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Tom Parkin
@tomparkin.bsky.social
770 followers 260 following 200 posts
Social democrat, publisher of Data Shows, focused on shared prosperity

Data Shows: tparkin.substack.com
Posts Replies Media Videos
tomparkin.bsky.social
Ontario still has the highest tuition fees, despite a multi-year freeze, which the Ford PCs ended last week

open.substack.com/pub/tparkin/...
Ontario universities still most expensive despite PCs' cut and cap
Skyrocketing average tuition under the Ontario Liberals helped Ford PCs win in 2018.
open.substack.com
February 16, 2026 at 1:55 PM
tomparkin.bsky.social
Sponsorship aftermath: political waves

Scandal broke traditional Quebec voting, creating conditions for political waves — Layton’s NDP in 2011, Legault’s CAQ in 2018

Full interview on YouTube and podcast
February 5, 2026 at 1:04 PM
tomparkin.bsky.social
The rise and crushing fall of François Legault, with political analyst Karl Bélanger

And, Nikki and Tom discuss Danielle Smith’s help for Jeff Rath’s separation referendum and the backlash on Jimmy Pattinson on news of a deal with Trump’s ICE

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Facing obliteration, Quebec's Legault quits
YouTube video by Left East to West
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February 3, 2026 at 1:08 PM
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Canada’s Defence and Trump

Left East to West — watch on YouTube or listen wherever you get podcasts
January 31, 2026 at 7:21 PM
tomparkin.bsky.social
This week: Canada’s defence in the Trump era

Feature interview with David Pugliese award-winning defence reporter and author

Left East to West is your weekly check-in across Canada and interviews for people who build this country

On YouTube and everywhere you get podcasts
youtu.be/_zJD4Ss23JU?...
Canada's defence in the Trump era -- with guest David Pugliese
YouTube video by Left East to West
youtu.be
January 31, 2026 at 1:45 AM
Reposted by Tom Parkin
johnprichmond.bsky.social
I guess I should not have been surprised at how really good this podcast is. In a busy field of commentary, Tom and Niki stand out. The analysis you won't get anywhere else.
tomparkin.bsky.social Tom Parkin @tomparkin.bsky.social · 22d
Canada’s defence in the Trump era

Releasing Monday, our Canada check-in and feature interview with defence reporter and author David Pugliese

Find Left East to West on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts
January 29, 2026 at 5:13 AM
tomparkin.bsky.social
Canada’s defence in the Trump era

Releasing Monday, our Canada check-in and feature interview with defence reporter and author David Pugliese

Find Left East to West on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts
January 24, 2026 at 10:39 PM
tomparkin.bsky.social
Introducing Left East to West podcast. Subscribe for your weekly check-in across Canada and interviews for people building this country

Launches Monday on YouTube and all the places you find podcasts

open.substack.com/pub/tparkin/...
Introducing ... Left East to West
A podcast with Nikki Hill and me, a check-in across the country and interviews for people building Canada.
open.substack.com
January 22, 2026 at 12:48 PM
tomparkin.bsky.social
Trading canola for cars further weakens manufacturing, which has been left to wither for years

Unless we want all the stuff we buy to be made in USA or China, provinces need value-adding plans and Ottawa needs to back them

But Ontario has no plan

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Carney-China deal another blow to value-adding jobs
Trading canola for cars is a deal for a dependant colony not an advanced economy.
open.substack.com
January 19, 2026 at 2:26 PM
Reposted by Tom Parkin
johnprichmond.bsky.social
Love Tom Parkin @tomparkin.bsky.social and the fearless dive he does into the numbers. I'm finishing my contract in Ontario and headed home to BC because the work has dried up. I'll miss my patients, families and colleagues. 💔
January 12, 2026 at 2:21 PM
tomparkin.bsky.social
Toronto’s road safety changes are paying off

Traffic fatalities fell to the lowest level in 14 years in 2025, except 2020 COVID, led by a big drop pedestrian deaths, down more than half

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Traffic deaths down 46% as Toronto makes road safety changes
At 21 of the 42 deaths, 2025 had the fewest people killed while pedestrians since 2011.
open.substack.com
January 15, 2026 at 12:54 PM
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In 1985, US Coast Guard Ship Polar Sea travelled from Greenland to Alaska through Canada’s Arctic without requesting Canadian permission

Canadians were stunned. But it led to a treaty in 1988. Will Trump respect it?

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1988: deal reached after US Coast Guard trip through Canada's Arctic stirs controversy
The United States has never recognized Canada's Arctic sovereignty. History shows it takes a long time to build the capacity to project sovereignty, much less to infringe on it.
open.substack.com
January 13, 2026 at 12:55 PM
tomparkin.bsky.social
Doug Ford’s idea of protecting jobs is pouring out a bottle of whisky made by Canadian workers using Canadian-grown ingredients

This explains why Ontario has the second worst unemployment rate in Canada

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Ontario jobless hits 7.9% despite Doug Ford pouring out some Crown Royal
Canadian solidarity against Trump undermined as Ontario Premier attacks Manitoba jobs in exchange for a TV stunt that won't save a single Ontario job.
open.substack.com
January 12, 2026 at 12:32 PM
tomparkin.bsky.social
In 1988 the U.S. agreed it would seek permission to transit Canada’s Arctic after the USCG Polar Sea crossed without any request in 1985, raising a storm

Will that 1988 deal hold as Trump threatens Canada and Denmark’s Greenland?

open.substack.com/pub/parkint/...
1988: deal reached after US Coast Guard trip through Canada's Arctic stirs controversy
The United States has never recognized Canada's Arctic sovereignty. History shows it takes a long time to build the capacity to project sovereignty, much less to infringe on it.
open.substack.com
January 12, 2026 at 12:19 PM
tomparkin.bsky.social
In 1988 the U.S. agreed it would seek permission to transit Canada’s Arctic after the USCG Polar Sea crossed without any request in 1985, raising a storm

Will that 1988 deal hold as Trump threatens Canada and Denmark’s Greenland?

open.substack.com/pub/parkint/...
1988: deal reached after US Coast Guard trip through Canada's Arctic stirs controversy
The United States has never recognized Canada's Arctic sovereignty. History shows it takes a long time to build the capacity to project sovereignty, much less to infringe on it.
open.substack.com
January 12, 2026 at 12:13 PM
tomparkin.bsky.social
Toronto was a safer city last year. Muggings, break-ins, murder, car thefts — all down, some by LOT!

It’s something to celebrate — and maybe that civic pride gives a better chance of continued improvement in 2026!

open.substack.com/pub/tparkin/...
Good work, everyone: Toronto was safer in 2025 as crime dropped in almost all categories
Torontians were freer from muggings, swarmings, homes invasion, auto theft and many other crimes in 2025. The city's murder rate hasn't been lower in at least 20 years.
open.substack.com
January 7, 2026 at 1:29 PM
tomparkin.bsky.social
Lives lost to opioids and stimulants have fallen for a sixth consecutive quarter up to June 30

Drug deaths are now down 44% from the crisis peak

Still, nearly 2,000 died between April 1 and June 30, about 22 people a day

open.substack.com/pub/tparkin/...
Good news: drug deaths continue decline for sixth consecutive quarter
Are interventions working? Is use declining? Or are the drugs less lethal?
open.substack.com
January 6, 2026 at 12:43 PM
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December polls show Liberals and Conservatives down with smaller parties rising.

But there was no election, was there? So are their notional gains actually bankable?

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December polls: major parties down, small parties rise
Liberals and Conservatives are down while the NDP, Greens and Bloc Quebecois are up. But the poll respondents weren't in an election, were they?
open.substack.com
January 5, 2026 at 12:22 PM
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PBO report: Carney’s budget cuts housing investment 56%, his vaunted Build Canada Homes will increase housing supply by just 2%

Pretty far from his election promise “to double the pace” of housing construction!

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Carney budget cut housing investment: PBO report
Liberals’ vaunted Build Canada Homes program will deliver only a 2% boost to housing construction.
open.substack.com
December 30, 2025 at 1:22 PM
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Urban transit ridership fell across major Canadian cities last year — why?

In Toronto, the hit comes as TTC finally gets the capital investment it’s been starved of for a decade

Whatever the cause, Mark Carney’s transit cut won’t help

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As big city transit use drops, Carney Liberals cut transit capital
Failing to maintain transit equipment is a sure way to ensure people don't take transit.
open.substack.com
December 29, 2025 at 3:44 PM
tomparkin.bsky.social
GDP dropped 0.3% in October, the sixth month of decline in the first 10 months of 2025

GDP in Oct was $1.3B lower than January. We are in a recession, but the months of contraction are more spread out than the technical definition

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October GDP decline shows bite marks of Trump’s attack
Tariffed sectors headed down in October along with residential construction and retail, the warning bell of too few Canadians with money to spend.
open.substack.com
December 24, 2025 at 1:58 PM
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Conservatives lead among working class and poor voters, polls show

But perhaps is it less a vote for the Conservatives than a Not Liberal vote — and the Conservative Party holds a monopoly on that?

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Conservative Party leads among working class and poor voters, polls show
NDP support also skews to poor and working class Canadians, but at much lower levels, while Liberal Party dominate among middle class, affluent and university-educated.
open.substack.com
December 23, 2025 at 1:52 PM
tomparkin.bsky.social
Poilievre consistently points away from the real sources of working families’ worries

He pointed at the carbon tax for inflation, at foreign workers for unemployment and costly housing

Then the Liberals cut both. But working families’ worries weren’t fixed

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Pierre Poilievre: not useful for working Canadians, data shows
He presses the prime minister to fix what aren’t the real causes of the frustrations and worries facing working families. How is that useful?
open.substack.com
December 22, 2025 at 2:10 PM
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Trades get a lot of political attention, but in four of five major Canadian cities, almost all trades’ wages have fallen behind prices

Premiers make “historic investments” in infrastructure with big numbers — but small impact for the people doing the work

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Trades workers: politically courted, but falling behind on pay
Some premiers have been targeting trades worker votes -- but any pay hike promise keeps disappearing before Thursday.
open.substack.com
December 16, 2025 at 12:59 PM
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In Ontario, building permits for condos have crashed from 4,000/month to near-zero and houses are down by half from over 2,000

What’s replacing them are corporate-owned rental, 75% of October’s units

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Killing the homeowner option? October building permits show corporate rental apartment surge
Ontario’s October permits hit a 2025 high, though that’s not saying much. At least 75 per cent of the units are for corporate ownership.
open.substack.com
December 15, 2025 at 12:38 PM