Environment & development law & policy. The Hands off the Greenbelt guy. Brown loyalist. Tweets aren't advice or statements from my client. he/him
Dawes Rd., Toronto, Ontario
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Are you a housing voter?
Here's the non-partisan assessment of how Toronto's current council is doing pro-housing reform & the key commitments to demand from Mayoral & Council candidates in exchange for your vote next Monday, Oct 26th.
environmentaldefence.ca/2026… (img from LaneFab)
ALT Image of environmentally friendly midrise and multiplex homes that have been added harmoniously to an existing, currently lowrise residential street.
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Perhaps it's a natural or instinctive extension of the underlying preference for property rights (one dollar, one vote) over democratic rights (one person, one vote) that underlies the ideology... a gut feeling that people with more real property (aka land) should have more say?
Is it just a universal thing among conservatives everywhere that they don't understand the concept of "land doesn't vote"?
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Remember - the scandal isn't merely the PROCESS (secret emails and Vegas massages).
The scandal is that the @fordnation government tried to dismantle the greenbelt - & is still trying to shift homebuilding back to sprawl- when they KNEW it'd result in FEWER homes slower.
NEW: FOI'd records show a paper trail from Mr. X to David Piccini's office to a key staffer in the Greenbelt controversy before the land in question was selected for removal.
thetrillium.ca/news/the-tril…
by @CharliePinkerto and me
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@EnviroDefence warned that the Greenbelt Scandal was just the most visible part of a wider larger sprawl and land speculation scandal: the @FordNation
government's INTENTIONALLY extending the housing shortage w laws it KNEW would result in FEWER HOMES not more. We were right!👇🏾
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Phil Pothen 🇨🇦 he/him retweeted
Travis Dhanraj was wrong about CBC's journalistic standards and ethics. Dhanraj misrepresented the Ombudsman decision he cited. CBC has now confirmed that Neil Herland violated its journalistic standards.
CBC’s own former Ombudsman said in a ruling a journalist’s lived experience can “rest comfortably within journalistic standards.” So explain this: Neil Herland @NEWSneil attended a Yom Kippur service, he documented what he encountered. He talked about his lived experience. Now he’s under investigation, ripped off the air. The double standard is appalling. Neil is a friend, as is the journalist the Ombudsman ruled on. @NEWSneil was one of the first to reach out to me when I called @CBC out. I won't forget that. @CBC has spent years plastering “diversity” and “lived experience” on billboards, in commercials and throughout its corporate messaging. That isn’t a principle you get to switch off when it becomes uncomfortable. @NEWSneil belongs back on the air. I hope the union is fighting like hell for him, but I doubt it. Simple Question: how many dumpster fires🔥 at our public broadcaster do we have to witness before something is done @MarcMillerVM?
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RT @ADL: The term “Shylock” is rooted in a longstanding antisemitic stereotype. Regardless of intent, its use can reinforce harmful tropes…
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This is a very sensible, grownup response.
Avi Lewis on 25% voting for a separation referendum: "If you had a referendum on whether people wanted to send a message to Ottawa that they're not happy with a very difficult life in Canada these days, you'd get at least that number or more in every single province. It's understandable."
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"We all tend to think we have a raw deal in Confederation... That's the nature of any federated system."
Avi Lewis on 25% voting for a separation referendum: "If you had a referendum on whether people wanted to send a message to Ottawa that they're not happy with a very difficult life in Canada these days, you'd get at least that number or more in every single province. It's understandable."
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Phil Pothen 🇨🇦 he/him retweeted
It looks like Pollara's poll was most accurate in predicting the outcome of Alberta's referendum. pollara.com/
76%- unambigous remain in Canada
24%- hold a real referendum on whether to try and separate Alberta from Canada.
Exactly what happened!
Congrats @Pollara!
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Phil Pothen 🇨🇦 he/him retweeted
With leasing still strong and fewer new units arriving, the surplus is getting absorbed.
Renters leased 80% of the condos that came to market in September, the highest September absorption rate since 2016.
There is now about one month of rental inventory, down from 1.3 4/
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Phil Pothen 🇨🇦 he/him retweeted
Key info from a policy wonk:
The "status quo" homelessness, cleanliness, TTC problems we all talk about are the product of Toronto's FORMER (eg Rob Ford era) policies.
If we want CHANGE we need to CONTINUE our NEW & different policy direction. (1/3)
environmentaldefence.ca/2026…
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Remember: the slow zones are a product of our finally DOING maintenance we had been delaying, and DETECTING dangers we had been missing.
To SAFELY get over the hump and clear them, we'll need TAX funding for more an even more aggressive repair schedule, not a tax freeze.
Chow on slow zones:
“As I’ve said, even one slow zone is too many and I will eliminate them. We have made record investments in the TTC to make up for many years of cuts to maintenance under Bradford’s time on the TTC board." #ToPoli
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Phil Pothen 🇨🇦 he/him retweeted
Chow on slow zones:
“As I’ve said, even one slow zone is too many and I will eliminate them. We have made record investments in the TTC to make up for many years of cuts to maintenance under Bradford’s time on the TTC board." #ToPoli
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Phil Pothen 🇨🇦 he/him retweeted
I’m hearing a lot of “what I miss about Toronto” from people who would save us from things that never happened.
Me, I’m wistful about the decline of empathy for people who have less.
I’m biased maybe, but I prefer candidates who don’t punch down on the people they want to lead.
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Phil Pothen 🇨🇦 he/him retweeted
🚨Municipal Leadership Pledge! Ask your candidates if they have signed?
Ontario’s Greenbelt protects what communities need to thrive: clean water, local food, farmland, natural heritage, rural communities, responsible growth, and a more climate-resilient future. Because these shared foundations do not stop at municipal boundaries; communities within, beside, and beyond the Greenbelt all have a stake in protecting them.
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Phil Pothen 🇨🇦 he/him retweeted
I firmly believe we should embrace this take. Mamdani is the new political center, meaning anyone to his right is objectively a conservative—even The Atlantic agrees!
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Phil Pothen 🇨🇦 he/him retweeted
In Toronto, more people are killed and injured by vehicles than from violent crimes. Anyone who claims to be a champion of safety, but who isn't advocating for safer roads, is just fear mongering or dog whistling.
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Phil Pothen 🇨🇦 he/him retweeted
Flávio Bolsonaro, o espírito obsessor?
Fantasma terrível
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