David Brake
@drbrakeyyt.bsky.social
Journalist, policy wonk, urbanist, PhD, dad, CFA.
@EssentialTransitNL.bsky.social and @TransportactionATL.bsky.social
Vice Chair of @HappyCitySJ.bsky.social, founder of EVs in Real Life
Follow @drbrake for my "old life" (media academic, UK/World affairs)
@EssentialTransitNL.bsky.social and @TransportactionATL.bsky.social
Vice Chair of @HappyCitySJ.bsky.social, founder of EVs in Real Life
Follow @drbrake for my "old life" (media academic, UK/World affairs)
Reposted by David Brake
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow …
December 13, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow …
Reposted by David Brake
Essentially, our premier welcomes cameras on our streets to catch "suspects in car thefts" but not to fine the owners of those vehicles who drive over the speed limit. www.ctvnews.ca/toronto/poli...
Premier Ford wants to introduce surveillance cameras in Ontario communities to catch suspects in home invasions, car thefts
Premier Doug Ford says he is looking to expand the use of surveillance cameras in municipalities across the province to help catch suspects in car thefts and home invasions but he is providing few det...
www.ctvnews.ca
December 13, 2025 at 11:19 PM
Essentially, our premier welcomes cameras on our streets to catch "suspects in car thefts" but not to fine the owners of those vehicles who drive over the speed limit. www.ctvnews.ca/toronto/poli...
Reposted by David Brake
The problem with political pledges is they very often leave the bulk of the projected work to the end of the time period (ie after the current term in office) so can't be counted on. Eg look at Canada's consumer carbon tax, EV sales mandate... Tech advance will continue but policy may not follow.
The projections of warming by 2100 that encourage people to say reassuring shit like this are *estimates of emissions* that take current pledges and policies into account. They ALL posit that emissions will bed sharply down, and soon.
2/n
2/n
December 12, 2025 at 3:17 PM
The problem with political pledges is they very often leave the bulk of the projected work to the end of the time period (ie after the current term in office) so can't be counted on. Eg look at Canada's consumer carbon tax, EV sales mandate... Tech advance will continue but policy may not follow.
OK, I’m an urbanist nerd but living in this mobility near-utopia over the summer. It was one of the top three reasons I plan to move there!
The UK government just released this excellent tool showing how easy it is to get to amenities. Loving to see Brighton’s beautiful red colour half hidden under the hundreds of bus stops (not sure why the scale doesn’t make the most accessible places green?) www.gov.uk/guidance/con...
December 11, 2025 at 2:18 PM
OK, I’m an urbanist nerd but living in this mobility near-utopia over the summer. It was one of the top three reasons I plan to move there!
Reposted by David Brake
Canada's climate policy is backsliding—carbon price gone, emissions cap at risk, 2030 targets in jeopardy. This is why independent climate journalism matters. Help fund this work: $250K goal by Dec 25. www.nationalobserver.com/2025/12/09/o...
When Ottawa won't talk climate, we dig deeper
Getting our hands on the right documents takes time, teamwork and resources — and your support makes this work possible.
www.nationalobserver.com
December 10, 2025 at 1:30 AM
Canada's climate policy is backsliding—carbon price gone, emissions cap at risk, 2030 targets in jeopardy. This is why independent climate journalism matters. Help fund this work: $250K goal by Dec 25. www.nationalobserver.com/2025/12/09/o...
Dunno how this hasn't been picked up by the media yet but #BillC15 would remove the provision allowing libraries to send books to and fro by Canada Post at a cheaper rate. In Newfoundland about a quarter of the physical items signed out of libraries use this service! librarianship.ca/news/bill-c1...
Bill C-15 threatens Library Book Rate and free mailing of materials for people who are blind - news
librarianship.ca
December 10, 2025 at 1:40 AM
Dunno how this hasn't been picked up by the media yet but #BillC15 would remove the provision allowing libraries to send books to and fro by Canada Post at a cheaper rate. In Newfoundland about a quarter of the physical items signed out of libraries use this service! librarianship.ca/news/bill-c1...
Reposted by David Brake
I've a lot of respect for @humantransit.bsky.social but living in a city with profound "bus stigma" I think this is wrong. Sadly, people who don't see transit as something they or their friends use won't support adequate funding. They need visible, significant improvement to start mainstreaming it.
December 6, 2025 at 4:56 PM
I've a lot of respect for @humantransit.bsky.social but living in a city with profound "bus stigma" I think this is wrong. Sadly, people who don't see transit as something they or their friends use won't support adequate funding. They need visible, significant improvement to start mainstreaming it.
Reposted by David Brake
Steven Guilbeault tells @woodsideful.bsky.social about his decision to leave cabinet over the pipeline deal:
“When the agreement came out someone texted me saying, ‘The only thing missing from the agreement is Pierre Poilievre's signature,’ and I went yeah, I think that sums it up."
“When the agreement came out someone texted me saying, ‘The only thing missing from the agreement is Pierre Poilievre's signature,’ and I went yeah, I think that sums it up."
'Sorry prime minister, I'm no longer your man': Steven Guilbeault on leaving cabinet
In Steven Guilbeault’s first English-media interview since resigning over Prime Minister Mark Carney’s decision to pursue a pipeline agreement with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, the former cabinet m...
www.nationalobserver.com
December 3, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Steven Guilbeault tells @woodsideful.bsky.social about his decision to leave cabinet over the pipeline deal:
“When the agreement came out someone texted me saying, ‘The only thing missing from the agreement is Pierre Poilievre's signature,’ and I went yeah, I think that sums it up."
“When the agreement came out someone texted me saying, ‘The only thing missing from the agreement is Pierre Poilievre's signature,’ and I went yeah, I think that sums it up."
Even more revolting when one learns Miller comes from a Jewish family that fled Russian pogroms - this would have been one of the arguments used to keep refugees like his family from fleeing persecution.
Stephen Miller is now arguing that assimilation is fundamentally impossible and that certain cultures are not compatible with Western civilization
November 28, 2025 at 10:18 PM
Even more revolting when one learns Miller comes from a Jewish family that fled Russian pogroms - this would have been one of the arguments used to keep refugees like his family from fleeing persecution.
Reposted by David Brake
Routes with fewer stops that don't loop through side streets could help make transit work more effectively but only if the city also makes it easier to get to and from bus stops... preferably with shelters!
Longer gaps between stops mean faster buses but longer walks and as winter sets in, keeping sidewalks and crossing clear is essential so people can get to transit. Not everyone can leap a snowbank and even fewer of us want to!
winnipeg.citynews.ca/2025/11/24/s...
winnipeg.citynews.ca/2025/11/24/s...
Some Winnipeggers say transit redesign has hindered those with mobility issues
Some Winnipeg residents say they have been let down by the new Winnipeg Transit redesign, as it puts people who have varying mobility and use mobility devices in the city at a serious disadvantage…
winnipeg.citynews.ca
November 27, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Routes with fewer stops that don't loop through side streets could help make transit work more effectively but only if the city also makes it easier to get to and from bus stops... preferably with shelters!
Reposted by David Brake
Get outside kids, enjoy the fresh air with your friends!
Just kidding, stay the F inside.
Just kidding, stay the F inside.
November 27, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Get outside kids, enjoy the fresh air with your friends!
Just kidding, stay the F inside.
Just kidding, stay the F inside.
Reposted by David Brake
This is the outcome I have been quietly hoping for all along - ditch the economically dubious green hydrogen but keep building the wind turbines and use them to displace polluting electricity sources. Or serve energy intensive industries. Just not AI datacentres or bitcoin mining, please!
Pattern Energy executive Frank Davis says the company is ‘fully committed’ to Argentia Renewables, which will take the form of a wind-only project — for now
#nlpoli #wind #energy
theindependent.ca/news/lji/com...
#nlpoli #wind #energy
theindependent.ca/news/lji/com...
Company behind proposed wind-hydrogen project withdraws from environmental assessment, returning with ‘phased approach’ – The Independent
Pattern Energy executive says company is 'fully committed' to Argentia Renewables, which will take the form of a wind-only project — for now
theindependent.ca
November 25, 2025 at 7:34 PM
This is the outcome I have been quietly hoping for all along - ditch the economically dubious green hydrogen but keep building the wind turbines and use them to displace polluting electricity sources. Or serve energy intensive industries. Just not AI datacentres or bitcoin mining, please!
Reposted by David Brake
I am not sure I would want to try walking or cycling through along that road either TBH!
when we say we want more streets to be pedestrianized, this is what we mean
November 25, 2025 at 7:14 PM
I am not sure I would want to try walking or cycling through along that road either TBH!
Reposted by David Brake
When your kids don't need you as their chauffeur everyone is better off.
by bsky @tomflood.bsky.social
#bike #cycling #cyclinglife #commutebybike #NotJustBikes #urbanism #motonomativity #fuckcars #carfree #lowCar #walkability #walkablecities #peopleovercars […]
[Original post on mas.to]
by bsky @tomflood.bsky.social
#bike #cycling #cyclinglife #commutebybike #NotJustBikes #urbanism #motonomativity #fuckcars #carfree #lowCar #walkability #walkablecities #peopleovercars […]
[Original post on mas.to]
November 23, 2025 at 7:53 PM
When your kids don't need you as their chauffeur everyone is better off.
by bsky @tomflood.bsky.social
#bike #cycling #cyclinglife #commutebybike #NotJustBikes #urbanism #motonomativity #fuckcars #carfree #lowCar #walkability #walkablecities #peopleovercars […]
[Original post on mas.to]
by bsky @tomflood.bsky.social
#bike #cycling #cyclinglife #commutebybike #NotJustBikes #urbanism #motonomativity #fuckcars #carfree #lowCar #walkability #walkablecities #peopleovercars […]
[Original post on mas.to]
Great to see journalism making a difference in Newfoundland. The profession is definitely on its last legs - this is one more reminder of why the media is important. Though I hope asking the company responsible for the report to account for the errors is only the first step from the government.
UPDATE: The provincial gov. says it has "directed Deloitte to confirm the accuracy of the citations and literature review” and that Deloitte "stands by its conclusions and findings” in the Health Human Resources Report, which cost the province $1.6 million. #nlpoli
theindependent.ca/news/lji/pro...
theindependent.ca/news/lji/pro...
November 22, 2025 at 11:02 PM
Great to see journalism making a difference in Newfoundland. The profession is definitely on its last legs - this is one more reminder of why the media is important. Though I hope asking the company responsible for the report to account for the errors is only the first step from the government.
Reposted by David Brake
from government by consultant to government by consultants using generative AI.
decades of degrading government capacity to actually govern has left it open to further degradation through ai hype and perceptions it enables further cost cutting.
decades of degrading government capacity to actually govern has left it open to further degradation through ai hype and perceptions it enables further cost cutting.
Major N.L. healthcare report contains errors likely generated by A.I. – The Independent
$1.6 million Health Human Resources Plan from Deloitte cites research papers that don’t exist, making it the second major government policy paper called into question in as many months
theindependent.ca
November 22, 2025 at 10:09 PM
from government by consultant to government by consultants using generative AI.
decades of degrading government capacity to actually govern has left it open to further degradation through ai hype and perceptions it enables further cost cutting.
decades of degrading government capacity to actually govern has left it open to further degradation through ai hype and perceptions it enables further cost cutting.
Reposted by David Brake
I think @ketanjoshi.co first pointed me to the @iea.org claim AI-led energy efficiencies would more than compensate for the industry's actual usage. I just looked up the claim to find the justification behind the pretty graphs... and there doesn't seem to be any?! www.iea.org/reports/ener...
November 21, 2025 at 6:50 PM
I think @ketanjoshi.co first pointed me to the @iea.org claim AI-led energy efficiencies would more than compensate for the industry's actual usage. I just looked up the claim to find the justification behind the pretty graphs... and there doesn't seem to be any?! www.iea.org/reports/ener...
I'm imagine he'll tackle this later but the word "collection" is doing a lot on this @parismarx.com' s slide. A lot of AI data was theft and there's plenty of work going on to retroactively legitimise it and give AI companies legal cover for future theft or forced content purchase "deals".
November 21, 2025 at 6:27 PM
I'm imagine he'll tackle this later but the word "collection" is doing a lot on this @parismarx.com' s slide. A lot of AI data was theft and there's plenty of work going on to retroactively legitimise it and give AI companies legal cover for future theft or forced content purchase "deals".
I've been here in Newfoundland for 7 years now- I think @parismarx.com may be my first public lecture by a Newfoundlander public intellectual with an international following not talking about NL things (mainly the politics of resource extraction). Probably I missed a few? Better late than never?
November 21, 2025 at 6:16 PM
I've been here in Newfoundland for 7 years now- I think @parismarx.com may be my first public lecture by a Newfoundlander public intellectual with an international following not talking about NL things (mainly the politics of resource extraction). Probably I missed a few? Better late than never?
TL;DR it looks awfully like a fraudulent freelancer probably using AI to help their inventions managed to get published across the Internet, including at some top tier publications like The Guardian. *sigh.
do you want to feel depressed thelocal.to/investigatin...
Investigating a Possible Scammer in Journalism’s AI Era | The Local
A suspicious pitch from a freelancer led editor Nicholas Hune-Brown to dig into their past work. By the end, four publications, including The Guardian and Dwell, had removed articles from their sites.
thelocal.to
November 20, 2025 at 2:40 AM
TL;DR it looks awfully like a fraudulent freelancer probably using AI to help their inventions managed to get published across the Internet, including at some top tier publications like The Guardian. *sigh.
Reposted by David Brake
Freight transport was 14.7% of NL's emissions in 2023 and considered "hard to abate" (www.gov.nl.ca/eccc/files/2...). But we have lots of electricity and most travels along the TCH so maybe we should be examining how to support truck electrification if the Chinese are making it work?
Perhaps heavy trucks shouldn't be considered "hard to decarbonise" after all? In China in 1st half of 2025, battery-powered heavy trucks accounted for 22% of new purchases says Commercial Vehicle World. BMI forecasts nearly 46% of new sales this year and 60% next. finance.yahoo.com/news/chinas-...
November 19, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Freight transport was 14.7% of NL's emissions in 2023 and considered "hard to abate" (www.gov.nl.ca/eccc/files/2...). But we have lots of electricity and most travels along the TCH so maybe we should be examining how to support truck electrification if the Chinese are making it work?
Reposted by David Brake
Ontario to spend money to rip out bike lanes and speed cameras to disconnect people and hurt school children. 🙌
The Netherlands is to invest up to €1 billion in cycling infrastructure to connect hundreds of thousands of new homes nationwide.
Read more: zagdaily.com/trends/dutch...
Read more: zagdaily.com/trends/dutch...
November 17, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Ontario to spend money to rip out bike lanes and speed cameras to disconnect people and hurt school children. 🙌
Reposted by David Brake
Car dependency is a hell of a drug.
November 14, 2025 at 1:47 PM
Car dependency is a hell of a drug.
Reposted by David Brake
Oh, Canada...
November 13, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Oh, Canada...
Reposted by David Brake
it’s not just suburbs either. Even relatively dense cities can be car dependent - I live in one!
This is a joke, but this is one reason car-dependent suburbs are actually terrible places to raise kids. You have to drive them everywhere. Kids resent the lack of autonomy. Parents resent the drain on their time.
i just want my kids to be able to walk to the store to get stuff so I don't have to.
November 13, 2025 at 9:12 PM
it’s not just suburbs either. Even relatively dense cities can be car dependent - I live in one!