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  • Guelph will be holding an open house to see what development will replace the Dolime Quarry. Global News reports.

  • The town of Innisfil has extended its Uber subsidy program for people in need of transit. Global News reports
  • Archeologists in Montréal have found a mass grave of Irish famine victims. CTV reports.

  • The Québec town of Asbestos is changing its name so as to avoid the link, in English, with the toxic mineral. CTV reports.

  • A subway, alas, would be too big for Québec City. Streetcars would work better. Le Devoir reports.

  • Can a hyperloop be built to plug Edmonton together with Calgary? Global News considers.

  • Richmond, British Columbia, has unveiled a cultural harmony strategy to help its diverse population get along. The National Post reports.

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  • The mayor of Ottawa is suggesting freezing Confederation Line fare increases in light of the system's problems. Global News reports.

  • La Presse looks at the problems faced by the Marché Jean-Talon, here.

  • Greater Moncton, arguably the leading metropolis of New Brunswick, wants to double its intake of immigrants. Global News reports.

  • Jamie Bradburn looks at Lafayette Park in Detroit, designed by Mies van der Rohe.

  • Will Vancouver be connected to Washington State by a high-speed train route? Global News reports.

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  • CBC looks at the internal splits within British Columbia, between the Liberal-leaning coast and the Alberta-leaning interior, here.

  • The legal departure of oil company EnCana from its Alberta headquarters is the cause of great upset. CBC reports.

  • Will Andrew Scheer survive as leader of the Conservative Party, with challengers like Peter MacKay? The National Observer reports.

  • People in Lloydminister, on the Alberta-Saskatchewan border, reflect the frustrations of the populations of the two provinces. CBC reports.

  • Philippe Fournier at MacLean's writes about the sharp rural-urban political split in Canada.

  • Green Party Fredericton MP Jenica Atwin is interviewed by the National Observer about her goals, here.

  • The Treaty 8 chiefs have united in opposition to the separation of Alberta and Saskatchewan. Global News reports.

  • CBC reported on the multiple MP candidates who, genealogist Darryl Leroux found, falsely claimed indigenous ancestry.

  • Jessica Deer reported for CBC about the near-universal boycott by the Haudenosaunee of #elxn43, and the reasons for this boycott.

  • Scott Gilmore recently a href="https://www.macleans.ca/opinion/the-u-s-is-sinking-maybe-its-time-for-canada-to-jump-ship/">suggested at MacLean's that, noting American instability, Canada might do well to secure itself and promote its multilateralism by seeking to join the EU.

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  • Jamie Bradburn took a look at now-effaced Toronto cemetery Potter's Field, here.

  • Kingston, Ontario's Skeleton Park is a remarkable legacy. Global News reports.

  • CBC Saskatoon reports on the origins of Halloween in harvest events.

  • The Hong Kong protests took on a new tinge this Halloween. CBC reports.

  • The Vancouver tradition of Halloween fireworks may be dying out. The National Post reports.

  • Guardian Cities looks around the world, from Derry to West Hollywood, at local celebrations of Halloween.

  • Gizmodo shares an image of a ghostly collision of galaxies in deep space.

  • Dangerous Minds shared some album covers inspired by Halloween.

  • CBC looks at the very low rate of candy tampering in Canada over the past decade.

  • JSTOR Daily considers how the Great Pumpkin of Peanuts came to be so great.

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  • io9 notes that Taylor Swift is co-writing a song for the new Cats movie.

  • Japan Times looks at a newly translated work by Taiyu Matusomoto, Cats of the Louvre.

  • CTV News reports that Vancouver cat cafe Catfe offers life drawing classes featuring its cats as models.

  • D-Brief shares a list of diseases that cats can pass on to humans, and of prevention measures.

  • Global News looks at the feral cats of Little Bay Islands, a Newfoundland outport community about to be abandoned. What will happen to them?

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  • MacLean's looks at how Justin Trudeau and the Liberals survived #elxn43, here.

  • Ajay Parasram at The Conversation looks at the new complications faced by Justin Trudeau.

  • Daily Xtra looks at the record of the Liberals on LGBTQ2 issues, here.

  • Daily Xtra looks at the four out LGBTQ2 MPs elected to Parliament, here.

  • Philippe Fournier at MacLean's argues that 338Canada stands vindicated in its predictions, with some 90% of the people it predicted would be elected being elected.

  • What will become of Conservative leader Andrew Scheer? The National Post considers.

  • Strategic voting and Doug Ford, Mark Gollom notes, kept the Conservatives from making a breakthrough in Ontario.

  • Robyn Urback at CBC notes that the narrow conservatism of Scheer kept the Conservatives from victory in a wary Canada.

  • Stephen Maher at MacLean's questions if the Bloc Québécois victory has much to do with separatism, per se.

  • Voters in Québec seem to be fine with election results, with a strong Bloc presence to keep the Liberals on notice. CBC has it.

  • Talk of separatism has taken off in Alberta following the #elxn43 results. Global News has it.

  • The premier of Saskatchewan has also talked of his province's alienation after #elxn43, here in the National Post.

  • CBC's As It Happens carries an interview with former Conservative MP Jay Hill, now an advocate for western Canadian separatism.

  • Atlantic Canada may provide new members for the cabinet of Justin Trudeau. The Toronto Star reports.

  • Jaime Battiste, Liberal, has been elected as the first Mi'kmaq MP from Nova Scotia. Global News has it.

  • The Green Party did not make its hoped-for breakthrough on Vancouver Island, but it will struggle on. Global News has it.

  • Did, as Politico suggested, Canada sleepwalk into the future with #elxn43?

  • We should be glad, Scott Gilmore argues in MacLean's, that given the global challenges to democracy #elxn43 in Canada was relatively boring.

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  • Bad Astronomer Phil Plait notes a study suggesting the Milky Way Galaxy took many of its current satellite galaxies from another, smaller one.

  • The Broadside Blog's Caitlin Kelly talks of the importance of having dreams.

  • Centauri Dreams shares a study explaining how the debris polluting the atmospheres of white dwarfs reveals much about exoplanet chemistry.

  • D-Brief notes that the intense radiation of Jupiter would not destroy potential traces of subsurface life on the surface of Europa.

  • Dangerous Minds looks at the strange musical career of Vader Abraham, fan of the Smurfs and of the Weepuls.

  • Aneesa Bodiat at JSTOR Daily writes about how the early Muslim woman of Haajar inspires her as a Muslim.

  • Erik Loomis at Lawyers, Guns and Money notes how an influx of American guns destabilizes Mexico.

  • The LRB Blog looks at the American abandonment of the Kurds of Syria.

  • Marginal Revolution notes how many mass protests are driven by consumer complaints.

  • The NYR Daily has an interview with EU chief Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt, on the future of sovereignty.

  • Strange Company looks at the Dead Pig War between the US and the UK on San Juan Island in 1859.

  • Towleroad features the defense of Frank Ocean of his PrEP+ club night and the release of his new music.

  • Understanding Society looks at the sociology of norms.

  • Window on Eurasia suggests Russia and Ukraine each have an interest in the Donbass being a frozen conflict.

  • Arnold Zwicky looks at the weird masculinity of the pink jock.

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  • The affordability of rent was an election issue in British Columbia. CBC reports.

  • Philippe Fournier notes at Maclean's that the sheer solidity of the Conservative vote in Alberta means that province will not get that much attention.

  • The Bloc Québécois has good reason to be exacerbating the clash between Québec and Alberta in the federal campaign. The National Post reports.

  • CBC reports on the growing unpopularity of the Liberals in Québec outside of Montréal, here.

  • That the Liberals had a campaign song that was initially translated very badly into French is a big gaffe. CTV News reports.

  • Philippe Fournier at Maclean's noted the legendary volatility of Québec politics, here.

  • Will the Orange Line extension in Montréal be guaranteed funding, no matter who gets elected? CBC reports.

  • The fate of NDP Berthier-Maskonge MP Ruth Ellen Brosseau, elected in the 2011 Orange Wave, may determine the fate of the NDP in Québec. CTV News reports.

  • Atlantic Canada is likely to see substantial losses for the Liberals, as reported here.

  • Stu Neatby reports that advance poll turnout on PEI rose by 13% compared to 2015.

  • Will the PEI riding of Egmont go Conservative? CBC considers.

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  • The Ottawa Citizen reports on the first week of the Confederation Line LRT.

  • The New Brunswick city of Moncton now has new affordable housing--20 units--for vulnerable people. Global News reports.

  • CityLab looks at one photographer's perspective of the New York City skyline, changed by the 9/11 attacks.

  • An alleyway in Calgary is being transformed by art. Global News reports.

  • Birth tourism might become an election issue in the British Columbia city of Richmond. Global News reports.

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  • After Chilliwack, British Columbia, decided not to put in place a rainbow crosswalk, two residents painted their driveway in that colour scheme. The Mission City-Record reports.

  • Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, has received a substantial investment to boost LGBTQ tourism. Global News reports.

  • Erica Lenti at Daily Xtra wondered if Andrew Scheer could make a meaningful apology for his opposition to marriage equality.

  • Lauren Strapagiel at Daily Xtra is critical of efforts to find the biological basis for non-heterosexualities.

  • Marke B. at them writes about the queer potential and challenges of Eurovision.

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  • Rising real estate prices in Toronto are driving similar increases in communities far from the GTA like Belleville. The Toronto Star reports.

  • VICE reports on how good food can lead the rehabilitation of Flint, Michigan.

  • Kingston will take three years to build its latest bridge. Global News reports.

  • Beaches like NYC's Rockaway Beach are facing pressures from climate change and from gentrification, CityLab reports.

  • Many of the homeless camped in Vancouver's Oppenheimer Park are being rehoused, as part of a slow-moving campaign. Global News reports.

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  • The BBC takes a look at Pontic Greek, a Greek dialect that survives precariously in exile from its homeland in Anatolia.

  • Klaus Meyer writes at The Conversation about how Hitler, in his rise to power, became a German citizen.

  • Low-income families in the Toronto area face serious challenges in getting affordable Internet access. CBC reports.

  • Jeremy Keefe at Global News takes a look at Steve Skafte, an explorer of abandoned roads in Nova Scotia.

  • In some communities in British Columbia, middle-class people have joined criminal gangs for social reasons. CBC reports.

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  • Peterborough is facing a serious shortage of housing. Global News reports.

  • In Kingston, the restoration of the Bellevue House that was home to John A MacDonald continues. Global News reports.

  • The federal government will provide funding for the new streetcar route in Québec City. CTV News reports.

  • Will the Detroit television documentary series filmed by Anthony Bourdain see a release? One hopes.

  • Richmond, a Vancouver suburb home for decades to a substantial diaspora from Hong Kong, is deeply affected by the ongoing protests there. The Toronto Star reports.

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  • Leo Mantha, the last man executed in British Columbia in 1959, was executing for killing his estranged lover. Was homophobia the cause of what was, even then, a unique lack of mercy? Global News considers.

  • Brian D. Johnson at MacLean's, reviewing Killing Patient Zero, notes how the openness of Gaëtan Dugas about his sexual past was one feature that led him to be unfairly branded Patient Zero, cause of the HIV/AIDS crisis.

  • This invaluable Justin Ling AMA at reddit's unresolvedmysteries about the Church-Wellesley serial killings, besides exposing the accidents that led police not following up on reports, highlights a historic worldwide pattern of rage-filled killing sprees against queer people.

  • Shaun Brodie at NOW Toronto pays tribute to the late, great writer Wayson Choy.

  • CTV News reports that the Québec National Assembly has extended official recognition of the historic importance of the Village gay of Montréal.

  • Phys.org links to a study suggesting that countries which extend civil rights to LGBTQ people experience higher economic growth as a result.

  • Peter Mendelsohn at Daily Xtra looks at homophobia in Canadian hockey, a factor that deters many queer people from playing the sport. Can it be easily dealt with?

  • Erica Lenti at Daily Xtra has a fantastic article looking at how gay-straight alliances at schools help young people learn how to be queer in a safe environment, providing them with the socialization they do not get elsewhere.

  • This lovely essay by wedding photographer Dana Koster at them explores, in general and in a specific example, the miracle and joys of legal same-sex marriage.

  • Elio Iannacci at Daily Xtra writes, in the wake of the Met gala, about the specifically queer nature of camp.

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  • CBC Hamilton reports on the options of the City of Hamilton faced with its having hired a prominent former white supremacist.

  • CBC Ottawa reports that flood levels on the Ottawa River have reached record highs.

  • The Montreal Gazette considers possible solutions to crowding on the Montréal subway, including new cars and special buses.

  • Kingston is preparing for flooding, the city seeing a threat only in certain waterfront districts. Global News reports.

  • Vancouver is applying a zoning freeze in a future mass transit corridor. Global News reports.

  • CityLab looks at how the post-war dream of mass transit and densification for the Ohio city of Toledo never came about, and how it might now.

  • Guardian Cities looks at construction proposals for New York City that never were.

  • CityLab looks at how the California ghost town of Bodie is kept in good shape for tourists.

  • Vox notes that just over one in ten thousand people in San Francisco is a billionaire.

  • Leonid Bershidsky at Bloomberg considers why productivity in Berlin lags behind that in other European capital cities. Could it be that the young workers of Berlin are not devoted to earning income?

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After VIA Rail's service from Toronto to Niagara Falls, Ontario dropped us off in that border city's train station yesterday morning, I went inside the station to (among other things) take a look. I was interested to see the below map, depicting the GO Transit service network in southern Ontario. Niagara Falls is literally on the uttermost edge of the network, the southeasternmost extension of the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area's regional commuting network.

GO System Map #ontario #niagarafalls #niagara #gta #southernontario #gotransit #map


I'll be sorting through the very enjoyable day trip to Niagara Falls for some time; sharing some of my photos is going to take up a fair amount of space, for instance. One thing that did impress me, as a Torontonian visiting from the city, was the extent to which Niagara Falls was physically removed from the heart of the Golden Horseshoe, could be substantially inaccessible even. The VIA Rail trip out in the morning was perfectly good, a comfortable ride two hours' long that was only five minutes late, but it was not matched by a corresponding train trip back--we had to book a return trip on GO Transit, an express bus to Burlington and then a commuter rail ride east to Toronto. Had it not been for the combination of VIA and GO Transit service, we wouldn't have been able to get there save by bus.

I live in the heart of a region that, by Canadian standards, is absurdly well-served by transit options. GO Transit does stretch far and wide, extending to Hamilton and Kitchener and Barrie and Oshawa, and bus routes do extend beyond these cities to smaller centres like Niagara Falls and Peterborough, but beyond that? Talk of developing a high-speed rail connection between Toronto and the southwest Ontario city of London have been dismissed by the new provincial government, with talk of perhaps increasing VIA Rail service, but I am unaware of this talk being solidified. There was a brief flurry of excitement this year when the mayor of Niagara Falls, New York, talked of extending commuter rail from Toronto to his city, and that does appeal to me; better yet, I think, also extend GO Transit just a bit further too, to connect to a Buffalo that while more distant from Toronto than Hamilton is also larger than Hamilton. The border, alas, is going to intervene. The Golden Horsehose will remain connected, but cities and destinations just tantalizingly out of reach will remain tantalizingly out of reach to people who do not own vehicles, to the deficit of these cities and to the Golden Horseshoe, too.

Beyond this, what do things look like for mass transit? There are, as best as I can tell, no transit links to such an eminently day-trippable community as Port Hope, just one hour's trip east of Toronto. The Québec City-Windsor Corridor as a whole remains connected by bus and rail routes, but only barely; I cannot help but think that the lack of affordable transit connections in the arguable core of Canada is a good thing. And beyond Central Canada, mass transit options are scarce. Prince Edward Island can barely sustain decent bus routes within and between its major cities, with even the North Shore remaining consigned to private shuttles, for instance, while Atlantic Canada as a whole is lacking. At least things are better than in Western Canada, where a Greyhound hit hard by long distances and high costs has shut down most of its routes, leaving small communities especially disconnected from the wider country and with successors apparently unclear as to how they can fill the gap.

I am lucky in that I only find Niagara Falls a bit complicated to reach, and London offputting. Others outside the Golden Horseshoe, and the well-serviced conurbations of the Québec City-Windosr corridor, face worse fates, trapped in their communities without access to the wider world and facing terrible risks as they try to get out. The so-called "Highway of Tears" in northern British Columbia, known as being a haunt for murderers of women, could only take on this role in the first place because of the need of women to hitchhike for want of any other way to leave.

I can easily make the argument that much more funding is required for mass transit in Canada, to make it much easier for Canadians to move from one community to another. A Canada arbitrarily parceled out into communities of various sizes, each disconnected from each other with the costs of individual travel making regular travel inaccessible to most people, is a Canada that is poorer in so many ways. Why public policy in Canada has not sought to remedy this, if not through direct investment in new transit infrastructure then at least through subsidies to private companies like Greyhound, is beyond me. I would have thought the gains obvious. Far-sighted politicians should seize on this, I'd think, as an issue they can at least try to deal with.
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  • This MacLean's feature examines how, twenty years after the formation of Nunavut, some Inuit are considering new ways to make governance work in their interests.

  • This National Observer article looks at how one Haisla band government sees hope in the construction of a pipeline, one that would provide the community with needed revenue.

  • This Toronto Life feature by Michael Lista looks at the struggle by Six Nations-based businessman Ken Hill to avoid paying child support, using Indigenous sovereignty as a barrier.

  • This National Observer article looks at the successful campaign, led by student Tomas Jirousek, to get McGill University to drop the name McGill Redmen for their sports team.

  • CBC Montreal looks at the efforts to improve Indigenous representation on school curricula in the Gaspésie community of New Richmond.

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  • Le Devoir wonders if excessive tourism will make Vieux-Québec unlivable for locals.

  • Sam Sklar at CityLab, native of the New Jersey community of Fort Lee, wonders when it will burst out from the shadow of New York City.

  • The question of how Vancouver in the era of legalization will celebrate 4/20 remains actively contested. The National Post reports.

  • CityLab reports on how the 2024 Paris Olympics may help regenerate Saint-Denis.

  • The story about how resettled refugees helped revive the Italian town of Sutera, on the island of Sicily, needs to be better-known. VICE reports.

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  • Two British tourists were kicked out of their Niagara Falls hotel for supporting striking workers at an attached restaurant. CBC reports.

  • Members of different Christian minorities from the Middle East living in London, Ontario, have united to create a new community church. CBC reports.

  • Le Devoir looks at how Québec City is torn by a debate: Should it build a streetcar or a subway?

  • The British Columbia city of surrey is currently rounding up its rogue peacocks. Global News reports.

  • Guardian Cities reports on how the Japanese city of Onagawa, hit by the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, is trying to rebuild without sprawl.

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  • Urban coyotes have been proven to prey in roaming domestic pets, including cats. The Guardian reports.

  • The idea of a big cat sanctuary in the Ontario community of Grand Bend does appeal to me, but then it would. CBC reports.

  • The Vancity Theatre in Vancouver will be hosting the 2019 Cat Video Fest. The Vancouver Sun reports.

  • Lifehacker offers advice for cat-lovers with cat allergies.

  • The cat of Julian Assange deserved better treatment; hopefully its new home will be much better. The Independent reports.

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