement today -- in this case BYOB for "cultural or community outdoor public events ... farmer’s markets, movie screenings, art exhibits and neighbourhood festivals" news.ontario.ca/en/release/1...
news.ontario.ca
Ontario Newsroom
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Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
The institutional buildings of 1960s Canada were extraordinarily well-built. Throwing them away would be madness. The 1969 Science Centre is an incredible piece of architecture. It needs some work. The new building complex is a kludge that will be inferior by any measure.
building.is
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Marta O'Brien @archhistory.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
Canadian Architect's Elsa Lam continues to shine light on the shameful new Ontario Science Centre project. Already way over budget, costing many times more than any needed work on the existing Moriyama building. www.canadianarchitect.com/contract-awa...
canadianarchitect.com
New Ontario Science Centre to cost $1.04B, concerns remain over fate of landmark heritage building
The new Ontario Science Centre at Ontario Place will be designed by Snøhetta with Hariri Pontarini Architects. Concerns remain about its $1.04 B price tag, lack of public process, and the fate of the ...
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Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 22/02/2026
Oh good, overtime hockey, I’ve been meaning to have an extended heart attack
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Soraya Nadia McDonald @soraya.press · 09/02/2026
Benito is a threat b/c he makes art so alluring and enjoyable you want to understand everything about it and then you end up learning about sugar and slavery and colonialism and the Taínos and Hawaii and then you probably have some thoughts of your own, and that's why art is powerful and dangerous
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Val A @vainto.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
Very stoked!
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Popehat @kenwhite.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9Uw...
youtube.com
MOIRA ROSE SAYING BÉBÉ FOR 60 SECONDS
YouTube video by Joseph Mellors
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Shawn Micallef @shawnmicallef.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
From the creator of Heated Rivalry
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kottke.org @kottke.org · 13/01/2026
Condé Nast forgot to renew the trademark for Gourmet and so a group of journalists grabbed it and are relaunching the food magazine as a worker-owned co-op. Love it. [gourmetmagazine.net]
gourmetmagazine.net
Gourmet Magazine
Gourmet is a worker-owned publication about food and the people who make and consume it.
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Val A @vainto.bsky.social · 24/12/2025
So unbelievably sad!
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kottke.org @kottke.org · 22/12/2025
A full archive of The Hairpin (iykyk). [thehairpinarchives.com]
thehairpinarchives.com
The Hairpin
Ladies first
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Shawn Micallef @shawnmicallef.bsky.social · 22/12/2025
Happy last day of Hanukkah. Passed by here this morning. Some good Toronto history to dip into. ontariojewisharchives.org/Explore/Them...
Jewish Folk Choir lane sign
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Val A @vainto.bsky.social · 14/12/2025
Send a letter to MPPs telling them that watering down protections for Lake Simcoe is a bad idea! share.nwmd.social/s/vB9Znfln
share.nwmd.social
Lake Simcoe needs a local focus
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Val A @vainto.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
If you're in Toronto, they're playing it live at Cameron House on Sunday at 4:30. 🏄‍♂️🎸🧑‍🎄 I've seen it live the past few holiday seasons, it is always a good time! (Extra happy to have the recording, since I can't make it to this year's show.)
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Val A @vainto.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
I am biased because this is my brother's band, but if you're looking for some festive tunes, I highly recommend Astro Surf's Nutcracker Suite. Tchaikovsky, surf rock style! astrosurfrock.bandcamp.com/album/astros...
astrosurfrock.bandcamp.com
Astrosurf Presents...The Nutcracker Suite, by Astrosurf
9 track album
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Bruce Arthur @brucearthur.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
So they worked so much harder, and consumed so much more energy, to produce an AI piece of shit that was so shitty they had to delete it and also delete the evidence of how hard they hard to work to make that massive piece of shit
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Shawn Micallef @shawnmicallef.bsky.social · 30/11/2025
Personal (choice) is political
Big vehicles have their place, but choosing an w oil crisis created a market for smaller vehicles in the 1970s, it's time to demand automakers return to providing vehicles appropriate for jam-packed cities.
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Shawn Micallef @shawnmicallef.bsky.social · 29/11/2025
Let’s talk about the size of trucks & SUVs in the city. My column on the virtue & status signalling of vehicle bloat.
thestar.com
Shawn Micallef: This truck ad shows why Toronto needs smaller vehicles — if only the carmakers wanted to sell them
A car comically overloaded with plywood? It’s a good ad for a pickup — but also a sign of the incredible amount of money, weight and energy being wasted on
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Val A @vainto.bsky.social · 25/11/2025
From this week's: "It is easy to lament our defeats... It is harder to remember, though no less true, that the world would be a much worse place today if not for the efforts of organizers across the ages who all faced more defeats than victories." 💙
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Val A @vainto.bsky.social · 25/11/2025
Once again plugging @showuptoronto.ca, which is not only a listing of ways to get involved but also a weekly beacon of light for your inbox. Politics in this city feel heavy atm (largely due to the province), and I so appreciate the hope this round-up offers. showuptoronto.ca
showuptoronto.ca
Show Up Toronto
Show Up Toronto brings together community organizing, mutual aid, and advocacy events from around the city. Get weekly updates or subscribe to the calendar feed!
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Shawn Micallef @shawnmicallef.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
I walked along a few kms of College St this morning before 9am. Day care drop then carried on. Watched the people push and cycle their kids around, some dad on a cargo bike waved & said hi to some tweens walking in front of me. All very Sesame Street. And this gov't has contempt for it all.
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Druh Farrell @druhfarrell.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
Clean up your mess and pay your bills you greedy deadbeats.
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Jay Pitter @jaypitter.bsky.social · 14/11/2025
Elected officials shouldn’t have the power to vote against traffic signals or lower speed limits. I don’t think this because I don’t believe in democracy; I think this because I believe in evidence-based placemaking & city-building. Safer streets shouldn’t be situational or left up to a vote.
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Jay Pitter @jaypitter.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
I love Toronto but the fact that permitting convenience stores in residential neighbourhoods is an actual debate reminds me of how incredibly conservative the city is. Like, are people okay?
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Val A @vainto.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
Tenant rights are at risk on Ontario - Bill 60 will result in an increase in evictions. People will lose their homes as a result of this bill. Help us support the cause. share.nwmd.social/s/3c0qxrqH
share.nwmd.social
FRPO: Hands off our rights!
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Mike Wilner @wilnerness.bsky.social · 02/11/2025
A broken-bat double-play grounder by Alejandro Kirk ends the game. #Bluejays fall 5-4 in 11, but what a show they put on. It hurts now, for sure. They had the game a few times, but this World Series is going to go down as one of the greatest ever.
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Sean Marshall @seanyyz.bsky.social · 02/11/2025
And get the rules changed in your favour
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derek van vliet @derek.bike · 02/11/2025
“We’ve got the power of friendship” - Ernie Clement
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Madeleine Bonsma-Fisher, PhD @mbonsma.bsky.social · 01/11/2025
A William Shakespeare (I think bot) account, post text "Could not be wedg'd in more; I am stifled"
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Val A @vainto.bsky.social · 26/10/2025
I really hope someone from Corporate Sponsorships got mad about the KFC guerrilla ad and moved the Mary Brown ad right in front of the Colonel 😆
Screenshot of the batter at the Blue Jays game, showing an ad for Mary Brown’s chicken behind him, in front of where a man dressed as Colonel Saunders is sitting.
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