Melissa Montovani 🌈

"One day, when it's safe, when there's no personal downside to calling a thing what it is, when it's too late to hold anyone accountable, everyone will have always been against this." —Omar El Akkad, October 25, 2023 📖 Learn More: penguinrandomhouse.com/books/777485/o…

Please enjoy my cartoon for Thursday's @TorontoStar

You can’t take our country — and you can’t take our game.

When they come for the freckle-faced people and stories, then you know that no one is safe from having their stories about their differences banned

If you care about research, science, and the nonprofit sector, please read this thread. 👇🏻🧵

A family in Sudbury is paying $400 to build a luxury spa in downtown Toronto. That's the Cost of Doug, and it’s been the same pattern all year long. Things have got to change in this province, and fast.

For those of you clutching your pearls at a 60 billion dollar deficit, you might be interested in knowing before you vote Conservative that during Harpers 8 yrs as PM, his deficit was 127B. Trudeau inherited a lot of it. AND, Harper was handed a surplus when he took office. Fact.

Dear Ontario Premier Doug Ford (@fordnation), My 10-year-old son was identified with a need last year and had to change public schools. I now bike him 2.2km to school in the mornings and he bikes home alone. We use the 8-year-old Bloor Street bike lanes which make the roads safe for him to do this. With the roads full of Amazon delivery vans, speeding Ubers, massive buses, and whizzing food delivery e-bikes my son was nervous to bike alone. We got him a rear view mirror and bike lights and practiced together a few times. He uses the Bloor Street bike lanes which are full of many other kids riding to and from school. You are now proposing to spend $48M in provincial taxpayer money (1) to overrule the wishes of the City of Toronto (2, 3, 4) to rip out these bike lanes, which you know pose a direct safety threat. (5) If this happens we’ll need to ask his grandfather to pick him up in his car. I’ll likely start driving him in the morning more since his grandfather's car can’t fit his bike on the way home. Instead of what we need and want—*more* bike lanes that are proven to ease congestion, traffic, and pollution (6)—you’re proposing I spend more money, use more gas, spew more fumes, get less exercise, and create more car traffic. In 2017 you spoke about bike lanes on @TVO and said: "You're nervous when there's no bike lanes. At least I was. We have to make sure there's never a death in the city. One death is way too many when it comes to bicycle riders. I felt so much safer when it's separated." (7) Please reverse course here. Keep the bike lanes. It’s not too late. Thank you, Neil Pasricha // (1) cbc.ca/news/canada/to… (2) cbc.ca/news/canada/to… (3) thestar.com/news/olivia-ch… (4) cycleto.ca/ilovebikelanes (5) thestar.com/politics/provi… (6) epub.wupperinst.org/frontdoor/deli… (7) instagram.com/p/DAV_NkJxi7J/ // CC: Ontario Minister of Transportation Prabmeet Sarkaria (@PrabSarkaria), Ontario MPP Marit Stiles (@MaritStiles), Ontario MPP Jessica Bell (@JessicaBellTO), Ontario MPP Chris Glover (@chrisglover), Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow (@oliviachow), Toronto Councillor Alejandro Bravo (@bravodavenport), Toronto Councillor Dianne Saxe (@DianneSaxxe), Doctors for Safe Cycling (@Docs4Cycling), Cycle Toronto (@CycleToronto) Chrystia Freeland (@cafreeland), Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau), Jon Haidt (@JonHaidt), Lenore Skenazy (@FreeRangeKids), and Jeff Speck (@JeffSpeckFAICP)

Not the obituary I wanted to read today. mlb.com/news/billy-bea…

@thisisnefertiti I meant to that governing body—sorry! Anyway, it’s possible that she could lose her license to practice therapy or have some remedial work needed. The things she said to you could lead to eating and feeding disorders in clients, and should never be considered therapeutic.

@thisisnefertiti OMG…this is horrible & certainly not trauma informed. If she’s a therapist, she would have to have a governing body as a registered social worker, marriage and family therapist, etc, & you can make a complaint to that governing about the harm she caused you.

Therapist was fatphobic so it’s cancelled… was explaining to her that I don’t like the idea that ppl will treat me better just bc I lost weight and she was like “whats wrong with ppl wanting to be nicer to someone who looks like they’ve put more love and effort into themselves”

He’s giving more of his MPPs a raise and has created the biggest cabinet in Ontario’s history while people struggle to pay their bills, find a home, and find a family doctor.

Doug Ford just appointed a $10-million cabinet and took off on a 19-week vacation.

Why are Canadian media not treating this as front page news of utmost importance — (have you SEEN how EVERY vacation that JustinTrudeau takes is covered???)

@ericsmithrocks Ooh! Welcome to my country and my past self’s city, which I’ll be visiting tomorrow, too. What else will you do in Toronto while you’re here?

Hi from Buffalo and tomorrow, Toronto! Remember… just a bunch of guys. 👋🏽

@girlfriendmaya @alitlstrawberry I’m glad my current doctor is not like that all though. Feel lucky tbh

@girlfriendmaya @alitlstrawberry Yeah, but it’s common. Experienced it in situations where I hadn’t even looked up conditions, but could see the dr giggling to themselves. And know someone w/ amblyopia who was asked as a teen “are you going to fix that?” after staring and making her uncomfy about it

every time i see healthcare providers making jokes about “patients who have too much medical knowledge and diagnose themselves with rare diseases,” i think of two different patients in a clinic where i used to work. each of them were convinced they had rare autoimmune diseases.

Wishing you a love like this.