Jay Cockburn
@jaycockburn.bsky.social
I write and make podcasts about cities and the people in them.
Producer: Lately & City Space at the Globe and Mail
Write for Canada's National Observer, The Green Line, The Local, Toronto Star,
Former BBC News. He/him.
Producer: Lately & City Space at the Globe and Mail
Write for Canada's National Observer, The Green Line, The Local, Toronto Star,
Former BBC News. He/him.
Pinned
Jay Cockburn
@jaycockburn.bsky.social
· Mar 4
I had so much fun making this episode of City Space. It's about a Calgary that might-have-been, but also about how power uses beauty and architecture to express itself.
Plus you can hear me acting as a 1900s English landscape architect.
Plus you can hear me acting as a 1900s English landscape architect.
This is awesome but its also the wards that need it the least. I'd be thrilled to see a store open on my street.
But the suburban wards where folks have to drive to pick up milk and eggs are the ones who actually need this! The arguments against have been so detached from reality.
But the suburban wards where folks have to drive to pick up milk and eggs are the ones who actually need this! The arguments against have been so detached from reality.
Mayor Olivia Chow's motion to allow neighbourhood corner stores in all wards in the Old Toronto & East York Community Council area CARRIES 25-1.
November 13, 2025 at 11:10 PM
This is awesome but its also the wards that need it the least. I'd be thrilled to see a store open on my street.
But the suburban wards where folks have to drive to pick up milk and eggs are the ones who actually need this! The arguments against have been so detached from reality.
But the suburban wards where folks have to drive to pick up milk and eggs are the ones who actually need this! The arguments against have been so detached from reality.
Do these people hear themselves
Councillor Shan moves to exclude three streets in his ward. He worries the retail spaces created won't just be small shops selling ice cream to locals, but things like "beef patties that are so popular that people from the 905 will come to get it." That'll just add to traffic problems, he says.
November 13, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Do these people hear themselves
Windows 11 users... just how bad is the AI bloat? My current laptop is nearing its end of life and I should really upgrade but I know it probably means also moving over to 11 and I just... don't want to.
November 13, 2025 at 1:13 PM
Windows 11 users... just how bad is the AI bloat? My current laptop is nearing its end of life and I should really upgrade but I know it probably means also moving over to 11 and I just... don't want to.
Gonna try this next time I'm accused of murder
Unlocked | Up to the U.S. to decide if it violated international law with Caribbean boat strikes, says Anand
www.hilltimes.com/story/2025/1...
www.hilltimes.com/story/2025/1...
Up to the U.S. to decide if it violated international law with Caribbean boat strikes, says Anand
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand broke with tradition as she seemingly asserted that Canada's top diplomat doesn't weigh in on a foreign country's adherence to international law.
www.hilltimes.com
November 13, 2025 at 3:31 AM
Gonna try this next time I'm accused of murder
Reposted by Jay Cockburn
Well, it's a little clearer now why billionaires are so invested in technology that produces better written emails.
November 12, 2025 at 10:23 PM
Well, it's a little clearer now why billionaires are so invested in technology that produces better written emails.
The thing that stops me biking all through winter is just not knowing if the city will have actually cleared the bike lanes. In theory they do, but in reality half the time the road plough has pushed snow into the bike lane, there are patches of ice... it ends up being too dangerous.
I biked almost all of last winter BUT this week saw the first real snow in Toronto, a Canadian city that has a learning disability when it comes to snow so I've been using the TTC, but it's supposed to be relatively clear tomorrow and I'll be back on my bike
Communicating winter cycling is a balancing act.
Explaining to people in milder climates that winter is a big deal here. We can’t “just bike through the snow”.
But also explaining to Canadians that it’s not that different from other things we do in winter (requiring clothing, plowing, etc.).
Explaining to people in milder climates that winter is a big deal here. We can’t “just bike through the snow”.
But also explaining to Canadians that it’s not that different from other things we do in winter (requiring clothing, plowing, etc.).
November 12, 2025 at 7:22 PM
The thing that stops me biking all through winter is just not knowing if the city will have actually cleared the bike lanes. In theory they do, but in reality half the time the road plough has pushed snow into the bike lane, there are patches of ice... it ends up being too dangerous.
Sometimes in Canada things are just sponsored by a food.
Not the company that makes the food. Just the food.
For example: Milk.
Not the company that makes the food. Just the food.
For example: Milk.
November 11, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Sometimes in Canada things are just sponsored by a food.
Not the company that makes the food. Just the food.
For example: Milk.
Not the company that makes the food. Just the food.
For example: Milk.
Someone needs to go to Bushwick and tell them all yop doing monotone comedy music on TikTok and IG reels. There are enough of them now.
November 10, 2025 at 11:37 PM
Someone needs to go to Bushwick and tell them all yop doing monotone comedy music on TikTok and IG reels. There are enough of them now.
You know what maybe we deserve a male loneliness epidemic
November 10, 2025 at 8:49 PM
You know what maybe we deserve a male loneliness epidemic
Everyone knows Tim Davie ran for election for the Conservatives before he got the BBC job right?
November 9, 2025 at 8:47 PM
Everyone knows Tim Davie ran for election for the Conservatives before he got the BBC job right?
One of my least popular opinions is that public office should be paid absurdly well, with the condition that you can't earn money from other sources during your tenure. I don't mean held in trust, I mean nothing. No rental income, if you hold profitable assets on election revenue goes to the state.
The Mayor of New York only makes $260k. I bet there are police that make more than that in NY with overtime.
We need to pay elected leaders more money and stop pretending it's some sort of calling. They're managing hundreds of billions of dollars in investments and millions of people's lives.
We need to pay elected leaders more money and stop pretending it's some sort of calling. They're managing hundreds of billions of dollars in investments and millions of people's lives.
November 7, 2025 at 4:03 PM
One of my least popular opinions is that public office should be paid absurdly well, with the condition that you can't earn money from other sources during your tenure. I don't mean held in trust, I mean nothing. No rental income, if you hold profitable assets on election revenue goes to the state.
Reposted by Jay Cockburn
If you care about journalism and press freedom, read this thread from Luke.
Hi Bluesky 👋
Small life update: I’m at the centre of a multimillion dollar lawsuit in Alberta launched by a failed candidate for Jason Kenney’s UCP
It may be the longest and most expensive media trial in Canadian history
I’m ready to go public about it and I want to share more details with you 🧵
Small life update: I’m at the centre of a multimillion dollar lawsuit in Alberta launched by a failed candidate for Jason Kenney’s UCP
It may be the longest and most expensive media trial in Canadian history
I’m ready to go public about it and I want to share more details with you 🧵
November 7, 2025 at 3:41 PM
If you care about journalism and press freedom, read this thread from Luke.
The year is 2065. Cities are just one big police force. There's no public subway, only a special cop tube big enough for the horses to ride. There's no homelessness because everyone is a cop who lives in Barrie. There's no crime because everyone is a cop who lives in Barrie. Taxes are the same.
“In his final budget before facing voters next October, Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim is presenting a property tax freeze and $50 million more for police, & major cuts to arts, culture, community services & sustainability.”
Brutal austerity for everything else, but $50 million more for over-budget cops.
Brutal austerity for everything else, but $50 million more for over-budget cops.
'I'm proud of this one': Mayor Ken Sim talks budget with $50 million more for police amid property tax freeze | CBC News
In his final budget before facing voters next October, Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim is presenting a property tax freeze, and $50 million more for police, balanced by major cuts to arts, culture, community ...
www.cbc.ca
November 6, 2025 at 10:07 PM
The year is 2065. Cities are just one big police force. There's no public subway, only a special cop tube big enough for the horses to ride. There's no homelessness because everyone is a cop who lives in Barrie. There's no crime because everyone is a cop who lives in Barrie. Taxes are the same.
It is frustrating how supposed contrarian free speech advocates like Weiss are mostly just useful, gullible idiots that fall for well funded comms.
To understand how Bari Weiss might approach climate coverage at CBS, I read every climate article the Free Press has published.
Almost every one reinforced a common fossil fuel industry talking point—that climate change is exaggerated, that solutions don't work, and that fossil fuels = freedom
Almost every one reinforced a common fossil fuel industry talking point—that climate change is exaggerated, that solutions don't work, and that fossil fuels = freedom
Bari Weiss vs. climate change
At The Free Press, Weiss consistently rebrands tired fossil fuel talking points as courageous, rebellious dissent.
heated.world
November 6, 2025 at 8:49 PM
It is frustrating how supposed contrarian free speech advocates like Weiss are mostly just useful, gullible idiots that fall for well funded comms.
Are you a current or former public servant, or do you know one who has thoughts on Carney's budget? I'm looking to speak to someone for @nationalobserver.com about potential cuts to the federal public service. If you worked there before 2016 that's even better!
1/2
1/2
November 6, 2025 at 7:25 PM
Are you a current or former public servant, or do you know one who has thoughts on Carney's budget? I'm looking to speak to someone for @nationalobserver.com about potential cuts to the federal public service. If you worked there before 2016 that's even better!
1/2
1/2
I'm spending the morning reading last night's budget. I encourage you to do this for yourself because if you check most media you'll only see "investment."
The reality is an austerity budget where almost every department has been handed a 15% budget cut.
www.budget.canada.ca/2025/report-...
The reality is an austerity budget where almost every department has been handed a 15% budget cut.
www.budget.canada.ca/2025/report-...
Annex 3: Comprehensive expenditure review: Planned reductions by organisation | Budget 2025
Annex 3: Comprehensive expenditure review: Planned reductions by organisation — Part of Budget 2025.
www.budget.canada.ca
November 5, 2025 at 2:58 PM
I'm spending the morning reading last night's budget. I encourage you to do this for yourself because if you check most media you'll only see "investment."
The reality is an austerity budget where almost every department has been handed a 15% budget cut.
www.budget.canada.ca/2025/report-...
The reality is an austerity budget where almost every department has been handed a 15% budget cut.
www.budget.canada.ca/2025/report-...
As a Blue Jays fan I won't believe Zohran's won until everything is counted.
November 4, 2025 at 8:44 PM
As a Blue Jays fan I won't believe Zohran's won until everything is counted.
I'm no New Yorker, but the people threatening to leave if Mamdani wins are the exact people I'd be thrilled to see the back of if I did live there.
November 4, 2025 at 7:34 PM
I'm no New Yorker, but the people threatening to leave if Mamdani wins are the exact people I'd be thrilled to see the back of if I did live there.
Lots of headlines using the words "polarising" when they should be using "hated"
November 4, 2025 at 1:10 PM
Lots of headlines using the words "polarising" when they should be using "hated"
Beginning to think the best place for a US news outlet to be headquartered might be Canada.
I was laid off from Teen Vogue today along with multiple other staffers, and today is my last day.
certainly more to come from me when the dust has settled more, but to my knowledge, after today, there will be no politics staffers at Teen Vogue.
certainly more to come from me when the dust has settled more, but to my knowledge, after today, there will be no politics staffers at Teen Vogue.
November 3, 2025 at 8:04 PM
Beginning to think the best place for a US news outlet to be headquartered might be Canada.
Literally nobody has called them this. How is the NYT always wrong.
The World Series was played outside the U.S. for the first time in 32 years this October, when the Toronto Blue Jays united fans across Canada as the country’s only MLB team. The team even became known as the “Glue Jays” before the Los Angeles Dodgers ended their thrilling postseason run.
Canadians Mourn a Loss by Underdogs Who Brought a Nation Together
The Blue Jays, Canada’s only M.L.B. team, were a salve for a country hit by President Trump’s threats and tariffs. Then the Dodgers ended their thrilling postseason run.
nyti.ms
November 2, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Literally nobody has called them this. How is the NYT always wrong.
Reposted by Jay Cockburn
If the Jays win, it'll be a well-timed miraculous Cinderella story celebrated by a whole nation. If the Dodgers win, it'll be because they refused to pick a ball off the ground in game 6.
November 1, 2025 at 11:45 PM
If the Jays win, it'll be a well-timed miraculous Cinderella story celebrated by a whole nation. If the Dodgers win, it'll be because they refused to pick a ball off the ground in game 6.
Reposted by Jay Cockburn
Dodgers play of the game.
November 1, 2025 at 3:19 AM
Dodgers play of the game.
Dodgers win on technicalities again. We win game 7 like proper baseball players. Seeya tomorrow.
November 1, 2025 at 3:24 AM
Dodgers win on technicalities again. We win game 7 like proper baseball players. Seeya tomorrow.