Hey all,

I want to start being more active with signing petitions that I agree with that are open for signatures on the Our Commons website. The annoying thing is, while I do want to be active and be on top of things, I also don't want to have to check the website every day to see if anything new has popped up.

I've checked the site to see if there's an email subscription to be made aware of new petitions available, or if there's an RSS feed available there, but neither seems to be the case. Does anybody know off hand how I can be notified of new petitions, or am I SOL?

Doug Ford's gravy plane era is here. Here's my breakdown and thoughts.

Proposal to Toronto City Council: The Toronto Energy & Food Sovereignty Act (2026)

Subject: Formal Plan for Local Grid Autonomy and "Secession" from OPG/Toronto Hydro

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Toronto faces an unprecedented "Utility Death Spiral." With Ontario Power Generation (OPG) seeking a 72.6% rate hike by 2027 to fund aging nuclear infrastructure, and Toronto Hydro applying for nearly $5 billion in grid maintenance, the current path is a direct tax on the citizens of Toronto. This proposal outlines a "Secession Strategy"—municipalizing the local distribution grid at a "Salvage Value" buy-out and establishing a community-owned, circular energy economy.

1. THE INDICTMENT: THE FAILED NUCLEAR PROMISE

The management of Ontario’s nuclear sector has devolved into a multi-generational Ponzi scheme. For decades, the province has "deficit-financed" the true cost of nuclear energy to hide rate shocks, burying billions in provincial debt that our children will inherit. Nuclear power is inherently uneconomic; it is inflexible, high-risk, and requires massive centralized subsidies to appear viable. OPG's $207/MWh target is not a "market rate"—it is an extortionate recovery fee for a tech-heavy addiction that is losing the race against modular renewables. If Pickering B is approved for a second multi-billion-dollar refurbishment, the fiscal collapse of the Ontario energy sector is no longer a risk; it is a mathematical certainty.

2. THE SECESSION STRATEGY

Toronto must act as a sovereign energy district.

• Grid Buyout: Expropriate the local low-voltage wires from Toronto Hydro at a "Salvage Value" of $300/home. This effectively recovers assets already "paid for" by citizens over the last 40 years.
• Political Deterrent: Secession from OPG’s supply chain would strand 25% of OPG's revenue, effectively forcing the cancellation of the Pickering B project and protecting Torontonians from the $26.8B refurbishment bill.
• Jurisdictional Autonomy: If the province denies local control, Toronto will pursue status as an independent "City-State Province" within Canada, or pursue international tariff exemptions to source the necessary modular energy components directly.

3. THE COMMUNITY MICROHUB MODEL

Instead of a centralized grid, Toronto will be powered by 150 "Mega-Hubs" (80 MW each) and 600 "Community Hubs" (20 MW each).

• Indoor Vertical Farming: Each hub features an 8-story agricultural stack. By utilizing 20MW of waste heat and oxygen, Toronto becomes self-sufficient in premium tomatoes, melons, and fish.
• Tourism & Quality of Life: By selling produce and alpine-quality (ozonated/distilled) water at subsidized rates, Toronto becomes a global "Bio-District" magnet, attracting expats and tourists to the world's most resilient city.

4. THE PROSUMER DIVIDEND & SOLAR ARCHES

Homeowners are the "Engine" of this economy.

• 15kW Solar Arches: Homes install 66° high-performance solar arches for $11,250 (bulk buy price).
• Returns:
  • Direct Dividend: $200/kW per year (~$3,000/year for 15kW).
  • Energy Sales: Guaranteed Hub buy-back at 6¢/kWh (Summer) and 15¢/kWh (Winter Bonus).
  • Payback: Under 3 years, after which the homeowner effectively "mines" community profit.

5. COMPARATIVE RATE STRUCTURE

Even without government subsidies (OER), our "Seceded Hub" rates remain the most competitive in North America.

| Bill Component | Toronto Hydro (Unsubsidized 2027) | Community Hub (Proposed) | |

|

|

| | Fixed Annual Fee | ~$600 | $0 | | Summer Rate (kWh) | ~18¢ (TOU Peak) | 8¢ (Sunshine Cleaning) | | Winter Rate (kWh) | ~25¢+ (Projected) | 25¢ (Emergency Cap) | | Annual Check | $0 (You pay them) | $3,000+ (Hub pays you) |

6. CITY REVENUE SHARE

The City of Toronto transitions from a "shareholder" in a failing utility to a "Landlord" of a thriving hub network.

• 100-Year Lease: Hubs pay a fixed 10% lease rate on the industrial land value.
• Guaranteed Income: This generates $3.2M per year per 8-acre site, over 4x the current industrial property tax revenue, funding city services without raising residential taxes.

NEXT STEPS
We propose a Pilot Hub in Etobicoke to demonstrate the first 20MW agricultural stack and solar-arch rollout. The era of energy extortion ends where local resilience begins.

Is Council prepared to authorize the initial Salvage Value Appraisal of Toronto Hydro's low-voltage assets?

cross-posted from: https://news.abolish.capital/post/42980

The orphan wells trace back to a tangled web of foreign investors, a company based in the British Virgin Islands and a last-ditch effort to sell to a Chinese company for $22M

From The Narwhal via This RSS Feed.

Two Hamilton teens are wondering why the city's plan to build a much needed basketball court in Gage Park is going to take 25 years.

"I don't know about you, but I will be 41 when this court is supposed to be built," Norrie King, 16, told councillors at Monday's Public Works Committee meeting.

"And I'm just speaking from seeing my parents that I will probably be more focused on back pain than playing recreational basketball," she added, causing councillors to laugh inside council chambers.

King and her friend Julia Neven, also 16, spoke to councillors on Monday asking the city that the court, which was supposed to be built by 2051, be done and ready to play on next year.

Several attacks involving OpenAI’s chatbot—including Tumbler Ridge and FSU—raise urgent questions about the technology.

“From the outside, it looks like OpenAI had the opportunity to prevent this horrific loss of life, to prevent there from being dead children,” said BC Premier David Eby after the Journal reported on the shooter’s ChatGPT use. “I’m angry about that. I’m trying hard not to rush to judgment.” Canadian authorities demanded accountability and vowed to create new national requirements for tech companies to report threats brewing on their platforms.

OpenAI told Canadian government leaders in late February that under the company’s newly revised protocols, the shooter’s account from June 2025, if discovered today, would be flagged to law enforcement. “Mental health and behavioural experts now help us assess difficult cases, and we have made our referral criteria more flexible to account for the fact that a user may not discuss the target, means, and timing of planned violence in a ChatGPT conversation but that there may be potential risk of imminent violence,” VP of Global Policy Ann O’Leary stated in an open letter

Global oil prices are plunging. But in Canada gas prices are going up! Enough with the greed!

Excerpt:

Canada’s AI safety institute has now gained access to all of OpenAI’s “protocols,” Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan Solomon said Friday.

Solomon added the AI Safety Institute is working on a report and promised that "we will get accountability."

Solomon met with the CEO of OpenAI in March after news emerged that the company had banned the mass shooter in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., from using its ChatGPT chatbot due to worrisome interactions — but did not alert law enforcement.

The shooter got around the ChatGPT ban by having a second account.

Archived link

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Mangrove Lithium CEO and founder Saad Dara joked that the facility is like a “clown building,” as he conducted a private tour.

“It just keeps going,” he said over the noise of machinery, as he pointed to areas of the facility, including the company’s research and development lab.

The company held an official ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday, but Dara said it had been a “long journey” to get to this point. He said the idea began as a “one-man operation” and his own thesis project in 2013, which he spun into a company in 2018 and has been working to “commercialize the technology ever since.”

There are now about 75 employees at the facility, Dara said.

“We’ve been working on the design and construction of this first-of-a-kind plant where we’ve taken the work that we’ve done from our piloting operations and converted those into a fully operational facility,” Dara said.

...

While Canada produces lithium, it does not have EV assembly, active materials or recycling, Dara said.

“We’re trying to do that but it will take some time,” he said.

But he said, with their refinery coming online, Canada is “starting to develop a lithium supply chain that has been missing.”

...

Geoff McCarney, associate professor of environment and development in the school of international development and global studies at the University of Ottawa, agreed.

He said one of the “core challenges” in critical mineral production needed for energy transition, including lithium, is that “China tends to control the market.”

“They produce a lot, but more than on the production side, they really control the refining capacity,” he said.

...

McCarney said, in that context, the opening of the plant is a “big deal” because it increases Canada’s resiliency.

“It’s a first drop in the bucket but it’s important in that regard to demonstrate we do have technologies, we are making the investments (and) we can start to bring this kind of thing online in Canada to secure our own transition.”

...

Mangrove’s Delta facility, Dara said, has the capacity to produce enough battery-grade lithium for about 25,000 electric vehicles per year.

...

Archived link

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The AutoTrader 2026 Electric Vehicle Survey has polled 1,761 Canadians between February 9 and March 11, with the results showing that 53% of them are interested in Chinese EVs.

Of those, 74% have admitted that pricing is the main reason, with half noting that longer driving range is also being considered.

However, the study also found that 50% of those interested have reservations about data collection by the Chinese automakers.

“Some concerns remain, and there are still areas to bridge for example, 50% of intenders are still concerned about how data is collected, used and stored by EVs from Chinese brands,” the study read.

Consumer concerns echo those raised by several government officials and politicians.

The Conservative Party has partly based its opposition of Chinese EVs entering Canada on potential surveillance risks.

“We’re hearing loud and clear from security experts: Chinese electric vehicles have the capability, for all intents and purposes, of being surveillance vehicles,” Conservative shadow minister for industry Raquel Dancho said earlier this year.

...

As Prime Minister Mark Carney unveiled the China–Canada deal — allowing 49,000 Chinese EVs to enter Ottawa each year at a reduced 6.1% tariff — [Premier of Ontario] Doug Ford had already criticized the vehicles as “spy cars” and described the agreement as “Huawei 2.0.”

“I find it ironic that the Prime Minister is using a burner phone and all his staff over in China, but we’re making a deal — it’s Huawei 2.0 — to come back and send to Canada, and we get nothing but potential job losses in our factories right across the border,” the province leader said.

...

Margaret McCuaig-Johnston, from the China Strategic Risks Institute, said that there’s a threat of surveillance stemming from software in Chinese EVs that links to mobile networks and often the driver’s personal phone.

Other analysts and former officials, including attorney George Takach, have testified about the security risks.

According to these experts, Chinese EVs often use software (like the country’s tech giant Baidu) that can collect camera, microphone, GPS, and even phone data — even when the car is off — and transmit it back to China under the country’s national security laws.

...

Earlier, reports showed that even with Carney’s new deal, don’t expect to buy a cheap Chinese EV any time soon.

Nothing about the recent deal means the sky is falling on Canada’s auto industry, nor does it mean Canadian drivers will suddenly enjoy a raft of cheap Chinese EVs ...

Consumers shouldn’t get too excited; Carney’s deal doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be able to put a $15,000 or $20,000 EV from BYD or Geely in your driveway anytime soon, if ever.

“If anybody’s thinking that A) there will be Chinese vehicles on the road in the next few weeks and B) that they’re going to be cheap, they’re probably being a little naïve,” said Greig Mordue, an associate professor at McMaster University specializing in advanced manufacturing and public policy ...

The Canadian military flew seven surveillance missions over waters near China in the past month to enforce North Korean sanctions, but the Department of National Defence is no longer confirming whether Chinese aircraft intercepted those flights, as it has in years past.

The missions were flown from Japan as part of Operation Neon, the Canadian military’s longstanding effort to document and disrupt vessels suspected of evading United Nations sanctions on the import of fuel and other commodities into North Korea.

...

Unlike in previous years, however, the military is not saying whether any of those flights were intercepted by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force.

...

In an apparent satirical social media post, Cardy 'welcomed' Chinese EV maker BYD in Canada, accompanied by an article on BYD's blacklist in Brazil over slave labour conditions at BYD's largest plant outside China.