Denise Balkissoon
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balkissoon.bsky.social
Denise Balkissoon
@balkissoon.bsky.social
Executive editor @thenarwhal.ca. Still hate gum. The lakes, they are Great.

(Illo by Andrea Bell, from The Leak, a kid's graphic novel about a girl that does environmental journalism!)
Reposted by Denise Balkissoon
Doug Ford's government claims the province isn’t privatizing water.

Experts aren't convinced.

pressprogress.ca/ontario-clai...
Ontario’s Government Claims the Province Isn’t Privatizing Water. Experts Are Not Convinced.
“The way that this act is written creates this slippery slope towards privatization”
pressprogress.ca
November 24, 2025 at 3:42 PM
This is an amazing piece of investigative journalism and probably the most upsetting grift story I've ever read.

I understand why shitty reproductive care makes people vulnerable. I am so grateful Ontario integrated real midwives into the healthcare system. www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int...
Influencers made millions pushing ‘wild’ births – now the Free Birth Society is linked to baby deaths around the world
A year-long investigation reveals how mothers lost children after being radicalised by uplifting podcast tales of births without midwives or doctors
www.theguardian.com
November 24, 2025 at 12:00 AM
Reposted by Denise Balkissoon
This is a stunning story. I've been tracking the "greenhushing" narrative for a while now: this is the idea that strict regulations on fake climate claims spooks companies into total silence; therefore we shouldn't regulate them.

@meyer.bsky.social asked for examples and the Carney gov't failed:
November 23, 2025 at 9:03 PM
At the Canadian Association of Journalists conference in March, a child exploitation researcher said Roblox and Fortnite are the worst for gaf about safety (Nintendo is best in his opinion). If it's free, your kid is the product. This interview didn't surprise me. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/21/p...
We Asked Roblox’s C.E.O. About Child Safety. It Got Tense.
www.nytimes.com
November 22, 2025 at 9:50 PM
Reposted by Denise Balkissoon
Major projects, major problems: anger at Carney’s unclear plans is the real shared national interest, @drewanderson.bsky.social writes:

thenarwhal.ca/alberta-pipe...
The real major project is politics, not pipelines | The Narwhal
Carney’s major projects push has angered many in Alberta over perceived lack of support for a pipeline project that doesn’t exist
thenarwhal.ca
November 21, 2025 at 7:00 PM
When asked by @meyer.bsky.social the federal government couldn’t name specific examples of Canadian companies failing to advertise genuine enviromnmental efforts because of last year’s legal changes over misleading claims. But it's still walking back greenwashing laws thenarwhal.ca/greenwashing...
Canada says anti-greenwashing rules silence industry | The Narwhal
Carney is moving to nix some of Canada’s rules that restrict how oil and gas companies and other industries advertise environmental claims
thenarwhal.ca
November 21, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Reposted by Denise Balkissoon
Join us for a free Zoom event on Dec. 2 to unpack the process, politics and potential impacts of Canada’s push to build major projects. Get the details on that, plus more fresh reporting from The Narwhal, in our latest newsletter: thenarwhal.ca/newsletter-r...
RSVP: Unpacking Carney’s major projects push | The Narwhal
Join The Narwhal for a free Zoom event on Dec. 2 to unpack the process, politics and potential impacts of Canada’s push to build major projects
thenarwhal.ca
November 21, 2025 at 1:10 AM
Reposted by Denise Balkissoon
when the fuck is this gonna end
November 20, 2025 at 5:12 AM
Reposted by Denise Balkissoon
While Alberta considers how to allow oilsands companies to release treated wastewater into the Athabasca River, the federal government has yet to table its own law around clean drinking water for First Nations. thenarwhal.ca/alberta-oils...
‘Unacceptable’: Alberta wants to treat and release oilsands waste | The Narwhal
Alberta is working on plans to treat and release oilsands wastewater into the Athabasca River. First Nations downstream don’t want that to happen
thenarwhal.ca
November 17, 2025 at 1:27 PM
Reposted by Denise Balkissoon
holy shit: “Among the 2,000 UK adults surveyed, 85% were unaware that Britain forcibly transported more than 3 million Africans to the Caribbean, 89% did not know that Britain enslaved people in the Caribbean for more than 300 years” www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
Caribbean reparations leaders in ‘historic’ first UK visit to press for justice
CRC mission will seek to deepen public understanding of Britain’s colonial legacy and its lasting impact
www.theguardian.com
November 16, 2025 at 7:54 PM
This is horrifying. There's a defense of abusive Catholic priests in here, don't read if that might ruin your day
Holy shit. They're really doing it. They're doing "actually pedophilia is good now." The debasement of the American Right is complete.
MEGYN KELLY IS RIGHT ABOUT EPSTEIN - Catholic League
Bill Donohue
www.catholicleague.org
November 15, 2025 at 9:18 PM
Reposted by Denise Balkissoon
Short video. @drewanderson.bsky.social nailing it.

Many Alberta oil & gas companies aren’t paying landowners or municipal taxes. The Regulator is opaque.

MAGA Energy Ltd. Is one of hundreds of bad actors allowed to run wild at everyone else’s expense.

youtube.com/shorts/GfSGO...
Albertans are Getting Screwed!
YouTube video by Real Talk Ryan Jespersen
youtube.com
November 15, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Reposted by Denise Balkissoon
The Doug Ford government is setting its sites on conservation authorities for the fifth time, merging the watershed protection agencies. Staff tell @fatimabsyed.bsky.social it may ‘slow approvals, create confusion’ — not to mention it's leaving them with ‘whiplash.’ thenarwhal.ca/ontario-cons...
Inside Ontario’s plan to merge 36 conservation authorities to 7 | The Narwhal
Doug Ford’s government is seeking public feedback on its plan to overhaul Ontario’s conservation authorities, reducing local agencies from 36 to 7
thenarwhal.ca
November 15, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Among other things, I think $37M of taxpayer money for student mental health would be better spent on ongoing care from human therapists vs an "AI-driven platform that facilitates behavioral health training and education while delivering measurement-based care" www.thetrillium.ca/news/politic...
Ford government sends audit of company involved in Skills Development Fund controversy to OPP
The province says it sent police details of a ‘forensic audit’ of a company it’s paid $37M, and whose lobbyist’s Parisian wedding was recently attended by the labour minister
www.thetrillium.ca
November 15, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Reposted by Denise Balkissoon
I mean, they can't and it doesn't. don't print lies in the newspaper.
November 14, 2025 at 8:59 PM
Reposted by Denise Balkissoon
Why are we hearing about building more pipelines? Do they make sense for Canada's economy? And what about our emissions goals?

We mapped 800,000 kilometres of pipelines in Canada and tried to get to the bottom of these questions in our latest explainer video. #cdnpoli

thenarwhal.ca/video-pipeli...
Pipelines in Canada, explained | The Narwhal
Why are we hearing about building more pipelines? Do they make sense for Canada's economy? And what about our emissions goals? We mapped 800,000 kilometres of pipelines in Canada and tried to get to t...
thenarwhal.ca
November 13, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Fiction recos please!
November 13, 2025 at 1:27 AM
I recently met a researcher studying Indian farmers displaced for Big Solar. This ⬇️ is about Chinese solar on Uighur homelands. And of course Canada's energy transition has huge implications for Indigenous rights. Possibly it's "worth it" - but who decides? atmos.earth/political-la...
November 12, 2025 at 1:06 AM
Reposted by Denise Balkissoon
At some point embarrassment MUST come
November 11, 2025 at 7:22 PM
Someone should do a nl "Crimes Meta is allegedly complicit in." Been less a week since this Star story on Facebook ads supporting a real illegal drug trade, being promoted to people trying to recover www.thestar.com/news/investi...
November 11, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Reposted by Denise Balkissoon
Interesting sponsored content from Meta in Canada
omg.

Meta clearly trying to polarize the issue of digital sovereignty by running this in the Hub.
November 9, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Just used my $45 Ticketmaster class action credit to bring the cost of four 300-level Raptors tickets to under $500

I think I still lost
November 8, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Reposted by Denise Balkissoon
Hurricane Melissa's destruction has the Jamaican diaspora mobilizing to send money and aid. The effects of climate change are hitting developing countries hardest, putting pressure on immigrants in Canada to increase the billions they already send home every year. thenarwhal.ca/hurricane-me...
Disasters like Hurricane Melissa put pressure on immigrants | The Narwhal
Immigrants in Canada send billions home every year. Climate disasters like Hurricane Melissa, which devastated Jamaica, add to the pressure
thenarwhal.ca
November 6, 2025 at 1:29 PM
Reposted by Denise Balkissoon
Omg I’m dying 😂😂😂…so…So Emily Austin, a right wing 'influencer' who works for Bibi and the GOP, launched 'Hot Girls for Cuomo'.

Guess who didn't bother to register the URL when she did that? What do you think Hot Girls for Cuomo dot com leads to now?... 😄 Enjoy.

[ HotGirlsforCuomo.com ]
November 5, 2025 at 1:48 AM
Reposted by Denise Balkissoon
Reporter @writermjs.bsky.social would love to talk to anyone else who has received an offer like this from LNG Canada or another fossil fuel company, or has any interesting tips at all! You can talk to him anonymously on Signal at writermjs.08 , or email us at [email protected] .
LNG Canada offered thousands of dollars to a Kitimat, B.C., resident to temporarily “relocate” due to flaring and noise from the company's gas liquefaction and export facility. The resident would also have to agree not to bring future legal claims about property damage.
thenarwhal.ca/lng-canada-k...
LNG Canada offered Kitimat residents money — if they stay quiet | The Narwhal
Neighbours of LNG Canada’s Kitimat plant were offered thousands to compensate for noise and smoke, if they promise not to complain
thenarwhal.ca
November 4, 2025 at 9:54 PM