Rob MacDonald

More social workers in schools, less police. More mental health services, less police. More help for addictions, less police. More anti-poverty programs, less police. More decriminalization of drugs, less police. More anti-racism initiatives, less police.

New from me: When Doug Ford refuses to disclose records, loses in court, and then moves to change the law to avoid disclosure, it raises a simple question. What is Ford trying so hard to hide? canadianlawyermag.com/news/opinion/h…

17 B.C. Pride societies call for MLA’s censure, resignation ctvnews.ca/vancouver/arti…

My latest for @TorontoStar. Increasing surveillance and extending police powers doesn’t solve homelessness or drug use on transit — it merely opens up the broader public to arbitrary punishment, including the potential for jail time and $10,000 fines. thestar.com/opinion/contri…

It's ironic that Councillor Matt Luloff was convicted of drunk driving as he voted to expand police powers of transit special constables to fine and arrest people with addictions. Privilege at its finest! cbc.ca/news/canada/ot…

Once again, Sutcliffe lobbies for things no one in our city asked for or wanted!

OpenAI’s head of policy Chan Park met with AI Minister Evan Solomon today. The U.S. tech company did not flag concerns about the Tumbler Ridge Shooter until after the killing spree. I asked Park repeatedly if he has a message for victims. Here’s what happened.

Evelyn Gigantes, Ottawa Centre’s beloved former MPP, has passed away. She served Ontario in two prominent ministries in @BobRae48’s government. She was a trail blazer on women’s rights, gay rights and affordable housing. She was a mentor to many and she’ll be missed dearly.

Not only did @fordnation shut down supervised consumption sites, his government paid up to $300/hour for a private investigation firm to gather anecdotal evidence against the sites — because they had no real evidence to present in the Charter challenge. thetrillium.ca/insider-news/s…

@HorizonOttawa In any other year, Leiper would have voted against this budget. I suppose things changed when he announced his intention to run for mayor. Kavanaugh was also a disappointment.

The vote on the police budget: Yes: Kitts, Carr, Leiper, Dudas, Kavanagh, Lo, Plante, Curry, Gower, Hill, Desroches, Hubley, Kelly, Devine, Brockington, Brown, Luloff, Skalski, Tierney, Sutcliffe No: Johnson, Menard, Troster, Bradley, King Carried 20-5

(🧵) We're finally here – it's budget day at Ottawa City Council! There's been a lot of back and forth between councillors over the past week, so it may get heated... Follow along below for updates and watch live on YouTube: youtube.com/watch?v=wR9rHd…

@HorizonOttawa Curry is a wingnut! ANCHOR also appears to be the enemy and target of councillors like Curry who want this budget to pass. Shame on them.

Councillor Curry coming in hot with some of the worst takes we've heard yet today: - this budget increase should actually be way higher - not supporting it means you're anti-woman (clip to follow soon for context)

@SamHersh01 @OttawaPolice History shows the "commnity safety model" proposed by OPS leads to more surveillance, harassment, and violence in impoverished communities and violence against racialized people. That's what this budget is about: Having more police where they aren't wanted or needed.

Smh councillors calling the biggest increase in the @OttawaPolice budget in the last 15 years "reasonable." There is *nothing* reasonable about giving the OPS a $30 million budget increase while we can't even provide enough emergency services for people. It's absurd.

The usual excellent City Hall political insight by ⁦@KatePorter613⁩ on whether the mayor’s recent announcements are pre-campaigning. (She doesn’t say … but the answer is yes! Also, great commentary by ⁦@gmacofglebe⁩.) #ottnews cbc.ca/news/canada/ot…

BREAKING: The OPP Anti-Rackets Branch has launched an investigation into Keel Digital Solutions, which received money from the Skills Development Fund. Probe is related to different government funding after Premier Doug Ford's office called police following a forensic audit.

In Ontario, 82% of inmates in jail are on remand, meaning they are legally innocent and waiting for trial. 20 years ago, it was more like 30%. What’s happening? And why are politicians saying we need to make bail harder to get? cbc.ca/news/canada/on…

36 years ago today, 14 women killed in mass #femicide. Today, we still don't recognize it as such. We will hear from many leaders today who do not #CallItFemicide. They are not aware. They will not post again until next Dec. 6. We need action not performance.

Thank you for calling it #femicide. Yes, it was a mass femicide - recognized as such by westernized world, except for #Canada who will not #CallItFemicide

@MatthewBehren11 @_MarkSutcliffe It is sad how many Santa Clause parades and Christmas celebrations are today! It speaks to how little this day resonates with most Canadians. That's... Why Canada needs to recognize the crime of femicide — on Dec. 6 and beyond theconversation.com/why-canada-nee… #CallItFemicide

From article: ➡️ PolySeSouvient says while the gvt is acting on expert panel’s call to review firearm classification system, it does not appear to be following suit when it comes to its findings around the #SKS. ➡️“It’s really regrettable that the gvt decided to do more consultation instead of just implementing this recommendation, which we consider to be a fair compromise." ➡️ @MarkJCarney government could take immediate action when it comes to banning new sales of the SKS, while providing exemptions to Indigenous hunters who primarily use them for hunting, as well as grandfathering older models. ➡️ With the @liberal_party committing to launch #buyback program for individual gun owners with banned weapons before end of year, the availability of modern SKS models for gun owners to purchase with taxpayer-funded compensation would undermine purpose of program nationalpost.com/news/politics/… via @StephTaylornews

@OttawaCitizen Tierney fails to point out that only 1% of OPS calls are Priority One calls, which are defined as crimes in progress, imminent risk of violence, or harm to oneself. The vast majority do not involve violence and could be better handled by ANCHOR and other more qualified agencies.

Is your councillor a chronic no-voter on city budgets? | Opinion ottawacitizen.com/opinion/budget…

Here is our statement on the 36th anniversary of the mass femicide shooting at Polytechnique, which responds to today's government announcement on #GunControl: polysesouvient.ca/Documents_2025… #Dec6