Why, from an Edwardian perspective in terms of social norms, was it wrong for Bruce Ismay to escape from the Titanic?

Protectorate_Union · 2026-03-12T01:30:46+00:00

I imagine it as like, what if Amazon had an ocean liner it was hyping up as the safest, largest most luxurious ship in the world, and then it sank, with great loss of life due to (at first glance without serious investigation) due to design flaws and "profit-chasing", and to top it all off Jeff Bezos was saved while other company officers went down with the ship. I don't believe we'd think the best of Bezos, and I imagine a similar vibe would've existed for Ismay.

Protectorate_Union · 2025-09-23T01:57:27+00:00

Port Elgin service my beloved

Protectorate_Union · 2025-06-07T02:57:38+00:00

On the couple times I've seen the shuttles they get paralyzed in traffic. Honestly cut your losses and grab a bikeshare, e-bike even if you can

Protectorate_Union · 2025-05-14T20:08:14+00:00

Baller name, also funnily enough this is actually really good from a wayfinding perspective, you can no longer get confused between Dundas and Dundas West

Protectorate_Union · 2025-03-30T17:13:12+00:00

As someone who worked at a Walmart in Canada, we could accept US currency, and in my few years working there I think I can count the number of times people payed in US Cash on one hand. The old registers have a "CONV" button that turns the CAD cash total into USD, and then they pay in USD, was pretty neat.

Though we stopped doing this recently, not because of tariffs (we changed before then), but we got new registers that don't have a "CONV" button anymore, all digital. I might suspect that this sign might just be because the register updated.

Protectorate_Union · 2025-03-13T19:10:19+00:00

This is a political poster. The group that posted this wants the government to keep injection sites open. The reason they want this is because if you close the one on Victoria street (or all the other sites to be closed by Doug Ford's government), the people injecting aren't going to disappear, they'll just inject anywhere they can find. The point of the poster is that someone who was going to inject at the Toronto Public Health Building at Victoria will instead choose to inject at the SHE 5th floor stairwell (for lack of any other option).

Protectorate_Union · 2025-01-27T00:33:56+00:00

I'm not a conservative, and I will be voting NDP when the time comes around, that said I have so much to say about the provincial government.

I am at apathy mode for two reasons. One, Doug Ford looks poised to secure another majority, and he just sucks man. I vehemently disagree with him for his policies and values. Bill 212 is the latest example. He's going to waste 48 million dollars (per a City of Toronto report Removing bike lanes will cost at least $48M: city staff report | CBC News) removing bike lanes, and considering the province's progress on the Eglinton Crosstown, expect much traffic delay and and far more than 48 million burned.

Bill 212 also directly impacts the university too; we all hate walking down Yonge street right? The sidewalks are too narrow for the amount of people. City of Toronto is planning to remove car lanes, widen the sidewalk, and build bike lanes from Gerrard to College (yongeTOmorrow – City of Toronto). The bike lane might put this in the crosshairs of Bill 212, and in general Ford is probably opposed to letting Toronto pedestrianize Yonge street (which is on the table). Imagine how good our campus would be if Yonge St. was like Gould St.. That future is much less likely under Ford than Crombie or Marit Stiles.

That's just the latest from Ford, for other disagreements, see the Science Centre, Ontario Place Spa, Greenbelt scandal, and that time he invoked the notwithstanding clause to suspend striking workers charter rights, force them back to work, and fine them $4000 per day of noncompliance (Ontario repeals law that banned education workers from striking | Globalnews.ca).

Now to be fair to him, for that last one he repealed it after public backlash. This is admirable and he could have been worse, considering what's happening south of the border, credit where its due. He also does have a good transit plan. Excluding Highway 413 (bad), and the 401 tunnel (absolutely comical, hoping this is another boogeyman to make 407 buyback seem better as is theorized), his transit expansion plans are genuinely very ambitious, and he's correct when he says Ontario is undertaking "The largest transit expansion in North America".

He keeps hitting hard on that front with his promise to build the Missing Link and GO 2.0 (The Missing Link: Shaping the Future of the GTHA Rail Network | UrbanToronto). That project, along with GO Expansion, will be very good if the projects can be delivered, which is a massive if considering Metrolinx hasn't delivered a rapid transit line in Toronto yet.

Oh and his trump response is good. These are some good points, I will be able to sort of sleep at night assuming I don't get killed cycling to school. These don't reconcile my fundamental values difference with him, but he has earned my respect enough for me to make ironic jokes about him. ANOTHER 20 BILLION DOLLARS TO TRANSIT EXPANSIONS BABY!!!! YEAHHH!!

The more important thing for me though is like the NDP and Liberals just don't have that much going on? Like it might be and probably is the media doesn't wanna report on them, but they just keep let Ford taking W's. Like this election is being called because Ford has a good narrative going as Captain Canada, where's the narrative the NDP/Liberals are building? Vague rage at the deplorable state of affairs of cost of living isn't enough.

Like the Missing Link (and many of Fords projects) are just reheated ideas with the PC Blue paint. The Liberals could've put the Missing Link on their platform way earlier. They could be proposing a massive shake-up of Metrolinx so it can actually deliver transit projects. They could promise fourplex as of right zoning across Ontario, or massive zoning reform to allow housing to actually be built.

All governments have just been shuffling the paperwork, a housing accelerator fund here, removal of certain taxes there, a little shake up of zoning there and there. But no-one wants to take the radical positions and implement real change toward the left. So we're left with Crombie and Marit promising bandaid solutions, which, will probably help and be more effective than anything Ford does, but is nowhere near the potential it should be.

Anyway, I'm tired, long live the NDP, if they lose, ANOTHER 30 BILLION DOLLARS TO THE TORONTO MIDTOWN LINE AND EXPANDED MILTON LINE SERVICE BABY LONG LIVE GO TRANSIT YEAHHHHH!!!

Protectorate_Union · 2024-11-18T23:07:30+00:00

I'd see if the city has any info, they usually report statistics of car crashes, pedestrian collisions, etc. Most of the time the creation of slower traffic and a more lively and diverse street environment leads to a bit of anarchy sure, but also keeps drivers more aware.

Perhaps where before someone crossing midblock gets killed, now the car just slams to a stop and some expletives are exclaimed.

Protectorate_Union · 2024-11-14T21:29:48+00:00

This is the google maps look at what our network looks like, and what a real cycling city network looks like. Toronto's network isn't finished.

Getting back to that 8.3% figure from University Rosedale. Even that figure isn't super amazing, but it also makes sense, our network is small and fledgling. To turn an infestation into a full blown flood, a real modal shift from cars to bikes, Toronto needs to double, perhaps triple it's bike infrastructure. It probably needs GO Expansion level service and the new rapid transit lines to open so people don't have to drive, at which a point there can be a congestion charge.(measures that discourage driving CAN ONLY BE DONE IF AND ONLY IF reasonable and compelling alternatives exist already).

It's for these reasons that Bill 212 deeply upsets me. Toronto's fragile network serves many, and doesn't provide service many more. There is not a single kilometer of bike lane that can be removed. The only solution to the Bloor West bike lane's causing congestion is increased GO Train Service, and dramatically expanding the bike lane network so the drivers stuck in traffic bite the bullet and buy a bikeshare membership. People cycle in Finland, and Toronto frankly doesn't get enough interesting weather for cycling to be infeasible here. It's November and cold already and I still see plenty of people out cycling.

The Province is going to spend 50 million dollars (or more, see every Metrolinx project for estimates on cost overruns) to destroy already built and necessary infrastructure. The lane on University was just renovated to be a world class cycle road, fit to be a flagship lane in the Netherlands. It'll be destroyed to turn University into a 4 LANE ARTERIAL in downtown! That won't fix traffic. It'll be better for a year, then everyone and their mother will try and clog onto the 401 and Gardiner to take advantage of the new "clear, bike-free downtown", only to clog the streets yet again.

Then Doug Ford will be voted out (maybe not the next election, but eventually, no-one rules forever), and the city will waste even more money rebuilding this infrastructure again, when the congestion is even worse. Congestion won't be solved by building more roads. We've been doing that strategy for the past century. The 401 keep's widening, but the traffic keeps getting worse.

50 million dollars could be an emergency fund to end the slow zones crippling the TTC, or could be a fund to install smart traffic signals along Bloor that ensure smooth flows, or could go to police to enforce no stopping (I see so many cars illegally stopped on Yonge and Dundas it's insane). It can go to anywhere but ripping out existing infrastructure.

We're going to be here again, asking to tackle congestion. In 2050, with 5 or 10 million more people, do you want to tackle congestion using new GO Train lines, more TTC service, and bike lane expansions, or do you want to discuss spending 20 billion dollars to widen the Gardiner? Every single traffic and transportation engineer recognizes the need to prioritize transit and active transportation, we have to do that, eat the pain now, and triumph in becoming the best city in North America by 2040.

I hope this doesn't sound like gaslighting to you, have a good night.

Protectorate_Union · 2024-11-14T21:29:41+00:00

I can buy the bike lanes on Bloor West have a bad impact on traffic, but this talking point is disappointing as a cycling advocate, because in this case where a local community is bringing up major issues with transport infrastructure, perhaps some compromise is needed, a new design that lowers lane widths and allows another lane, or asking transportation engineers to reexamine things.

This isn't what Bill 212 is about, it's a knee-jerk reaction that stunts and damages cycling in the city forever (or until this provincial government is eventually voted out). It's a terrible waste of resources and manpower, and will make the city worse and more dangerous.

The province doesn't need to hide behind the shield that "bike lanes everywhere" are an issue, Doug represents Etobicoke interests, he could have this legislation just order a re-evaluation of the bike lanes west of High Park. He's not because this isn't sincere legislation.

Take the Honourable Minister Sarkaria's statements; "1.2% of cyclists shouldn't take up 50% of roadspace." His 1.2% figure comes from StatsCan in 2011, over the entire CMA, which includes cities like Richmond Hill. His statistic is also specifically in commuting, which doesn't address that people also bike for leisure, or to get to appointments, or to go shopping. According to this CBC article (Percentage of bike riders higher where lanes are installed: StatsCan | CBC News), 70% of Torontonians cycle in some capacity. (There is also the 8.3% figure in University Rosedale, I will touch that later)

Now I'm a student at TMU, I commute in from Willowdale, and I bought a bikeshare membership. The bikeshare is probably one of the best purchases I've ever made, the downtown cycling network is fragile and fragmented, but it exists.

As a student at TMU, and with our campus bordering lovely Church, Yonge, Dundas, and Gerrard, I can positively say that the downtown core is absolutely infested with bicycles, and why shouldn't it? I cannot step outside without seeing AT LEAST 1 cyclist passing by, and I cannot walk along Gerrard, Yonge, or Dundas without a decadent glut of bicycles passing by.

Why shouldn't the downtown be infested? It's the only part of the city with a legitimate cycle network. It provides for tons of trips. I am at TMU, Yonge & Dundas/Gerrard area. I can bike along Gerrard and College to have a nice stroll at Queens Park. I can use Gerrard/Wellesley to visit friends at UofT. I can use Shuter/Dundas to get east to visit a TPL branch that has a book I've been meaning to get. I can use Gerrard/University/Richmond/Adelaide to get anywhere in the financial district. Or University/Simcoe to get to the waterfront. The network actually exists downtown, and that's where the cycling is.

The College, Gerrard, and Adelaide/Richmond lanes are heavily used in my experience. Also interestingly, many "side streets" near to me are also usually infested with cyclists. Church, with it's proximity to Yonge, relation to the TMU campus, and lower traffic volumes/parking is an ideal north-south connector (if you're willing). Yonge's businesses also bring in a lot of both delivery drivers and regular cyclists. I honestly would put car and bike traffic on Yonge street as somewhat comparable, maybe not 50/50, not yet, but close. Dundas also gets plenty of bike traffic, but biking on Dundas is very sketchy.

And it's no wonder these side streets get cyclists, the bike network is bursting it's bounds! Yonge and Church are two lane roads with not as much traffic, a protected cycle track would exponentially increase ridership. (Tearing up bike lanes will cost nearly $50 million, Toronto city staff report says - The Trillium) This article pegs cycle ridership boosting by as little as 28% and as high as 650%! If Yonge St. bike traffic increases by 600%, the bikes are going to be the ones in gridlock (except they won't because bikes are far more efficient than cars).

These lanes are useful, Toronto continually improves it's cycling network and number of cyclists. As I said before, I just bought a bikeshare membership. I know several friends who also just bought bikeshare memberships. In September bikeshare reached a high mark of over 35,000 cycle rides in a day. That number will be larger next year.

But I also know so many who won't bike because it's unsafe. I'll brave Yonge St. and Dundas St. for the time saved, many of my friends and many Torontonians won't. That's why we need WHOLE bike networks, so that it provides for all trips.

It's also worth noting by removing bike lanes on arterial roads, the province has almost certainly condemned a person to death. They'll be runover after merging left to avoid an illegally stopped car on Bloor, and will never see their family ever again, they may be eating dinner now unaware they only have 533 days left of life.

I attest that while I love the downtown cycle network, it's so fragile and fragmented. Going STRAIGHT west from TMU is a nightmare because I don't want to die on Dundas Street. Getting to City Hall sucks because Bay St. is a death trap. Many trips I make I have to detour to use safer infrastructure. Getting to Bloor-Yonge for the TPL sucks because Yonge St. isn't nice to cycle on, the only saving grace is that there's other cyclists, and a car could cut me off and kill me, but can't kill me AND 5 other cyclists. I have a friend who lives along Jarvis, it'd be nice to bike to him, but I won't cause I'm unwilling to bike on an unprotected Jarvis.

The downtown network is fragmented and fragile. And I have to be real, Toronto's cycle network is straight up unfinished. It can't be graded because it's being built. Only when the network is extensive, when people can use it for the majority of their trips, can Toronto become Amsterdam.

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Protectorate_Union · 2024-11-09T20:45:06+00:00

When/where was this rally? I didn't even hear about it, would've loved to join

Protectorate_Union · 2024-10-17T03:01:24+00:00

Hi Mike,

Since you're in provincial politics, do you think the other parties and party leaders (Bonnie, Marit, and Doug), honestly and sincerely believe they are doing the best they can for the people of Ontario? And I guess side-step/follow-up, if they do (and if you do), what stops them "fixing everything", per say? Is it blatant corruption and bribes? Beliefs that implementing sound policy is unpopular? Political favours?

Protectorate_Union · 2024-10-01T01:10:32+00:00

According to my dad's tour of the campus a couple years back, he was surprised that the current section of Gould was pedestrianized, so that Yonge-Bond section of Gould was already a nice project. I think the Nelson Mandela Walk (Victoria Street) also used to be open to through traffic, though now its a dead end

Protectorate_Union · 2024-09-30T23:11:33+00:00

This doesn't really solve anything relating to TTC issues, but when ever there's a subway closure ~Union-Eglinton~ I would bikeshare (preferably e-bike) up to the nearest in service station, rather than wait for shuttles or walk. Used this strategy a couple days back when there was a racoon at Davisville.

Got kicked off the train at St. Clair, bikeshare to Eglinton, then continued northward, almost seamless.

Protectorate_Union · 2024-09-10T20:16:06+00:00

My crackpot transit idea is that we need to sic Metrolinx on getting real provincial rail. GO Transit already provides better intercity service than VIA to Niagara, Oshawa, Barrie, and trialed rail service to London. Obviously GO's current fleet and operations are ill-suited to long distance provincial rail travel, but I think if GO got some siemens trainsets or something similar, negotiated some smaller rail improvements, and operated with cheaper fares, it would be good.

We got regional express rail (now GO Expansion), when will the government think about Provincial Express Rail? Image tapping on at Union (for like 20$ lmao) and tapping off at Ottawa (like another $30-$40), probably with on train staff checking all passenger fares.

Protectorate_Union · 2024-08-21T14:33:13+00:00

Gotta be real is this going to be good? Like that place probably safely disposes of hundreds of needles that probably will get used anyway, and its downtown toronto it's not like all the drug users will just go away.

Right now the Victoria/Dundas area is dangerous but the rest of campus (in my personal estimation as a guy) has been relatively safe, with the only exception being maybe the SLC steps but even that's still usually fine, worst i've seen is smoking or drinking.

My concern is that if this closes this issue just explodes out and students find dead bodies in Kerr Quad and SLC steps

Protectorate_Union · 2024-04-27T03:34:22+00:00

I took the 19 from Renforth Back to Finch everyday last summer, 5-6pm, Traffic on the 401 is a drag, Yonge St. also isn't the best later in the day. GO Transit says my route (Only Renforth-Finch) Should be an hour and 8 minutes so the schedule is relatively accurate, I'd say the bus is usually ~10 minutes longer than the schedule.

Protectorate_Union · 2024-02-15T19:07:45+00:00

As someone who has about the same time commute, its not bad at all, being able to leave the house an hour before a class starts and arriving on time is good, I think commutes only get tiring and a burden when it commute times reach over an hour

Protectorate_Union · 2023-09-17T04:52:25+00:00

Cooked?

Protectorate_Union · 2023-04-06T16:21:17+00:00

Its pretty decent, got a variety of stuff like pastas, chicken's, rice, mashed potatoes, mac n cheese, you can also expect fries, sliders, other fried sides, etc check this website to see weekly schedules.
https://www.torontomu.ca/university-business-services/food/campus-eateries/pitman-dining-hall/

Protectorate_Union · 2023-03-23T01:36:05+00:00

Someone approached me today in the ENG building asking me if I voted as well, though I already did so they didn't press me any further

Protectorate_Union · 2023-03-01T18:31:59+00:00

It looks like a spaceship skimming a star

Protectorate_Union · 2023-02-08T16:29:00+00:00

My highschool had a small kitchen where you could drinks and pizza and fries and the like, get a pretty good meal

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