Jamie MacKinnon🇨🇦
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jamiemackinnon.bsky.social
Jamie MacKinnon🇨🇦
@jamiemackinnon.bsky.social
Let's reduce economic inequality & build a just, environmentally sustainable society.
Joys include ale, good conversation, travel, literature & theatre.
Interests include design, green engineering & international development.

There seems to be a prize for everything these days.

Ricinus communis:

Poisonous Plant of the Year (2018)

#photo
#Ottawa
November 13, 2025 at 2:32 AM
Oh boy. When #Poilievre -- of all people -- calls a colleague a "liar" . . .
November 10, 2025 at 1:41 AM
Just a reminder from 3 years ago.

Doug Ford not only abandoned Ottawa when it was occupied by the convoy thugs, but he also did everything he could to thwart justice and avoid accountability.

#ONpoli
#justice
November 9, 2025 at 1:57 PM
The fall's last colours are precious. Loosestrife is still deemed to be invasive. And yet . . .

#photo
November 8, 2025 at 12:59 AM
It is the Day of the Dead.

You have memories.
November 3, 2025 at 1:19 AM
14 fiefdoms, many bureaucracies.

Canada's healthcare "system " is not patient-centred. And when it comes to approvals for new drugs, it certainly isn't fast.

#cdnpoli
#healthcare
November 1, 2025 at 9:15 PM
In Ontario, electricity is heavily subsidized.

The "rebate," paid with borrowed money, increases today to 23.5 % of the pre-tax electricity bill from 13.1%.

The FAO estimates that the province's various energy rebates will cost well north of $100 billion over 20 years.

/2

#ONpoli
November 1, 2025 at 2:19 PM
Interesting chart from the new Bank of Canada MPR.

Export-oriented Canadian businesses are finding new markets. Not enough to offset the loss of American markets, but promising.

#trade
#tariffs
#economics
October 29, 2025 at 2:05 PM
My hope for the forthcoming federal budget is to:

1. Increase GST/HST by 1% → 8B/yr increased revenue.

2. Give OAS only to households < $100k → about 18B/yr saved

3. Reduce health transfers to provinces that have not met explicit performance targets → ?B/yr

~30 billion a year.

#fisc
#cdnpoli
October 28, 2025 at 3:54 PM
"Reputation Lab surveyed citizens of G7 countries to find out which nations have the best international reputation in 2025.
Iraq, Iran, and Russia ranked at the bottom, while the U.S. saw the biggest decline from 2024, falling 18 spots to 48th."

#investment
#reputation
#cdnpoli
#MAGA
October 28, 2025 at 1:32 AM
EKOS poll.

69% of Conservative Party supporters believe that "opposition parties should vote against the upcoming federal budget" ... despite not knowing what's in it.

And

70% of Canadians disapprove of #Poilievre ... his worst rating yet.

Make of that what you will.

#cdnpoli
#Canada
October 26, 2025 at 10:55 PM
bsky.app/profile/jami...

Ontario ALREADY has a much higher percentage of people on remand in prisons (held without bail) than France or Britain--and even the US.

Jail is expensive, and demanding tougher bail conditions is tantamount to demanding higher taxes.

#ONpoli
#cdnpoli
#dougford
#poilievre
October 24, 2025 at 7:58 PM
3/4
A spokesperson for Minister Parsa, who has declined multiple interview requests said in that it’s up to the coroner’s office to decide if further review is required, and pointed out that the provincial ombudsman can also investigate.

Under Doug Ford those investigations seldom happen.
#ONpoli
October 23, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Globe & Mail.

Alberta ($6.68), Saskatchewan ($5.35) and Ontario ($3.69) have the lowest per capita arts funding in Canada--all with Conservative govts.

Québec funds the arts at a rate six times that of Ontario.

Values.

#arts
#ONpoli
#Quebec
#Alberta
#Saskatchewan
October 22, 2025 at 2:42 PM
The Auditor General of Canada on CRA contact centres highlights delays in responding and--more harmful & costly--providing inaccurate information more than 80% of the time.

Some of this mess is owing to Canada’s complex tax code, "among the most intricate in the OECD."

#cdnpoli
#CRA
#taxation
October 21, 2025 at 3:04 PM
At the bar, early evening.

#photo
#photography
October 19, 2025 at 12:27 AM
One of Ottawa's nicest parks is Lemieux Island. One of Ottawa's best pieces of infrastructure is the recently restored Commanda bridge.

When will the city link them?

@jleiper.bsky.social
@bikeottawa.bsky.social
@toondreessen.bsky.social
#Ottawa
#walkability
October 18, 2025 at 8:15 PM
From P.K. Page's "Autumn":

Its stain is everywhere.
The sharpening air
of late afternoon
is now the colour of tea.
Once-glycerined green leaves
burned by a summer sun
are brittle and ochre.
Night enters day like a thief.
And children fear that the beautiful daylight has gone.

#photo
#poetry
October 18, 2025 at 1:31 AM
The Doug Ford slush fund & Greenbelt scandals continue apace. . .

#ONpoli

TorStar:
October 16, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Green energy as a percentage of primary energy. Canada has made virtually no progress in 45 years.

Europe and UK, making rapid progress. The US, despite Trump, making progress.

Will the federal budget next month get Canada moving in the right direction?

#environment
#energy
#green
#Carney
October 15, 2025 at 2:35 PM
apnews.com/article/hung...

Steve Harper's friend Viktor Orbán continues to cozy up to war criminal Putin.

#poilievre
#Putin
#Hungary
#NATO
October 13, 2025 at 1:55 AM
October. Ottawa Valley.

The plant world loses its colour.

#photo
#photography
October 12, 2025 at 5:01 PM
www.cbc.ca/news/busines...

Infrastructure Ontario awarded Bondfield, a small company, 5 contracts worth a combined $840-million. The results have been "nothing short of disastrous."

The Doug Ford gravy train is costing us billions.

#ONpoli
#corruption
#Bondfield
#DougFord
#hospitals
October 11, 2025 at 11:29 PM
'We should build pipelines in every direction,' says Poilievre.

A less-than-precise recommendation from the fella who's never worked in the private sector.

#cdnpoli
#poilievre
#environment
October 11, 2025 at 1:31 PM
Poser preens, prattles & postures.
October 6, 2025 at 4:43 PM