streetfestival

But in comparison to a physical location, outreach teams are limited in the resources they can offer, says Mia Hershkowitz, a harm reduction worker. For instance: Hershkowitz describes how outreach teams can only carry small amounts of oxygen due to its weight. But as terrifying amounts of veterinary tranquilizer poison the unregulated supply of drugs, Naloxone, the medication commonly used to reverse opioid poisoning, is simply not strong enough. People who are overdosing often need oxygen to help bring their heart rate back up – but outreach teams rarely have access to it.

According to Toronto’s Drug Checking Service, more than half of all fentanyl checked in the first two weeks of April contains some form of toxic tranquilizer.

That situation would become more severe under the Safer Municipalities Act, a new bill proposed by the Ford government. If passed, it would let police ticket and arrest people using illegal drugs in public, slapping them with harsher punishments including a fine of up to $10,000 and being jailed for up to six months.

This isn’t just a problem for environmentalists or scientists — it’s a direct threat to democratic decision-making. Disinformation erodes our ability to have honest, fact-based debates about the future of the country. It undermines trust not only in science and journalism but in government itself. When voters are manipulated by falsehoods, democracy doesn’t function as it should.

During the election, we saw the consequences play out in real time. From misleading ads claiming that climate policies will "bankrupt the middle class," to talking points that dismiss renewable energy as unreliable, Canadians are being bombarded with claims designed to erode support for meaningful climate action. These messages often use emotional appeals and cherry-picked data, wrapped in populist rhetoric, to create the illusion that fighting climate change is at odds with economic prosperity or national sovereignty.

The political establishment has consistently failed to name the problem, let alone combat it. This election was no exception. Neither Conservative nor Liberal platforms deigned to use the word “inequality”.

Global inequality has reached a level unseen since World War I, and the parallels are frightening. International free trade was at historic highs in the decades leading up to that war when the top 1 per cent in the major world economies had accumulated so much wealth that ordinary people within those countries could no longer afford to buy the goods they were producing. This created a demand crisis and unleashed a wave of nationalistic tariffs to protect what remained of domestic markets. What started as a trade war between nationalistic elites to preserve profit, spiraled into a world war which claimed the lives of millions.

There’s a broader strategy at work here, too. By letting his opponents expose the smallness of their politics, Carney’s will start to look bigger by comparison. This might not satisfy the Liberal partisans in his midst, although after he saved their party from political oblivion they almost certainly won’t push back very hard. But it will look good to the sort of middle of road Canadians he’ll need to win the next election, whenever it comes — the ones who largely abandoned the party near the end of Trudeau’s leadership.

MONTREAL — Canada Post employees could be headed to the picket line in just over two weeks, with an extension on existing deals between the Crown corporation and the union expiring on May 22.

A strike or lockout would mark the second time in under six months that the postal service ground to a halt after 55,000 employees walked off the job for 32 days in November and December.

The problem facing the Conservatives is as obvious as it is intractable — unless real change is made. The form of neoconservativism ushered in by Stephen Harper has morphed into angry authoritarianism under Pierre Poilievre. It will not sell in Canada and the electoral record proves it.

Without the influence of Trump, we would likely now be instead contending with a Conservative majority government helmed by the party’s most right-wing leader ever.

In fact, the Conservatives made significant gains, despite failing to achieve the electoral outcome they desired. Across the country, the rightward drift is readily apparent, with Conservatives growing their seat count from 119 to 143 and their popular vote share from 33.7 to 41.3 per cent from 2021 to 2025. Moreover, the right secured growth as voter turnout rose by more than 6 percentage points.

I asked experts how to counter political rage farming and deception. Here’s a citizen’s tool kit.

Summoning ‘resilience,’ Vancouver’s Filipino community grapples with unimaginable grief.

People attend mass at St. Mary the Virgin South Hill Church on Sunday, April 27, 2025, the day after a man hit and killed at least 11 people at a Filipino community festival in Vancouver

In every riding we reported on—from Taiaiako’n–Parkdale–High Park to Toronto–St. Paul’s to Bowmanville–Oshawa North to across Peel—the pattern has been the same. Most Liberal and NDP candidates have been willing to sit and answer questions. Every Conservative candidate has ignored or declined our requests for interviews.

To be clear, this issue isn’t specific to The Local. Toronto–St. Paul’s candidate Don Stewart didn’t just ignore us, he turned down The Toronto Star and National Post. Across ridings, and across media outlets—from the CBC to Global News to sympathetic conservative newspapers like the National Post—candidates from the Conservative Party are simply refusing to talk with the press.

As I’ve grown older, I now know that politics is different for everyone. For some, it’s about taxes. For others, it’s about supporting a political party like some support their favourite sports team: forever loyal no matter what.

There’s a quote attributed to the Greek politician, Pericles: “Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you.”

At the very least, even when people trip up and get things wrong, we’re trying. Bots, social media giants, and bad-faith actors are not trying to have those conversations. They’re not trying to understand different viewpoints. They are trying to incite, divide, and confuse voters. If we can’t talk politics person-to-person, neighbour-to-neighbour, and especially among family, how can we learn from one another or understand each other? How can we feel empathy when we see the other person as the problem?

As election day draws closer, some indications show that Canadians are paying more attention than they have in years. Maybe we’re talking politics more with each other instead of letting the bots and bad actors take control. That would be a start.

Oil and gas lobbyists make up at least six members of Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s inner circle in the home stretch of the campaign, raising new questions about his commitment to grant the fossil fuel industry’s wishlist should he be elected.