Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Michelle Cyca @michellecyca.com · 13h

this is also how I got many of my first bylines, including a cover story that came out of a viral housing tweet. Twitter was such a valuable place for connecting with editors & testing ideas, particularly as a someone who didn't have j-school training or connections.

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Michelle Cyca @michellecyca.com · 13h

what does Timothee Chalamet have in common with a proposal for the world's largest data centre? @savannahridley.bsky.social has the answer:

The Narwhal @thenarwhal.ca · 18h

Water-hungry data centres are planned for drought-stricken regions across Canada. What will the AI data centre boom mean for communities? By @savannahridley.bsky.social: thenarwhal.ca/ai-data-cent...

What will the AI data centre boom mean for Canada? | The Narwhal

Sprawling AI data centres — hungry for land, water and power — are coming. Plans the world’s largest, called Wonder Valley, are underway in Alberta

thenarwhal.ca

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Reposted by Michelle Cyca

The Narwhal @thenarwhal.ca · 1d

From cancelling the carbon tax to pausing the electric vehicle mandate, Prime Minister Mark Carney is making sweeping changes to Canada’s environmental rules — and complicating Canada’s progress on climate change. thenarwhal.ca/mark-carney-...

How Mark Carney is complicating Canada’s climate progress | The Narwhal

From cancelling the carbon tax to pausing the EV mandate, Mark Carney’s government is making sweeping changes to Canada’s environmental rules

thenarwhal.ca

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Reposted by Michelle Cyca

COPE: The Coalition of Progressive Electors @copevancouver.bsky.social · 2d

RED ALERT: Ken Sim Plans to Drop HUGE CUTS on Vancouver's Public Services THIS WEDNESDAY

That could mean cuts to:
❌ Libraries
❌ Community Grants
❌ Road Safety
❌ Homelessness supports
❌ Arts & Culture
❌ Reconciliation
❌ Climate change programs

Write to council now:
www.votecope.ca/stopsim

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Michelle Cyca @michellecyca.com · 1d

the folks at @copevancouver.bsky.social have also created a letter-writing tool: www.votecope.ca/stopsim

Stop Ken Sim's Cuts — COPE Vancouver

www.votecope.ca

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Michelle Cyca @michellecyca.com · 1d

forgot some key words here: Sim is directing staff to focus exclusively on a 0% *property tax* increase scenario for the 2026 budget

Michelle Cyca @michellecyca.com · 1d

Tomorrow, Vancouver City Council will hear a motion by Mayor Ken Sim directing the city to draft a 2026 budget based on a 0% increase, despite city staff saying 5-7% increases are necessary to maintain service levels & address critical infrastructure needs (1/3) council.vancouver.ca/20251008/doc...

council.vancouver.ca

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Michelle Cyca @michellecyca.com · 1d

If you want to speak to city council about this motion, you can sign up by 5pm today: council.vancouver.ca/20251008/cfs...

City Finance and Services - October 8, 2025

council.vancouver.ca

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Michelle Cyca @michellecyca.com · 1d

it’s worth considering that property taxes in Vancouver are already the lowest in Canada & homeowners over 55 can defer them (regardless of their income or house value). Sim's budget proposal would give homeowners another break at the expense of everyone else (2/3) vancouversun.com/news/how-bc-...

How B.C.'s property tax system delivers big benefits to multimillionaires, and why some say it needs to change

B.C.'s property tax system is uniquely generous for wealthy homeowners. Some people think that should change. Find out more.

vancouversun.com

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Michelle Cyca @michellecyca.com · 1d

Tomorrow, Vancouver City Council will hear a motion by Mayor Ken Sim directing the city to draft a 2026 budget based on a 0% increase, despite city staff saying 5-7% increases are necessary to maintain service levels & address critical infrastructure needs (1/3) council.vancouver.ca/20251008/doc...

council.vancouver.ca

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Michelle Cyca @michellecyca.com · 5d

summer is over, but I'm still reminding people to be cool and not racist about park closures ☺️

The Narwhal @thenarwhal.ca · 5d

An Instagram-famous park near Whistler, B.C., took a break from the crowds in recent weeks. Here’s what that looks like — and why it matters.

Our latest newsletter, via @michellecyca.com:

thenarwhal.ca/newsletter-j...

A busy B.C. park takes a moment to rest | The Narwhal

The Instagram-famous Joffre Lakes Park, near Whistler, B.C., was quieter in recent weeks. Here’s what that looks like — and why it matters

thenarwhal.ca

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Michelle Cyca @michellecyca.com · 6d

Oct 30! Talking to Julian Brave NoiseCat about his memoir, which everyone should read, just an incredible gorgeous heartrending work. Tickets are free but limited: www.eventbrite.ca/e/we-survive...

We Survived the Night: An Indigenous Reckoning

Join Massy, SFU Indigenous Studies, Michelle Cyca, and Julian Brave NoiseCat for the launch of "We Survived the Night" on Oct 30th!

www.eventbrite.ca

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Michelle Cyca @michellecyca.com · 6d

Paige and Steph were invited by Lil'wat and N'Quatqua to see why the temporary park closure matters, not only to the First Nations but to the park itself. A beautiful story to read & witness on the last day of the fall closure.

The Narwhal @thenarwhal.ca · 6d

For the last month, Joffre Lakes Park has been closed to the public, as Lil'wat and N'Quatqua members reconnect with their traditional territory. Here's what one of B.C.'s busiest parks looks like at rest. By @sevawood.bsky.social with photos by Paige Taylor White. thenarwhal.ca/joffre-lakes...

What Joffre Lakes Park looks like at rest | The Narwhal

A month-long closure ends Oct. 3. Here’s what Instagram-famous Joffre Lakes Park, or Pipi7íyekw, looks like when it’s quiet and closed to the public

thenarwhal.ca

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Michelle Cyca @michellecyca.com · 8d

thank you Tyler! appreciate you taking the time to read it

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Michelle Cyca @michellecyca.com · 8d

It was very special to work with six brilliant, thoughtful Indigenous writers — Michelle Good, Julian Brave NoiseCat, Eva Jewell, Janelle Lapointe, Anna McKenzie and Riley Yesno — on this series about truth and reconciliation, in print & online for @thewalrus.ca. thewalrus.ca/truth-and-re...

The Truth of Reconciliation | The Walrus

The TRC report, released in 2015, laid out ninety-four clear Calls to Action. Ten years later, Indigenous writers reflect on what has and hasn’t been achieved

thewalrus.ca

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Michelle Cyca @michellecyca.com · 8d

For @thewalrus.ca, I wrote about the state of reconciliation 10 years after the final report of the Truth & Reconciliation Commission. thewalrus.ca/trc-introduc...

The Stark Reality Ten Years after the Truth and Reconciliation Report | The Walrus

“We have to wonder: should we just abandon ‘reconciliation’ altogether?”

thewalrus.ca

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Michelle Cyca @michellecyca.com · 9d

so fucking tiresome to get emails like this whenever I write about residential school history, truly. people who believe that graves don't exist if they can't see the bodies with their own two eyes possess the critical thinking skills of a baby playing peekaboo.

I hope you are doing well.

I read your article on the Walrus on the reality of the current state on implementation of recommendations from that TRC. It truly is unfortunate that implementing these recommendations isn't proceeding with alacrity.

One are that is confusing for me is the truth around the Kamloops mass grave site. In your article, you state, "discovery of unmarked graves on the grounds of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School". However, follow up work hasn't found any mass graves. I have tried to find primary sources on discovery of actual mass graves without success.

Can you please share primary sources on this? I have spoken to others who state that though ground penetrating radar found some suggestions of graves, follow up digging did not find any actual graves.

Appreciate any help you can provide. Thank you.

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Michelle Cyca @michellecyca.com · 9d

incredible choice for "victim of the Canadian housing crisis"

A screenshot from the National Post article titled "How Canada's short-term thinking sparked a national housing crisis" opening with the plight of a guy named Eddie, who supposedly can't afford a house in Ottawa but also owns a rental property that generates $5,000/month net income

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Michelle Cyca @michellecyca.com · 9d

please read this story today from @moiradonovan.bsky.social, with incredible photos by Darren Calabrese, which considers the physical history of the residential school system and survivors' efforts to ensure this history is never forgotten

The Narwhal @thenarwhal.ca · 9d

The last federally run residential school closed in 1997, but traces of the system are everywhere on the land. How to commemorate the dark, painful history of these places? Across Canada, survivors are taking the lead: thenarwhal.ca/truth-reconc...

What should happen to residential school sites? | The Narwhal

Across Canada, Indigenous communities are deciding how to commemorate these residential school histories on the land

thenarwhal.ca

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Michelle Cyca @michellecyca.com · 9d

thanks to you and Eva for speaking with me last year & planting the ideas for this series!

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Michelle Cyca @michellecyca.com · 12d

learned so much about Shania Twain from this week's Narwhal newsletter, which has an absolutely deranged density of Shania puns — read at your own risk

The Narwhal @thenarwhal.ca · 12d

Ontario bureau chief @elaineanselmi.bsky.social took the prerogative to have a little fun with our latest newsletter, about a proposed nickel mine in Shania Twain’s hometown of Timmins.

thenarwhal.ca/newsletter-t...

Is mining ‘still the one’ in northern Ontario? | The Narwhal

A past effort to attract fans to Shania Twain’s hometown of Timmins didn’t go well. A proposed nickel mine has the town wondering: can it only go up from here?

thenarwhal.ca

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Michelle Cyca @michellecyca.com · 15d

listen, I hate AI for lots of reasons but I need my fellow writers to shut up about em-dashes. no one has taken them away from you! if you worry their inclusion tips your writing into plausibly AI-generated territory then you have other problems, honey

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Michelle Cyca @michellecyca.com · 16d

congrats to my brilliant colleagues @sevawood.bsky.social, @sobittersosweet.bsky.social and @writermjs.bsky.social 💚

The Narwhal @thenarwhal.ca · 16d

Our B.C. team has netted four nominations for the Webster Awards! We're honoured to be recognized among the best in the province for our features, news reporting and analysis: thenarwhal.ca/narwhal-webs...

The Narwhal nabs four Webster award nominations | The Narwhal

The Jack Webster Awards recognize the top journalists in B.C. The Narwhal’s team is among them

thenarwhal.ca

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Reposted by Michelle Cyca

Alex Cosh @alexcosh.bsky.social · 19d

Vince Gasparro, the Parliamentary Secretary for "Combatting Crime," just announced that the Irish band Kneecap are banned from entering Canada, 3 days after he met with Israel lobbyists.

Tweet by Gasparro reading: "On behalf of the Government of Canada I am announcing that on the advice of our officials, we have deemed the group Kneecap ineligible to enter our country.

Our government will not tolerate the advocating of political violence, terrorism or Anti-Semitism and hate more broadly."

Tweet by Gasparro reading: "I joined Prime Minister Mark Carney
& colleagues in a meeting with CIJA and Jewish community federations from across Canada.

The Prime Minister was clear in our key legislative initiatives that will help provide more security for Jewish Canadians."

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Michelle Cyca @michellecyca.com · 19d

lacking which important facts...?

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Michelle Cyca @michellecyca.com · 22d

Just in time for @thenarwhal.ca's webinar on housing & climate change, a new story about designing for the wildfires of the future! Read it & then listen to @sevawood.bsky.social talk about it at 12pt: thenarwhal.ca/housing-and-...

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