Well it worked 😎 Thank you!

Aw thank you Arno

Thank you Jay!!

Thanks Michael :)

Congrats to @rorywh.bsky.social, @davidmckie.bsky.social and the other finalists!

This is Rory's FIRST published journalism story!?

A black truck is seen driving on a white stretch of ice road, with forest on either side. Photo taken from above by Jesse Winter.

I travelled to the James Bay region for the story alongside Jesse Winter, who took so many amazing photographs. Like this one! Very patient and helpful editing by @jameswsthomson.com made it all possible ☺️

Driving the ice road: a journey along a community’s disappearing lifeline People call ice roads “lifelines” for a reason – without them, entire communities are cut off from goods and services that those in places connected by permanent roads take for granted. Climate change...

Very honoured to be nominated for this story. (Which is not behind a paywall)

!!! yay!

Ford skirts public consultation on freedom of information bill On Thursday, government House leader Steve Clark revealed that Bill 97, the Plan to Protect Ontario Act, would bypass the traditional public consultation process and go straight to third reading and f...

Pushing the bill through “destroys any trust the public has in the government to not hide things, not to tell the truth, to engage in misinformation, engage in taxpayer fraud,” said FOI advocate Ken Rubin, who had applied to be a witness in the public hearing process. For @nationalobserver.com

Ford’s latest bill collides with cities’ efforts to phase out gas in buildings New legislation — Bill 98, or the Building Homes and Improving Transportation Infrastructure Act — is snaking its way through the Legislature, and aims to kill green building standards for good, and i...

While some North American cities have passed gas bans for buildings, Ontario municipalities have been using green building standards to phase out emissions. Now, Ford’s Bill 98 aims to kill these standards, stripping cities of their power to ditch natural gas. For @nationalobserver.com

First Nation accuses Alberta of withholding cancer data At a press conference in Ottawa this week, Chief Billy‑Joe Tuccaro said the Mikisew Cree First Nation is still waiting for Alberta Health Services (AHS) to release more recent data, which he believes ...

The Mikisew Cree First Nation says the missing data is essential to prove a link between industrial contamination and rising cancer rates in the northern Alberta community. By @sonalg.bsky.social for @nationalobserver.com

My dispatch from the Liberal convention (it was quite a scene)

Renewables win in Ontario’s newest bid for energy On Thursday, the province’s Independent Electricity System Operator announced it had secured over 1,300 megawatts of energy from 14 projects, all solar or wind, which are set to come online by 2030.

More than a dozen wind and solar projects will be built in Ontario, nearly a decade after the Ford government spent hundreds of millions of dollars cancelling renewable energy projects in the province. For @nationalobserver.com. Map in here showing the location/MW/type

Ford faces fresh court challenge against special economic zones Ecojustice, on behalf of Democracy Watch, Environmental Defence Canada, Friends of the Earth Canada and Wildlands League, announced Wednesday it is launching a court case challenging the Special Econo...

A new court case will test the Ontario government’s law that allows for the fast-tracking of projects deemed “strategically important to Ontario’s economy.”

For @nationalobserver.com

Alberta scraps environmental assessment for Kevin O'Leary's 'world's largest' data centre Danielle Smith's government is exempting celebrity investor Kevin O'Leary's massive Wonder Valley data centre near Grand Prairie, AB, from a provincial environmental assessment, Canada's National Obse...

Important scoop from Marc Fawcett-Atkinson for @nationalobserver.com. Danielle Smith's government is exempting celebrity investor Kevin O'Leary's massive Wonder Valley data centre near Grand Prairie, AB, from a provincial environmental assessment.

'Alarm bells’ ring over new ‘one project, one review’ agreement between Ottawa and NS for environmental assessments - Halifax Examiner In the past year, Houston’s government has been openly hostile about those who care about environmental protection, dismissing them as “special interest” groups.

‘Alarm bells’ ring over new ‘one project, one review’ agreement between Ottawa and NS for environmental assessments

reported by Joan Baxter @joanbaxter.bsky.social

Ford takes another run at stripping municipal green building rules Introduced by the provincial government this week, Bill 98 would amend and repeal multiple codes and acts to remove “barriers to new homes and infrastructure development.”

The Ford government has introduced a bill that could strip Toronto and other Ontario municipalities of their ability to enforce green building standards — again.

For @nationalobserver.com

The Narwhal is hiring a BIPOC reporting fellow in Ontario We’re hiring an Ontario reporting fellow to cover Queen’s Park and the ways Ontario government policy affects people in racialized communities

Journalism job alert: The Narwhal’s Ontario bureau is excited to announce a new position for a reporting fellow to cover Queen’s Park and the ways policy affects people in racialized communities. Learn more and apply:

Toronto council seeks answers on AI data centre approvals This week, Toronto city council will discuss the rise of AI data centres in the city and, if a proposed motion passes, receive a staff report that tackles the topic for the first time.

A Toronto Coun. didn’t know that a data centre was being planned in her ward until she read about it on an industry site.

It's a story that is increasingly common across Ontario as we see municipalities grappling with the rise of data centres. TO is set to chime in at council this week!

Toronto to fight Ford's plan to seize island airport Premier Doug Ford says the province and the federal government will take over Billy Bishop Airport from the city and will designate it a special economic zone.

In response to a flurry of comments from Ford about Toronto's waterfront (including Billy Bishop), a motion to be considered this week urges Toronto city council to oppose “any unilateral expropriation” of city land from higher levels of government.

Toronto to fight Ford's plan to seize island airport Premier Doug Ford says the province and the federal government will take over Billy Bishop Airport from the city and will designate it a special economic zone.

Ford says he will introduce a bill that would eliminate Toronto's ownership stake in its island airport.

The province doesn't have a stake as of now, it's between the feds + the city.

Last week, Mayor Chow acknowledged that the province has the power to expropriate the city's portion of the land.

Rare, great opportunity to come join The Local as a permanent full-time reporter! Looking for someone who knows and loves Peel Region to join the team.

Toronto’s public recycling is going to the dumps Two Toronto councillors have tabled a motion to address the city's public recycling bins, which presently are sending recyclable products to the landfill.

When the province took over recycling from municipalities, that didn't include public recycling bins. That means now, no one is responsible for picking up that recycling + it's all going to the trash.

But that has actually been happening for longer due to contamination.

For @nationalobserver.com

Three quarters of data centre sites planned in Alberta are in high water stress areas Canada’s National Observer analyzed the locations of 38 data centre campuses proposed in the province, and found that three quarters of them are in regions where water use is already in shorter supply...

From @rorywh.bsky.social + @natashabulowski.bsky.social.

"In the worst-case scenario, that risk is a situation where parts of Alberta cease to be able to water crops or feed livestock in the heat of the summer, because data centres have bought first dibs on the water beneath the prairie."

Arno Kopecky, National Observer, for his dispatches from a self-guided campaign trail following Pierre Poilievre’s announcement he wouldn’t allow journalists to travel with him. At Poilievre’s Windsor rally, a YouTuber collides with a ‘mainstream journalist’ (That journalist was me) In disaster-stricken Okanagan, a conspicuous silence from Poilievre True lies on the Poilievre campaign trail

And congratulations to @arnokopecky.bsky.social for the recognition of his globetrotting guerilla coverage of the Poilievre campaign. He was away from home for basically the entire campaign, writing brilliant and unique dispatches from the back of the room.

Can you believe @rorywh.bsky.social is in year one of being a journalist??? Congrats to Rory and the rest of the CNO team behind Civic Searchlight :,)

Alberta winds down municipal climate rebates The province's popular Municipal Climate Change Action Centre offers up to $500,000 in matching funds to municipalities for for energy conservation and electricity generation projects and also had a p...

The popular program has helped municipalities buy expensive upgrades that pay dividends over time, like new boilers, better roofs, solar systems and more. Funding runs out in April.

'We've had enough secrets': First Nations group opposes Ontario move to limit freedom-of-information laws | CBC News A group representing First Nations is speaking out against Ontario’s proposed legislation to change freedom-of-information laws, saying there's concern the move would reduce Indigenous communities’ ab...

First Nations are voicing opposition to Ontario’s proposed legislation to change freedom-of-information laws, saying they're concerned it would reduce Indigenous communities’ ability to access information.

A clarinetist, a high school student, and four climate deniers write a science paper, with a little help from AI… Papers like this are like kindling for anyone 'just asking questions' about climate change, or 'doing their own research,' stoking the flames of climate denial.

For better or worse, I dug into that paper that claimed to upend everything we know about the oceans taking up most of the heat from global warming.

It's a perfect example of how AI makes it easy to produce science-y papers that amount to climate disinformation.

Ford calls on provinces to drop 'uncompetitive' EV sales mandates Ford told British Columbia and Quebec Premiers that their provinces’ EV sales mandates are creating “a fragmented, uncompetitive market that risks pushing investment, jobs and production out of Canada...

Doug Ford told British Columbia and Quebec Premiers David Eby and François Legault that their provinces’ EV sales mandates are creating “a fragmented, uncompetitive market that risks pushing investment, jobs and production out of Canada and into the US.”

For @nationalobserver.com