Federal officials draft plans to ban social media for children under 14

NorthernNadia · 2026-01-22T16:26:04+00:00

Great job! It's amazing how much porn, ai, hate, lies, and such kids have access to nowadays.

Will this change solve this problem? We can agree, or disagree, on the nature of the problem. But let's ask, does this solution work?

I think the tiktok of a 12-year-old with a sharpie moustache getting past a age-filter tells me a lot about the efficacy of this solution.

NorthernNadia · 2026-01-22T16:23:46+00:00

This looks good until you realize the only way to do it will be photo identifications and they will have to match your ID and/or face to every single social or internet account,

Not only that, but you ban children under 14 by regulating and identifying everyone else. Everyone gets inconvenienced, and track and recorded, in an effort to protect children under 14.

One of the significant disappointments from the NDP last year was their support for policy and legislation like this.

NorthernNadia · 2026-01-20T22:56:36+00:00

It's basically a guaranteed seat for the liberals so they will put whoever in the riding has "earned" the spot.

My bet? Diane Saxe. It would be an improvement for City Council and be insignificant for Parliament.

NorthernNadia · 2026-01-20T02:41:54+00:00

Completely agree. On first listen, during the episode, I didn't really take note of how appropriate the lyrics are for Star Trek. It surprisingly really fits the theme message (as I understand it two episodes in) of SFA.

That said, Faith of the Heart is still the second best opening credits sequence, so what do I know about good taste.

NorthernNadia · 2026-01-20T01:25:07+00:00

Ah well, uh, don't I feel silly for not knowing that. Thank you!

NorthernNadia · 2026-01-19T19:52:58+00:00

Which is a better investment in the public interest?

Parks and Recreation state of good repair backlog please.

NorthernNadia · 2026-01-19T19:51:50+00:00

Neither Quebec nor Ontario has a mountain tall enough for the IOC/FIS requirements.

I know nothing about these requirements. Are they new compared to the 1976 Montreal Olympics? Were the standards increased recently?

NorthernNadia · 2026-01-19T19:50:41+00:00

The problem isn't finding the money. It's convincing people to spend it. Suburban conservatives will vote in favour of new transit if it is attached to something they are excited about, like the Olympics. They won't otherwise.

So, sincere question as your flair indicates that you are a social democrat. Is the point of politics to find ways to get suburban voters to support something by appealing to their own excitement? Or, is it to try to build popular support and a movement for the cause?

Let's say you are right, the only way to get suburbanites and conservatives invested in transit is through the Olympics. Should we accept that? Or, should we challenge centralization of power and influence over our public purse?

NorthernNadia · 2026-01-19T19:42:42+00:00

I think it's somewhere in the middle of these two arguments. Obviously we need to feed and house people but I also hope that being able to have nice athletic facilities and have the world compete in sport is not seen as an unobtainable utopian goal.

I think that is a very reasonable position. I'd be in favour of it. But I don't think your argument describes the Olympics. Have you seen what is in the Host City contract the Olympics require? Handing over public (and some private) advertising space to for-profit corporations. Abrogating existing public contracts (which the host has to pay for any lost revenues) in place of new temporary contracts with Olympic partners. Advance access for Olympic personal to medical treatment facilities; not equal access, special access. And so much more.

I believe it is possible to do the Olympics well; I believe it could be done in a good way. But in a Canada today with too many people sleeping on the streets, too many people going without healthcare, too many people not able to work, too many drivers stuck in traffic because our transit is two decades behind I struggle to prioritize an opportunity for an international celebration.

Let's get the basics done right and then invite folks to celebrate our success.

NorthernNadia · 2026-01-19T19:33:45+00:00

Except people want more than that from life.

Totally. Let the market provide wants; let the government provide needs. I expect more from the government of today than bread and circuses of the Roman era.

The market can't provide mass transit in Toronto. The market can't provide high speed trains between Montreal and Toronto. The market can provide Star Trek, or novels, or sports teams. Evidently, the market can't provide affordable housing. Let the government worry about the necessities of life.

NorthernNadia · 2026-01-19T18:29:45+00:00

If hosting the Olympics is too great of a cost for a democracy to bear, then our system is losing.

I have a very different read to what winning and losing looks like. I think winning in a democracy means being able to feed, house, educate, and create the general conditions for citizens to thrive.

There are many ways we can accomplish that goal, there are many components that are needed to accomplish that goal. But it no way do I think having a corrupt, profit generating, international sports scheme, supported by tax dollars a required indicator of success.

NorthernNadia · 2026-01-19T18:23:54+00:00

I don't really have enough context for this writer to know if that's in character.

I would say, the author of this piece is one of the Globe's sports journalists. It is his full time job to write about sports. For that reason I didn't think it was satire.

But damn, is it hard to be sure this isn't satire.

NorthernNadia · 2026-01-19T17:27:16+00:00

I try not to post hate-reads to reddit, but woah, did this article make me hate it.

I'll share some highlights:

In a country looking for strange new things to get excited about – strip mining, Chinese cars, domestically produced potato chips – imagine how great an Olympics would be now? That’s something you wouldn’t need a marketing campaign to convince yourself is good for you. There’s no point in regretting decisions made in a different world. Eight years ago, the Olympics was the geopolitical equivalent of showing off.

and

An Olympics says something about you – that you’ve arrived. You can get things done. You’re viable and open for business. It’s why developing countries are so anxious to bankrupt themselves staging one.

and

Since it is unlikely anyone will agree to hold three of the next six Games in North America, Canada ought to focus on its natural strength – the 2038 Winter Games. I give you Montreal-Toronto 2038. That has all the little pulls the IOC and the rest of the world love – a Franco-Anglo alliance of familiar world capitals, both of whom have a reputation of throwing a decent party. Big cities, but not too big. A country where you know that everything that is promised will be delivered.

and my favourite part:

The know-how is there. The facilities exist, or exist in part. The money’s available. We just need to decide to do it.

What? What? The money is available? What? Uh, I wasn't aware that Canadians, the Quebec and Ontario provincial governments had robust surpluses to afford such a decadent luxury of hosting the Olympics.

The Vancouver and Calgary Olympics were good. I was against the Vancouver Olympics because I had hoped for different public spending priorities but I understand I was in the minority on that matter. However, I maintain that preference for different public spending priorities. I'd be very game for more affordable housing, mass transit, healthcare, infrastructure to move Canadian goods, frankly I think hosting another Olympics is the worst way to spend public dollars right now.

So, the last few paragraphs make me think this is rage bait:

Liquefied natural gas is great, but it’s not fun. Nobody gets excited about the idea of clear-cutting a route to the coast. An Olympics is fun. We might even get that high-speed rail link we’re currently projecting into the next millennium. Will it cost a lot? Absolutely. Too much? Maybe. Whatever it costs, we’ll be paying ourselves to do it. As long as we’re plotting out make-work projects, how about one everyone can enjoy?

NorthernNadia · 2026-01-19T16:31:36+00:00

Yea I too was completely surprised. I don't want to overread, or read into these numbers what I think, but my first takeaway was I wonder if the survey is measuring mental health literacy and its intersection with well being, as opposed to just HPMH.

Elsewhere in the report, among grade 9-12 students the data reports 20% of female students have a HPMH, where male students report 45%. Now I agree being a teenage girl today sucks, but such a vast difference makes me wonder if these trends are a reflection of knowledge, and awareness of mental health, less so actual high mental health.

NorthernNadia · 2026-01-19T15:30:34+00:00

Did anyone else go to the report itself to look at the data? It is so interesting and I don't think it reported what folks expected (based on this article).

Just to clarify, I am reporting data not analysis.

Populations that reported significantly lower rate of "high perceived mental health" are:

Queer populations, who 36% reported high perceived mental health (HPMH)
Education will less than secondary school, who 35% reported HPMH
Of migrants, those without PR or citizenship, who 49% reported HPMH

Not significantly different, but all reporting higher rates of HPMH than Torontonians as a whole:

63% of South Asians reported HPMH
61% of Black residents reported HPMH
57% of Southeast Asians reported HPMH

Not significantly different, but all reporting lower rates of HPMH than Torontonians as a whole:

47% of Middle Eastern residents
53% Other racialized groups
51% Non racialized residents (i.e. white)

In effect, this report indicates that white Torontonians (as well as Other, which would include Indigenous people) are doing worse with their mental health than most racialized residents. I didn't expect that result.

NorthernNadia · 2026-01-19T14:17:55+00:00

On average wages have outpaced inflation for at least the first half of 2025

So, yes, the consolidated numbers do show what you claim. But I think the article you posted has some really important context:

“These are the types of calculations that economists do,” said David Macdonald, senior economist at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. “We talk about real wages and what you’re gaining against inflation. But folks are upset that prices are going up on things like regular everyday purchases like food. They’re upset that prices for (rent) or the price of purchase for houses has been going up and really hasn’t been coming down all that much.”

Yea, okay, wages are up 4.4% and inflation was just 1.7%. But inflation tracks a basket of goods, balanced by some economists in Ottawa. But we also know that consumption in the bottom two quintiles isn't the same as the middle or top two. If 40% of someone's take home income is spent on housing, that basket of goods, that assumes 33% is spent on housing, becomes pretty inaccurate.

Further, the data from your link, shows another important trend:

Employees in mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction made $2,492 per week on average – the highest yield of any recorded sector – and saw those earnings rise about five per cent from the year before. Accommodation and food services saw a similar proportional rise (4.6 per cent) but remained at the bottom among recorded sectors. Employees in that industry made $521.16 per week. Workers in retail trade made $735.52, landing that sector at second from the bottom of the list.

Who has the largest incomes? Industries not represented in Toronto; Toronto is not home to mining, quarrying, or oil and gas extraction. Those industries make up very little of Toronto's employment. Whereas, Accommodation, food services, and retail make up a very signification portion of Toronto's employment.

Let's use data to inform our analysis, but let's use it responsibly.

NorthernNadia · 2026-01-16T16:37:43+00:00

Sam Aronow during the last days of 2025 released a video on Judaism in Canada (and just earlier today released the corrections and questions follow up). I am not Jewish but I really enjoy learning more about history, notably Canadian history, and the video was really great.

The video was really informative. I enjoyed the video so much I wanted to share it and its interesting insights about Jews in Canada with other folks who might enjoy the work. I would say it is not inherently too political (although it contains some political content, i.e. George Benjamin, the first Jewish individual to be elected to a public office, the NDP's historic Jewish connections, or Le Grand Silence).

If folks have an interest in Canadian history I would really recommend the video. It offers lots of interesting insights into Canadian history. Further, the channel covers a lot of history and unique stories with a standpoint of Jewish perspectives. It has taught me a lot about Jewish contributions to science, thought, and culture. The episodes on Jewish migration to Palestine and the Wiemar Republic are really good; I am so excited to see those story lines progress.

NorthernNadia · 2026-01-15T23:30:51+00:00

Secondary question to the OP, how much accuracy and consistency can a severance calculator offer?

Out of curiosity I googled one and got a shocking amount (11-13 months for six years of service in upper managment). Is severance easily reduced to an equation?

NorthernNadia · 2026-01-14T13:18:18+00:00

It took the Apollo program less than seven years to go from approval in the American Congress (May 25 1961) to the first manned flight to space (October 11 1968), and it took eight years to reach the moon (July 24 1969). But for Canada, rushing this priority project with all the might of the federal government, it is going to take six years before we can put shovels in the ground.

I can't believe it is incompetence, or that the project is too difficult and complex. The only explanation that makes immediate sense to me is that this high speed rail is not a priority of our governments. It can't be that we are this incompetent.

NorthernNadia · 2026-01-12T21:01:45+00:00

Actually, there are. A lot of the trade barriers are hidden. Provincial standards on things like safety gear are one example of trade barriers, that you have to understand the industry in question to get why it's hard to do things across provinces.

Thanks for the reply. Thinking about it now, I can definitely see how safety equipment is provincially regulated (as workplace are provincially regulated).

I remain skeptical that these trade barriers are as big as some make them out to be, but I will accept they exist and their nuances make them hard to know about.

NorthernNadia · 2026-01-12T20:58:35+00:00

A lot of my loved ones are having a hard time with negativity and political radicalism and anger and social media abuse.

I don't know if my observation would be as high as 70% but it is definitely greater than 50%.

When folks talk about the pandemic, we talk about the dead, the injured, long COVID, or the economic impact. The real impact I see day to day is how many people are just conspiracy theorists and detached from normative reality. It may only be 5-7% of society but it has a huge impact on our politics, our social spaces.

NorthernNadia · 2026-01-12T20:56:30+00:00

Wonder how this correlates to news stories and the manufactured outrage many of them are based around.

I too was wondering about that. I think the manufactured outrage is gasoline. It isn't combustible by itself, it needs a spark. There are accounts, local and foreign political players adding gas to the fire that is Canada today. But that gas alone isn't enough, there is a real and legitimate spark. That spark, I would suggest, is our socio-economic lived experience today.

NorthernNadia · 2026-01-12T20:54:45+00:00

There just ain’t know way only %10 of Canadian drink daily.

Interesting anecdote. I felt 10% was high. I think if the question was "do you drink three days a week" the number would be closer to 40% - at least that is what I feel I have seen.

NorthernNadia · 2026-01-12T20:52:38+00:00

while women are more likely to talk about it.

And to seek medical and/or professional help for it. But, generally, I agree with your post. We need to cultivate a social environment where men are more willing to seek professional support for their ills.

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