David Huggins-Daines

Been thinking about this in light of the recent election where Québec (the metro area) elected a bucket of deplorables running under a right-wing populist* platform. Thing is, they have identified actual problems, even if their solutions are stupid! *but see also: www.ledevoir.com/opinion/idee...

I am but a lowly computational linguist who once TA'ed a class in (checks notes) language modeling, many years ago in the Before Times, but (3) seems to be simple enough for any sensible person to understand

We could have both pretty parks and affordability, if we were willing to tell people they don't get a veto over everything.

Two things that trigger my flight response: “let me tell you about my dream last night” and “let me tell you about my AI workflow”

"The planned duplex, city documents show, will be more than 15 metres high — far higher than their roughly 11-metre tall home." Exactly how much higher no one can say.

Every single word of this article seems custom designed to make me more furious than the last.

As an Albertan committed to the defeat of the rat menace, not just here but, Insallah, every corner of this broad Dominion, we will recover from this blow and strike back tenfold against Ratatouille and all his friends and family.

When I moved away from there in 1996 it was already pretty weird (in the bad way, not the "Keep Portland Weird" way) outside of a few hectares of central Calgary and south Edmonton. Some things got better for a while, though.

-en 2025, le pcq a versé un salaire de 130 000$ à crazy dudu -en 2025, 92% des revenus du pcq sont venus d'une subvention du gouverment -crazy dudu profite plus du système que tous les demandeurs d'asile réunis #polqc

"entre 1990 et 2023, le nombre de véhicules à usage personnel a grimpé de 53 %, soit une hausse presque 2X fois supérieure à la croissance de la population." C'est l'auto qui nous fait la guerre. 👉 Notre capacité d'accueil est dépassée. 👉 Il faut réduire le nombre d'auto qui passe à la frontière.

I am really not saying anything new. We KNOW all this from basic theoretical computer science -- but this knowledge, field, and expertise are being destroyed by LLMs and AI hype too (see also next post)

alors, c'est qui qui parle des «vraies affaires»? (j'ai rien contre St-Tite, c'est une super belle ville à visiter le 50 autres semaines de l'année)

Vraiment content de ce beau reportage de Radio-Canada. Il faut absolutment qu'on débarasse le lobby agroindustriel qui s'appelle l'UPA de son aura de sainteté non mérité. ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/228...

www.lapresse.ca/elections-qu... Fantastic that La Presse took Duhaime (and anyone in Qc who insists there's a "war on cars") to task.

Les HLM, les grands oubliés de la campagne électorale «si la croissance de l’#itinérance consacre l’échec de nos politiques sociales», c’est peut-être parce que le mot #HLM n’est jamais prononcé» Ça prend un programme de logements publics de type HLM www.lavoixdelest.ca/opinions/par... #polqc

astheure que je ne suis plus un élu municipal j'ai le droit de le dire

j'aime bien qu'ils ont utilisé le logo de la brasserie Boréale par contre

this is going to make my head explode if I listen to it, isn't it

Absolument! Actuellement en région on opère des réseaux de taxibus ou transports à la demande qui sont victimes de leur succès - plus c'est utilisé, plus ça coûte cher, qui est EXACTEMENT le contraire de comment fonctionnent les lignes fixes, dont on pourrait doubler la fréquence...

"...dans le système solaire souverainiste, La Presse est Darth Vader régnant sur le côté sombre de la Force pour empêcher les rebelles de se libérer de l’Empire canadien." Le complotisme, peu importe sa forme, me fait automatiquement décrocher. www.lapresse.ca/elections-qu...

Le transport collectif est plus avantageux pour l’économie que l’automobile, selon une étude Réduire la facture de transport autrement qu'en donnant des bonbons devrait être un enjeu qui préoccupe les candidats à l’élection, estime une économiste. www.ledevoir.com/actualites/t...

« La crise de l’habitation est loin d’être terminée. On voit et on sent encore énormément de détresse. Quoi qu’en disent certains, ça va mal, les loyers continuent de monter et les gens ont de la misère », www.lapresse.ca/elections-qu...

“The problem with cars in cities is that they don't fit. They are too big. They are taking more space than there is. That's the fundamental problem. And a whiz-bang technological solution that does not solve that problem is not a solution.” @humantransit.bsky.social 🚍🚲🚊 @thewaroncars.bsky.social

meanwhile in Canada

Curb parking in Berkeley is a priceless civic asset that contributes to the vitality of the street. Curb parking is crucial to the success of small businesses. That's why this 1988 Mercury Grand Marquis Wagon Colony Park LS with expired tags has been fixed in this spot since December 2024.

One more thing about this. Cities don't have massive budgets. They're considerably less powerful than the feds or the state. But they do have power over land use, which is an extremely important lever. If you're waving land use away as unimportant, you have no business weighing in on city politics.

I really like Jeremy Levine's work on this topic. A singular community will or interest basically doesn't exist. Levine argues that rather than seeking an illusory consensus, we should focus on removing barriers to political participation by marginalized voices. shelterforce.org/2020/09/04/c...

You either welcome the stranger or you don't. There is no "only build housing for the truly morally deserving and/or people I want to hang out with" policy lever, no matter how hard you post about Community Land Trusts.

It’s not noted in the article but unlike EVs our extensive e-bike charging infrastructure also already exists, via any wall outlet. No further municipal investment required. It’s been mentioned before, but e-bikes might be dismissed for government support *because* they’re so cost efficient.

Step 1: Shift all taxes and fees to new construction Step 2: Block new construction Step 3: Die happy knowing that you made an impact on your community (and didn't let the government rip you off)

Make no mistake, what I have taken to calling a hyper El Nino is building rapidly, and set to bring extreme weather mayhem and record-shattering global temperatures in 2027

Something I'll never understand - if I want to make substantial enough changes to my house, it has to go through a neighbourhood consultation process, but someone on my block can buy a vehicle that significantly increases the chances one of my kids gets run over.