Every time it gets this cold, I think about a night a few years ago when I realized how strong my privilege is. I was buying something off Kijiji, so I drove to an apartment building on the other side of the city and picked it up. When I got back to my car, it wouldn't start. 🧵
I had AMA, but the wait time to get a boost was around three hours. It was probably -25 or so, and hadn't exactly dressed for an extended period outside. So I decided to wait in the buzzer area of the apartment building.
I stood there for about three hours. During that time, a couple dozen people came through into the building. Not one asked me why I was there. Most were friendly. No one called security. Probably a third of them asked me, unprompted, if I needed to get let in.
I was able to stay warm because of how I looked. My whole drive home, I couldn't stop thinking about that. About how people assumed I belonged. That I wasn't a threat. That I deserved respect by default, even though I was a perfect stranger.
But here's the thing. That evening, I was just a human being desperately trying to not freeze. The same way that hundreds of others in our city do. Except many of them don't look like me. And no one asks if they need to get let into an apartment building.
The existence of homelessness is a societal choice. In a climate such as ours, it is an indefensibly cruel one. If it's said that a society should be measured by how it treats its most vulnerable members, what does it say about us that we let people sleep in this?
I don't know what the solution is here, but I know it's not voting for parties and people that try to balance their budgets on the backs of our most marginalized. I went to bed last night knowing I'd be warm and safe. I want that for everyone else.

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More from @aaronhoyland

11 Feb
Here's a little secret for straight dudes in relationships: if you make an effort to be romantic and thoughtful throughout the year, your partner probably isn't going to care about what you do for Valentine's Day.
The reason it matters to people is because it's their one chance to experience romantic gestures. There's no reason to save those for special occasions.
If they like flowers, buy them flowers on a random Tuesday for no reason. If they like back rubs, give them a back rub when you know they've had a hard day. Give them a day off without kids in July. Whatever it is that's important to them.
Read 5 tweets
11 Feb
I understand that everyone wants to get “back to normal” as soon as possible, but seeing so many people complaining about vaccine delivery delays of a few weeks while poorer countries won’t get any vaccines for years is a really bad look.
“But I might not get vaccinated until the late fall!” Yup. And a highly-vulnerable immunocompromised person in Ghana probably won’t get it until 2023.
We Canadians like to brag about being responsible global citizens. So prove it. Sit down, be quiet and wait your turn.
Read 4 tweets
20 Jan
As we watch Keystone XL go up in smoke, if you’ll indulge me, I’d like to offer some unsolicited advice to Premier @jkenney. 🧵

Most Albertans don’t love oil and gas. What Albertans love is the prosperity that oil and gas brought to our province.
I can appreciate that, for a province with some of the largest oil reserves on the planet, the idea of a world transitioning away from oil & gas is scary, and many desperately wish we could return to the halcyon days of high oil prices and the corresponding bulging public purse.
However, there are realities at play here well outside our control.

1) Oil demand is going away. We can quibble about the timing, and how long the residual demand tail will last, but there is no mistaking what’s happening here.
Read 9 tweets
6 Dec 20
30 years ago, a man walked into École Polytechnique and killed 14 women. As an engineering student many years later, we were taught about the tragedy, but as I’ve grown older, I’ve come to realize that my initial understanding was inadequate. 🧵
One man may have committed the act, but make no mistake: misogyny killed these women. Patriarchy killed these women. The belief that a woman could have the audacity to move beyond the confines of traditional gender roles killed these women.
This was not just one angry man. This was an inevitable byproduct of a system. Even now, there is an entire online radicalization pipeline ready to tell confused or angry boys and men that it’s the women’s fault. They’re the ones you should hate.
Read 6 tweets
8 May 20
Before we all cheer too loudly, it’s worth admitting something.

This is not a problem with Brendan Leipsic. It’s not a problem with hockey. This is a problem with manhood.
These comments don’t appear out of thin air. They’re the product of attitudes and beliefs that are fostered over a lifetime. Attitudes towards women. Attitudes towards people that are different than you.
This isn’t about hockey. This is about how we raise men and boys. This is about the values that we as a society choose to instil. Men are not born valuing women by their dress size, nor that the best way to bond with your buddies is to mock others.
Read 6 tweets
4 Mar 20
Thread: Because I'm a deeply stupid person, I'm going to briefly wade into American politics.

I can understand how exciting it must be for progressive Americans to have a candidate like Bernie to rally behind. Finally, someone espousing honest-to-goodness progressive values.
Medicare-for-all! 100% renewable energy! Free college! I can only imagine how energizing it is to have these ideas platformed on the national stage. And he's polling so well! No wonder the Bernie bros and gals can't wait to get out of bed and spread his message far and wide.
Unfortunately, there is a cold, hard truth to America. We saw it in November 2016. We saw it when George W. Bush's approval rating hit 90 (NINETY!) percent the weeks after 9/11. And we saw it yesterday with Biden's success.

America is not a progressive country.
Read 12 tweets

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