Chris Holdenried
LightNews LightNews
banner
chrishcdn.bsky.social
Chris Holdenried
@chrishcdn.bsky.social
190 followers 160 following 120 posts
Engineer, PhD. Electoral reform advocate, including for my home province of Alberta. Tweets & likes are my own. He/him
Posts Replies Media Videos
chrishcdn.bsky.social
Who will win Toronto Centre and be our champion for Proportional Representation?
Will it be @samanthagreen.bsky.social? Olivia Iheme? @evansolomon.bsky.social ? Luis Ibarra?

@fairvotecanada.bsky.social
Picture of a door hanger in someone's hand in a hallway. Top corner says "I want my vote to count, and want my neighbour's vote to count. That's proportional representation. Why proportional representation? Purple rectangle says 30% of the vote = 30% of the seats That's fair! Yello rectangle says Power is shared No more 39% majorities! Blue rectangle says We can vote for what we believe in Every vote will count! Green rectangle says Cooperative decision-making For our future! Red rectangle says We'll all have an MP we helped elect Representation that works!
April 16, 2025 at 3:24 AM
chrishcdn.bsky.social
Elbows Up rally at Metropolitan Toronto Church in Toronto tonight.
Armine Yalnizyan talking about not allowing foreign companies to buy Canadian businesses, and suggesting that Canada could do war bonds.
Former Mayor David Crombie on stage in tge church speaking into the mic View of Toronto's Deputy Mayor Ausma Malik on a projection screen with small Canadian flags waving in the foreground. Armine Yalnizyan on a projection screen in the church. She dialed in from Ottawa Charlie Angus speaking at a microphone in the Church. The huge vaulted ceilings of the church rise above him with the church organ on the walls around the pulpit
March 25, 2025 at 2:45 AM
chrishcdn.bsky.social
Pond at Allen Gardens, Toronto
An indoor artificial pond of clean water in a greenhouse. A hut that is several feet high rises from the pond, with a low ledge with a dozen turtles resting. A water wheel with rectangular compartments on the wheel to scoop ip water is mounted on the side of the hut, rotating. Green plants fill the ground, and green hanging plants with orange flowers are on the roof of the hut.
March 7, 2025 at 9:35 AM
chrishcdn.bsky.social
Happy New Year from YYC!
View of the clear blue Bow River, with some white clouds in a blue sky reflected in the water. The river banks covered in white snow. Picture taken from the Peace Bridge, some of its web of round, red brace beams visible in the edges of the photo.
January 1, 2025 at 4:59 PM
chrishcdn.bsky.social
Doug Ford sits in a taxpayer funded limousine and is going to remove these bike lanes using taxpayer funds. He claims the lanes in this picture are messing up traffic on Yonge St. More evidence and dialogue are needed if he has concerns. Instead, he's politicized it.
#onpoli
Picture of Yonge St looking south and downhill. Picture is taken from the middle of the road, a few blocks south of St. Clair. It's 1pm and the road is empty. The Yorkville skyline is visible in the distance, including 1 Bloor East at 75 stories, and 1 Bloor West that is under construction and is now taller at about 80 stories.
November 9, 2024 at 9:51 AM
chrishcdn.bsky.social
Two Cats by László L. Révész
Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest
#Caturday
An abstract acrylic on canvas painting. It has a light beige background that is covered in darker beige cloud-like patterns. The right of the art piece has a orange striped cat standing like a masculin human, wearing a green suit with tails on the jacket facing toward the left, with the cat's tail trailing and poking out from the bottom of the jacket near its bum. The left of the painting has a female cat seated in a blue and green chair like a queen and wearing a dark red dress with light green shoulders. This female cat is facing forward and reading a book, and she has the outline of a human like figure standing behind her in the background. Wall plaque beside the painting, which says: Révész László László (1957-2021) Two Cats, 1991 Acrylic on canvas Note: I am only showing the English translation, the plaque first had the same info in native Hungarian.
October 19, 2024 at 9:01 PM
chrishcdn.bsky.social
Picture of U-Bahn entrance
September 29, 2024 at 1:34 PM
chrishcdn.bsky.social
Meanwhile in Austria, they have great high speed rail.
It's beyond insane that Canada hasn't adopted proportional representation like all of the top countries on the V-Dem Liberal Democracy Index.
Image of some seats on a train with an electronic sign above. Signs on the seats say Bike Zone in English and in German, Fahrradzone. The sign says 186 km/h Next stop in 6 min 13:23 arr. Amstetten 12-533f 13:38 arr. t. Valentin 13:51 arr. Linz Hbf 11-07 arr W hf 15:05 arr. Salzburg Hbf
September 28, 2024 at 12:02 PM
chrishcdn.bsky.social
Autumn vibes
Tall green weeds, possibly of the goldenrod variety, with many small yellow flowers in bloom on top. A bee sits on top of some of the flowers. The bee looks mostly black in the photo, with a yellow upper back or thorax, transparent wings, and yellow rings at the joints in its legs.
September 7, 2024 at 7:11 PM
chrishcdn.bsky.social
Toronto scenery
Picture at dusk of the CN Tower lit up in red led lights in front of a cloudy blue sky, with U of T convocation Hall on the right lit up with amber light, and the grass of King's College Circle sprawls in the foreground.
August 31, 2024 at 2:37 AM
chrishcdn.bsky.social
Yorkville Mural festival today, including lower Bay Station, no ttc fare required
Abstract wall mural on roof of green p parkade on Yorkville Ave. View of lower Bay Station platform from stairs Tornado shaped art installation on lower Bay Platform. The mirrors in the installation shine.
August 25, 2024 at 4:35 PM
chrishcdn.bsky.social
July Talk at Peterborough Folk Fest.
Fast and energetic first few songs, great band!
Zoom of the main stage at night, it with purple light, July Talk on stage performing. Leah Fay Goldstein in a white shirt, back to the audience, dancing. Peter Dreimanis on guitar and vocals, guitarist Ian Docherty, bassist Josh Warburton, drummer Danny Miles and auxiliary musician Dani Nash.
August 18, 2024 at 2:55 AM
chrishcdn.bsky.social
The Spades at Peterborough Folk Fest. Pretty rockin.
View looking down from a hill in Nicholls Oval Park, people sitting on blankets and mats fill the hil, looking down toward the main stage at the bottom of the hill, Peterborough Folk Festival written across the top. The Spades perform on stage surrounded by warm, orange light, and purple spotlights. James McKenty plays lead guitar and singing, joined by the bassist and drummer. Trees rise behind the stage, with a pink and blue cloudy sunset above.
August 18, 2024 at 1:24 AM
chrishcdn.bsky.social
Little Lake, Peterborough, Ontario
Photo of the lake on a calm day, with trees arching into the top of the photo. The far bank of the lake is visible in the distance and full of trees. View of trees lining the shore of Little Lake in Peterborough, Ontario from several meters back on the grass from the trees and shore. The trees fill the top of the photo with green leaves, with views of the sky between the branches. The sky is cloudy and blue gray, and reflects into the water of the lake, making the sky and lake a similar blue gray. A couple wearing hats sits on a bench facing the water, holding hands, enjoying the view.
August 16, 2024 at 9:21 PM
chrishcdn.bsky.social
'Thank you to Marit Stiles for stopping by our booth at the Elementary Teacher's Federation of Ontario annual meeting 2024!
Together, we can make the next Ontario election the last under first-past-the-post.'
-Fair Vote Canada
Picture of a table display in the hotel at the conference. Standing behind the table is Marit Stiles, along with two other conference staff and four Fair Vote Canada volunteers in t-shirts that say Proportional Representation, Embrace the Power of Equality. The table has memes, postcards ,and info about pro-rep, and there is a stand-up banner in the back about pro-rep, and a poster in the background showing how distorted Ontario's election results were in 2022.
August 15, 2024 at 1:40 AM
chrishcdn.bsky.social
Illustration of Single Transferable Vote (STV), a form of proportional representation.
Also known as proportional ranked choice voting.
Left panel is titled First-past-the-post. It shows an ellipse divided into 3 sections, each section representing a riding, with yellow and blue round pieces representing votes. The first and third sections each contain 4 yellow round pieces and three 3 blue round pieces, and one yellow round piece above each section representing the winner. The middle section is similar, with 5 yellow round pieces and 2 blue round pieces, another yellow round piece above the section showing the winner. Yellow won all 3 sections under first past the post, which is a disproportionate result. The text under says 3 ridings with 1 MP each. The right side of the image shows an ellipse in which the 3 sections are grouped. In the ellipse is one cluster of 6 round yellow pieces, another group of 7 yellow round pieces, and a group of 8 blue round pieces. Above the ellipse are 2 yellow and 1 blue round piece representing the winners, showing proportional results. The text under says 1 riding with 3 MPs.
August 3, 2024 at 6:08 PM
chrishcdn.bsky.social
Mixed-Member Proportional (MMP) representation.
Used in Germany, New Zealand, and in the Scottish and Welsh assemblies.
Drawing of the sun in a blue sky with a white cloud, shining on the ground where some plants are sprouting. The sun is labeled Local Representatives, and there is a watering can labeled Regional Top-Up Seats that is watering the plants. The plants are labeled democracy. Local Representatives plus Regional Top-Up Seats equals Democracy.
August 1, 2024 at 9:23 AM
chrishcdn.bsky.social
Motion 86 for a Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform was sponsored by the @NDP & was similar to M-76 by @CanadianGreens.
They propose trying the Assembly's recommendation for a fairer system without delay.
That is a different approach than past govts!
Title is M-86 Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform Picture of inside the chamber of the House of Commons 101 Votes Yes next to a Green checkmark 220 Votes no next to red circle with a line through it.
July 29, 2024 at 10:34 PM
chrishcdn.bsky.social
Seen on Isabella Street, Toronto
A front yard garden next to the sidewalk consisting of thin green flower stalks growing closely together, with straight fine green branches. The fine branches from the stems packed closely make a cross hatch green pattern. Flowers on the stems are either fuscia, pink, or white.
July 29, 2024 at 2:15 AM
chrishcdn.bsky.social
If Justin Trudeau is looking for new faces and rejuvenation, proportional representation would engage thousands of young people.
Or, he could continue to court Mark Carney, a lone banker.
I think Trudeau will need more allies. How about a citizen's assembly on electoral reform now ?
Youth Representation One manifestation of this is in the ability of younger people to be elected as legislators. Using data from 128 countries, the Inter-Parliamentary Union (2016: 7) found that youth representation in legislatures was 15-20 times higher under proportional systems compared to majoritarian systems. Stockemer and Sundström (2018), looking at 107 countries, concluded that “In absolute terms, PR systems have 5 percentage points more young deputies aged 35 and under and 7 percentage points more deputies aged 40 and under than plurality systems For mixed systems we find similar percentages than for PR.” This message is an excerpt from https://www.fairvote.ca/a-look-at-the-evidence/
July 20, 2024 at 4:09 PM
chrishcdn.bsky.social
The Blackburn Brothers performance was a blast at the Toronto Jazz Festival this year. #SoulFunkBlues
Check em out online!
blackburnbrothersmusic.com/music
The stage is lit with blue and purple, the banner above says TD Village Stage. The six piece Blackburn Brothers band plays onstage. Left to right, Ted Peters on trombone in a pink shirt with a jacket, Neil Brathwaite blowing on his tenor saxophone in a grey suit with a black cap, Duane Blackburn wearing a black pork pie hat and playing the keyboard intently, bass guitarist smiling and playing, Brooke Blackburn playing lead electric guitar wearing a green pork pie hat, and Cory Blackburn on drums.
June 29, 2024 at 8:45 PM
chrishcdn.bsky.social
The awkward Brass Rail building with 1 Bloor West and 1 Bloor East at dusk.
"Changing consumer tastes and rising real estate values have removed sleaze from Yonge more permanently and completely than morality campaigns and policing ever could." -Daniel Ross
(historiandanielross.com/2021/03/31/y...)
Looking north on Yonge Street from just south of the Brass Rail. The front of the Brass Rail on the right, sign says Upper Brass, totally nude female interactive dancing. A faded two-story sign shows a blonde tugging her bikini top. 1 Bloor East rises 78 stories behind it into a blue sky at dusk. Looking up the middle of the photo, the blue sky becomes yellow close to the ground as the sun sets. 1 Bloor West under construction on the left of the photo, currently at about 65 stories. View from the back parking lot and back entrance looking northwest, the sign says Brass Rail in golden letters. Another sign on the bottom right that says "Upper Brass, totally nude female interactive dancing." The 15 Charles Street East parkade rises four stories to the right. From right to left, 1 Bloor East, 1 Bloor West, and two other Yorkville towers rise up. University housing apartment tower at Yonge and Charles visible on the middle left.
June 22, 2024 at 10:51 AM
chrishcdn.bsky.social
Quote from Dennett: "The secret to happiness: Find something more important than you are and dedicate your life to it."

Quote from Auster: "Memory is a space in which a thing happens for a second time."
A display of hardcover books shows Baumgartner by Paul Auster and I've Been Thinking by Daniel C Dennett, with Dennett's picture on the cover. The white cover of Baumgartner shows a water pump and frozen bucket of water in a snow-covered field. A placard with photos and the aforementioned quotes from each author is above. Dennett is looking at the camera sideways while facing the head of a white dummy inches away, the dummy's head marked into black squares, one square says the selfish propensity, another square says perception. Auster, 1947-2024 is in tge middle of a street, possibly in New York, looking at the camera.
May 26, 2024 at 10:04 PM
chrishcdn.bsky.social
Sign inside Goodwin Smith Hall, Cornell University
"Education is not a commodity. It is the awakening of a human being."
- Hunter R Rawlings III
White sign hanging above some steps indoors, with arched windows in the background. The white sign has this quote "Education is not a commodity. It is the awakening of a human being." - Hunter R Rawlings III Professor of Classics, President of Cornell University, 1995-2003 Interim President, 2005-2006 and 2016-2017
May 26, 2024 at 1:52 AM
chrishcdn.bsky.social
Gorge Trail, Watkins Glen, N.Y.
A creek, Glen Creek, that has cut a few stories down into the landscape over millennia. Picture taken from down in the gorge. The wavy rock walls on either side of the creek are streamed with shelf-like formations that are a couple of inches high. Green ferns and other greenery line the first story of rock, bushes on the second story, trees line both sides of the top of the gorge. A light blue sky is visible above with a few clouds. View of whirlpool from Glen Creek looking further down the gorge. The hiking trail cuts into one wall of the gorge, packed with pedestrians hiking up.
May 20, 2024 at 12:07 AM