karen ward
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kwardvancouver.bsky.social
karen ward
@kwardvancouver.bsky.social
once called « Canada's only public intellectual »

drug policy researcher & advisor ⁕ historian ⁕ artist ⁕ schemer ⁕ disorganizer

institute for the history of possible futures

https://free-futures-society.org/
the city’s investment income in 2026 is projected to decrease by 23%

why is that.
November 11, 2025 at 5:59 AM
according to the proposed budget, Vancouver’s climate plan is police
November 11, 2025 at 5:51 AM
Reposted by karen ward
Vancouver mayor plans to eliminate city's climate & sustainability dept. This would spell an end to the city's national leadership in urban climate policy.

Great reporting by @mfawcettatkinson.bsky.social & @natashabulowski.bsky.social

If you disagree...

www.nationalobserver.com/2025/11/11/n...
Vancouver mayor plans to eliminate city's climate and sustainability department
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim is planning to eliminate the city's sustainability and climate department under the guise of a push to prevent increases to property taxes. Canada's National Observer learned a...
www.nationalobserver.com
November 11, 2025 at 5:39 AM
Reposted by karen ward
Ken Sims has never worked for the people of Vancouver, he works for those who hate the city and who want to gut it of all of its social services, its defining wins around sustainability and wants to turn the city over to those who are exorbitantly wealthy and only care about sustaining their wealth.
Vancouver has spent decades building up a now well-earned reputation for leadership on environmental sustainability.

Apparently, the mayor and ABC majority don't see the value in it.

Hard to imagine a better way to damage the city's brand.
NEW: Councillors and sources inside the City of Vancouver say the city's mayor, Ken Sim, will put forth a budget Wednesday that will eliminate the city's celebrated climate and sustainability department.
November 11, 2025 at 4:29 AM
Oh Scamada.
Instead of protecting Canadians from scams, Mark Carney’s Liberals are planning to develop a framework for stablecoins after crypto billionaires spent big to buy one in the United States.

The government claims it will “benefit men and youth by improving prosperity and good governance.” 🫠
Budget promises to introduce framework for Canadian dollar-backed cryptocurrency | CBC News
The Liberal government is committing to roll out new legislation to ensure some digital currencies are secure and stable enough for consumers and businesses to use.
www.cbc.ca
November 11, 2025 at 4:22 AM
Reposted by karen ward
Vancouver has spent decades building up a now well-earned reputation for leadership on environmental sustainability.

Apparently, the mayor and ABC majority don't see the value in it.

Hard to imagine a better way to damage the city's brand.
November 11, 2025 at 3:29 AM
Reposted by karen ward
Climate change mitigation and adaptation a core service. It is when our streets flood, when our pools crumble into the ocean, when we operate cooling and warming centres…
November 11, 2025 at 3:20 AM
Reposted by karen ward
"I'm concerned that by cutting environmental programs, we're mortgaging our future," said @lucymaloney.bsky.social, a councillor with OneCity. That includes the city's commitment to fight climate change & improve residents' ability to adapt to climate disasters like extreme heat & wildfire smoke.
November 11, 2025 at 3:12 AM
Reposted by karen ward
The climate crisis is one of the top most severe threats to human existence, alongside nuclear war and a massive asteroid.

It blows my mind how many leaders choose to just whistle past the grave. This isn’t some event on some obscure future date—it’s already happening.
November 11, 2025 at 1:56 AM
Reposted by karen ward
This would be a huge loss for municipal climate leadership.
November 11, 2025 at 2:05 AM
if LOTS of people sign up to speak and go to city hall starting Wednesday, that will prevent council from making decisions on the budget

since they are required to hear all the registered speakers first

Sign up here

council.vancouver.ca/20251112/spe...
November 11, 2025 at 3:08 AM
Reposted by karen ward
SCOOP: Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim is planning to eliminate the city's sustainability and climate department under the guise of a push to prevent increases to property taxes in his proposed 2026 budget.
Great source work by Marc Fawcett-Atkinson to uncover this
www.nationalobserver.com/2025/11/11/n...
Vancouver mayor plans to eliminate city's climate and sustainability department
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim is planning to eliminate the city's sustainability and climate department under the guise of a push to prevent increases to property taxes. Canada's National Observer learned a...
www.nationalobserver.com
November 11, 2025 at 2:53 AM
Reposted by karen ward
Incredibly short-sighted and irresponsible, and completely disconnected from the real values & priorities of Vancouverites. This move would be awful not only for Vancouver, but also for all the cities that Vancouver’s leadership has inspired over decades of North American sustainability leadership.
November 11, 2025 at 2:57 AM
Reposted by karen ward
This is an unhinged assault on the future of the City of Vancouver
November 11, 2025 at 2:47 AM
NOT A WATCHDOG
"New York City's police watchdog agency retroactively altered thousands of records of police misconduct allegations."

"[A] host of sexual misconduct allegations [..] were all recategorized after the fact to the generic 'abuse of authority–other' category."
#NewYork #USA #Policing
The NYPD’s Watchdog Whitewashed More Than 10,000 Misconduct Allegations in Public Data, New Evidence Shows
Allegations of lying, sexual misconduct, bigoted statements, and racist policing were among those quietly reclassified by the Civilian Complaint Review Board.
hellgatenyc.com
November 11, 2025 at 2:52 AM
November 11, 2025 at 2:51 AM
Reposted by karen ward
Can anyone share boots on the ground experience of protesting at city hall? Asking for a friend who doesn’t like this but can’t get arrested.
November 11, 2025 at 2:17 AM
Reposted by karen ward
A masterful essay worth everyone’s time.
I have a feature essay for The Guardian today on the mirage of AI medicine, why care cannot be automated, and how overwhelming uptake of AI by American health capitalism threatens to undermine the very possibility of democracy.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
What we lose when we surrender care to algorithms | Eric Reinhart
A dangerous faith in AI is sweeping American healthcare – with consequences for the basis of society itself
www.theguardian.com
November 11, 2025 at 2:14 AM
Reposted by karen ward
Vancouver had 117 people die during the 2021 heat dome climate disaster.
November 11, 2025 at 1:49 AM
Reposted by karen ward
So glad I took the time to fill out this survey so our civic government could hear and act on my input.

Oh, right, I forgot Sim and ABC govern on vibes.
42% of residents and 37% of businesses surveyed supported a 5% property tax increase in order to maintain the current level of services in the city of Vancouver

but wait there’s more

a lot more

1/?

council.vancouver.ca/20251112/doc...
November 11, 2025 at 1:00 AM
Reposted by karen ward
Fourth Amendment in a MAGA induced coma rn
a new genre of photo in the last year is federal agents working for ICE pointing guns directly at photographers
November 11, 2025 at 12:48 AM
Reposted by karen ward
November 11, 2025 at 12:37 AM
Reposted by karen ward
SEATTLE!!!

We’ve now taken the lead by 91 votes! 🤯 This thing is certainly not over! Over 1,000 ballots have been challenged, so if you haven’t tracked your ballot yet get on it! Our trusty volunteers have been working hard to "cure" ballots so they count! We're so close!
November 11, 2025 at 12:16 AM