Richard Blackwell
@blackwellglobe.bsky.social
Writer. Editor. Retired Globe and Mail reporter
Reposted by Richard Blackwell
I usually speed when I’m driving but that’s because all the speed limit signs around here are just normal-sized signs and I don’t think they’re serious signs but once Doug Ford spends millions putting up bigger speed limit signs I will definitely not be speeding anymore because then it’s serious.
a man with a mustache wearing a blue suit and tie is making a funny face .
ALT: a man with a mustache wearing a blue suit and tie is making a funny face .
media.tenor.com
November 27, 2025 at 1:48 AM
I usually speed when I’m driving but that’s because all the speed limit signs around here are just normal-sized signs and I don’t think they’re serious signs but once Doug Ford spends millions putting up bigger speed limit signs I will definitely not be speeding anymore because then it’s serious.
Reposted by Richard Blackwell
“Historians will look back on US raising the white flag on the energy transition as a catastrophic error, putting North America at risk of becoming an island of fossil fuels in an electrifying world.
Canada should take note & choose a better path.”
💯 Life is about choices. Let’s choose to win.
Canada should take note & choose a better path.”
💯 Life is about choices. Let’s choose to win.
New from me, Rick Smith, and Peter Nicholson.
“Our policy advice is pretty simple: Clean up electricity and electrify everything possible. This is the nation-building project Canada needs…”
www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...
“Our policy advice is pretty simple: Clean up electricity and electrify everything possible. This is the nation-building project Canada needs…”
www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...
New data shows the world is embracing renewable energy. Canada can’t follow Trump’s fossil fuel obsession
North America at risk of becoming an island of fossil fuels in an electrifying world. Canada should take note and choose a better path.
www.thestar.com
November 20, 2025 at 1:17 PM
“Historians will look back on US raising the white flag on the energy transition as a catastrophic error, putting North America at risk of becoming an island of fossil fuels in an electrifying world.
Canada should take note & choose a better path.”
💯 Life is about choices. Let’s choose to win.
Canada should take note & choose a better path.”
💯 Life is about choices. Let’s choose to win.
Reposted by Richard Blackwell
Brilliant reporting, chilling story. A must-read.
By @nickhunebrown.bsky.social for @thelocal.to: thelocal.to/investigatin...
By @nickhunebrown.bsky.social for @thelocal.to: thelocal.to/investigatin...
Investigating a Possible Scammer in Journalism’s AI Era | The Local
A suspicious pitch from a freelancer led editor Nicholas Hune-Brown to dig into their past work. By the end, four publications, including The Guardian and Dwell, had removed articles from their sites.
thelocal.to
November 19, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Brilliant reporting, chilling story. A must-read.
By @nickhunebrown.bsky.social for @thelocal.to: thelocal.to/investigatin...
By @nickhunebrown.bsky.social for @thelocal.to: thelocal.to/investigatin...
Reposted by Richard Blackwell
the biggest section of the REM (and imo the most important phase) opened today, basically extending a highway-median suburban branch into a full-fledged 50 km north-south metro across the montreal region
montreal now has a 119-kilometre metro system with 87 stations, by far the largest in canada!
montreal now has a 119-kilometre metro system with 87 stations, by far the largest in canada!
November 15, 2025 at 8:17 PM
the biggest section of the REM (and imo the most important phase) opened today, basically extending a highway-median suburban branch into a full-fledged 50 km north-south metro across the montreal region
montreal now has a 119-kilometre metro system with 87 stations, by far the largest in canada!
montreal now has a 119-kilometre metro system with 87 stations, by far the largest in canada!
Reposted by Richard Blackwell
The fact we’re now offering free electricity for 3 hours a day in Australia, shows just how far renewables have come. We’ve gone from managing scarcity to managing abundance. ☀️⚡Energy isn’t the problem anymore — storage & timing are. The future grid is solar-soaked. #Renewables #EV #BESS #Solar
Australian households to get free electricity three hours a day
Saying there is enough solar power for everyone in the daytime, the federal government will direct retailers to provide three hours of free power every day to consumers.
www.abc.net.au
November 4, 2025 at 12:38 AM
The fact we’re now offering free electricity for 3 hours a day in Australia, shows just how far renewables have come. We’ve gone from managing scarcity to managing abundance. ☀️⚡Energy isn’t the problem anymore — storage & timing are. The future grid is solar-soaked. #Renewables #EV #BESS #Solar
Reposted by Richard Blackwell
#topoli #onpoli #cdnpoli New from me on @spacing: Doug Ford’s 401 tunnel pitch to Carney: off-ramp or federally funded money pit? spacing.ca/toronto/2025...
LORINC: Is the 401 Tunnel an off-ramp or money pit? - Spacing Toronto
According to Doug Ford, his pal the prime minister is giving serious consideration to elevating the premier’s 401-tunnel scheme from the muck deep below north Toronto to the rarified status of nation-...
spacing.ca
September 18, 2025 at 12:51 PM
#topoli #onpoli #cdnpoli New from me on @spacing: Doug Ford’s 401 tunnel pitch to Carney: off-ramp or federally funded money pit? spacing.ca/toronto/2025...
Reposted by Richard Blackwell
My latest: A government can’t kill people for no reason? When will this judicial madness end?!
www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...
www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...
Opinion: A government can’t kill people for no reason? When will this judicial madness end?!
Conservatives were apoplectic when a court overturned Ontario’s decision to remove bike lanes
www.theglobeandmail.com
August 13, 2025 at 12:31 PM
My latest: A government can’t kill people for no reason? When will this judicial madness end?!
www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...
www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...
Reposted by Richard Blackwell
The Ontario Place waterpark is a catastrophe. Diamond Schmitt @diamondschmitt.bsky.social want to tell you it is great. It is not.
www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...
#topoli #onpoli #ontarioplace
www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...
#topoli #onpoli #ontarioplace
The Ontario Place spa: new drawings, still a disaster
Newly released visuals of the planned site show a malignant growth on the city
www.theglobeandmail.com
July 11, 2025 at 7:03 PM
The Ontario Place waterpark is a catastrophe. Diamond Schmitt @diamondschmitt.bsky.social want to tell you it is great. It is not.
www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...
#topoli #onpoli #ontarioplace
www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...
#topoli #onpoli #ontarioplace
Reposted by Richard Blackwell
Who really comes "hat in hand" to Queen's Park? On the #onpoli podcast, @jm-mcgrath.bsky.social and @spaikin.bsky.social discuss the fallout of comments made by Doug Ford, and what sector actually has received multiple rounds of bailouts without much complaint. www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6hi...
June 24, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Who really comes "hat in hand" to Queen's Park? On the #onpoli podcast, @jm-mcgrath.bsky.social and @spaikin.bsky.social discuss the fallout of comments made by Doug Ford, and what sector actually has received multiple rounds of bailouts without much complaint. www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6hi...
Reposted by Richard Blackwell
Is it too late to give Sacha Baron Cohen an Oscar for this? Not a damn lie told. 🇺🇸
June 22, 2025 at 7:53 PM
Is it too late to give Sacha Baron Cohen an Oscar for this? Not a damn lie told. 🇺🇸
Reposted by Richard Blackwell
Not sure how many people realize that battery storage already supplies 30% of California’s electricity demand at peak.
Batteries aren’t the future — they’re here now.
Batteries aren’t the future — they’re here now.
May 23, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Not sure how many people realize that battery storage already supplies 30% of California’s electricity demand at peak.
Batteries aren’t the future — they’re here now.
Batteries aren’t the future — they’re here now.
Reposted by Richard Blackwell
Historica Canada has just released another Heritage Minute, this one on the first ever Jewish Chief Justice of Canada, Bora Laskin. He's played by Victor Garber. www.historicacanada.ca/productions/...
Bora Laskin
One of Canada’s greatest legal scholars, Bora Laskin overcame antisemitism to become the first Jewish Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.
www.historicacanada.ca
May 7, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Historica Canada has just released another Heritage Minute, this one on the first ever Jewish Chief Justice of Canada, Bora Laskin. He's played by Victor Garber. www.historicacanada.ca/productions/...
Reposted by Richard Blackwell
Canada may be Elbows Up, but RBC is kissing Trump's ring. Canada's largest bank released their 2024 Sustainability Report today while we're all watching election news, perhaps to bury the fact that they're abandoning their much-publicized commitment to sustainable finance www.rbc.com/investor-rel...
April 29, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Canada may be Elbows Up, but RBC is kissing Trump's ring. Canada's largest bank released their 2024 Sustainability Report today while we're all watching election news, perhaps to bury the fact that they're abandoning their much-publicized commitment to sustainable finance www.rbc.com/investor-rel...
Reposted by Richard Blackwell
Ontario judge's ruling on bike lane removal gives Ford & Ontario government an off-ramp and a chance to act like an adult, writes senior editor John Lorinc [ @johnlorinc.bsky.social ].
spacing.ca/toronto/2025... #ONpoli #TOpoli
spacing.ca/toronto/2025... #ONpoli #TOpoli
Judge puts Ford back in his lane - Spacing Toronto
Ontario superior court justice Paul Schabas this week granted an interim (“interlocutory”) injunction preventing Queen’s Park from ripping up three Toronto bike lanes pending a final decision, and the...
spacing.ca
April 25, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Ontario judge's ruling on bike lane removal gives Ford & Ontario government an off-ramp and a chance to act like an adult, writes senior editor John Lorinc [ @johnlorinc.bsky.social ].
spacing.ca/toronto/2025... #ONpoli #TOpoli
spacing.ca/toronto/2025... #ONpoli #TOpoli
Reposted by Richard Blackwell
This is an act of cowardice in the face of Trump
Canadian provinces just decided that securities (i.e. publicly traded companies) don't have to think about how they affect/are affected by climate change. Bad call.
www.esgtoday.com/canadian-reg...
www.esgtoday.com/canadian-reg...
Canadian Regulators Hit Pause on Mandatory Climate Reporting Requirements - ESG Today
Canada’s securities regulators announced that they are pausing their work on the development on key sustainability reporting initiatives, including a new mandatory climate-related disclosure rule and ...
www.esgtoday.com
April 24, 2025 at 6:15 PM
This is an act of cowardice in the face of Trump
Reposted by Richard Blackwell
The Conservative plan is out and, ooof, is this costing a disaster.
There's a whole bunch of phantom revenues booked here, and the GST housing pledge is costed at under $2B. Given their proposed eligibility criteria, it should be more in the 4-6B range.
There's a whole bunch of phantom revenues booked here, and the GST housing pledge is costed at under $2B. Given their proposed eligibility criteria, it should be more in the 4-6B range.
April 22, 2025 at 2:41 PM
The Conservative plan is out and, ooof, is this costing a disaster.
There's a whole bunch of phantom revenues booked here, and the GST housing pledge is costed at under $2B. Given their proposed eligibility criteria, it should be more in the 4-6B range.
There's a whole bunch of phantom revenues booked here, and the GST housing pledge is costed at under $2B. Given their proposed eligibility criteria, it should be more in the 4-6B range.
Very interesting development, but the last paragraph is a downer. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/16/s...
Astronomers Detect a Signature of Life on a Distant Planet (Gift Article)
Further studies are needed to determine whether K2-18b, which orbits a star 120 light-years away, is inhabited, or even habitable.
www.nytimes.com
April 16, 2025 at 11:43 PM
Very interesting development, but the last paragraph is a downer. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/16/s...
Reposted by Richard Blackwell
There 29 #Indigenous candidates running in the 2025 federal election: 18 First Nation, 8 Métis, 3 Inuit. They include 11 Liberals, 5 Conservative, 12 NDP, 1 Bloc; 7 Incuments, 22 New Candidates indigpoli.blogspot.com via Indigenous Politics @jenditchburn.bsky.social #RepresentationMatters
April 6, 2025 at 9:07 PM
There 29 #Indigenous candidates running in the 2025 federal election: 18 First Nation, 8 Métis, 3 Inuit. They include 11 Liberals, 5 Conservative, 12 NDP, 1 Bloc; 7 Incuments, 22 New Candidates indigpoli.blogspot.com via Indigenous Politics @jenditchburn.bsky.social #RepresentationMatters
Reposted by Richard Blackwell
Pour souligner la Journée internationale de la visibilité trans et rendre visible la solidarité de la Ville, le drapeau de la fierté trans est déployé au mât de l’hôtel de ville.
March 31, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Pour souligner la Journée internationale de la visibilité trans et rendre visible la solidarité de la Ville, le drapeau de la fierté trans est déployé au mât de l’hôtel de ville.
Reposted by Richard Blackwell
"Trump’s concocted grievances have no relation to reality." But Canada will survive!
New from @jimbostanford.bsky.social
New from @jimbostanford.bsky.social
Jim Stanford: Here’s why we will survive Trump’s tariffs — the answer is right in front of us
Export industries are critical, writes Jim Stanford, but almost 80 per cent of what we produce is by Canadians, for Canadians and never crosses a border.
www.thestar.com
March 29, 2025 at 1:36 PM
"Trump’s concocted grievances have no relation to reality." But Canada will survive!
New from @jimbostanford.bsky.social
New from @jimbostanford.bsky.social
Reposted by Richard Blackwell
How a president hoping to fund his government with tariffs and possibly annex Canada instead wrecked the economy and set continentalism back for almost a century. Excellent thread.
In 1890, the Tariff Act came into place in the United States. It placed tariffs on imports of up to 50%.
While touted as a way to build American industry, there was also the hope it would force an annexation of Canada. It backfired.
Let's learn more.
🧵1/10
While touted as a way to build American industry, there was also the hope it would force an annexation of Canada. It backfired.
Let's learn more.
🧵1/10
March 5, 2025 at 2:58 PM
How a president hoping to fund his government with tariffs and possibly annex Canada instead wrecked the economy and set continentalism back for almost a century. Excellent thread.
Reposted by Richard Blackwell
Trudeau: "They're talking about working positively with Russia, appeasing Vladimir Putin- a lying, murderous, dictator. Make that make sense. Canadians are reasonable and we are polite. But we will not back down from a fight...Canada will be implementing 25% tariffs against $155b of American goods."
March 4, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Trudeau: "They're talking about working positively with Russia, appeasing Vladimir Putin- a lying, murderous, dictator. Make that make sense. Canadians are reasonable and we are polite. But we will not back down from a fight...Canada will be implementing 25% tariffs against $155b of American goods."
Reposted by Richard Blackwell
Yep. @pkrugman.bsky.social is spot on. Trump hates Canada for our decency. But he underestimates Canadians at his peril. 🇨🇦💪🇨🇦💪🇨🇦💪🇨🇦💪🇨🇦 (Full piece here: open.substack.com/pub/paulkrug...)
March 4, 2025 at 2:54 PM
Yep. @pkrugman.bsky.social is spot on. Trump hates Canada for our decency. But he underestimates Canadians at his peril. 🇨🇦💪🇨🇦💪🇨🇦💪🇨🇦💪🇨🇦 (Full piece here: open.substack.com/pub/paulkrug...)
Reposted by Richard Blackwell
Incredible thread. It’s time to get back to teaching sloyd
A Brief History of Let’s Get Back to Teaching the Basics
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February 26, 2025 at 4:31 AM
Incredible thread. It’s time to get back to teaching sloyd