By over-criminalizing social issues we are making a decision to create a huge volumes of files with questionable public interest and deterrent effect.

Meanwhile, there are persistent calls to better address serious crimes and disorder.

Bear with me.. 1/

#abpoli #yegcc #yyccc

https://twitter.com/laurby/status/1748466910101180489

Courts are busy. Remands are busy. Probation is busy. Lawyers are busy. Police are busy.

And they are busiest with high volumes of minor crime that turn into long-term cycles of criminality due to circumstances and laws that trap them in a way that's hard to break out of 2/

The last few years of COVID protests have exposed many more Canadians to the criminal justice system.

Apparently the JCCF is one of those groups as their statement raises issues that are mostly status quo in the early stages of criminal matters.

A few things 👇 #abpoli #mbpoli

https://twitter.com/_llebrun/status/1609694228975697920

1. "This charge is wholly unexpected and inexplicable." Well, no. Any kind of tampering with a judge HEARING YOUR OWN CASE is hugely aggravating and will almost always attract criminal consequences, especially when you admit you did it.

See the orange?

It's set to become one of 5 new suburbs in #yyc.

I found myself wondering what's in this orange area.

Turns out it's an intact riparian area, on the way to being destroyed because of our relentless outward growth.

A🧵on what we're losing 1/ #yyccc #abpoli This is the former Ricardo Ranch. It's 570 hectares and was previously part of an Area Structure Plan engage.calgary.ca/RicardoRanch

As the maps show, environmentally sensitive areas are acknowledged, but barley mentioned in the plan, with few concrete promises of protection. 2/

The history of conservation and environmentalism in Alberta is something that isn't spoken about enough but there's been some amazing people that have done amazing things in our province.

One of the most significant actions involved the Oldman River Dam - long🧵 1/ #abpoli You might remember that the Oldman River was central to recent opposition to the Grassy Mountain Mine, but this wasn't its first time in the spotlight.

What started as opposition to damming the river in the 1970s led to a historical shift in Canadian environmental law 2/

1/ Read the Trails Act yesterday and many people smarter than me have already commented, but here's a thread about what it means for the environment and if it's actually good.

Short conclusion: it's not

Why: more OHVs in more places = more destruction

👇 #ableg #abpoli 2/ The Act essentially gives the Minister unfettered power to create trails on any and all public land across Alberta. There are no checks on the Minister's power - regulations don't even apply.

Jason Nixon's friends want a new trail somewhere? Like magic, he can make it.

With a new city council now sitting in #yyc, it would be great to see some renewed conversations about the status of biodiversity and natural areas in the city, which is suffering as we continue to grow.

Going to add to this thread with ideas and concerns #yyccc 1/ To start: the 80,000 LED streetlights that were installed as of 2017. Great for energy efficiency, bad for bugs and other creatures (as our normal streetlights, but these are worse).

Dead bugs and moths = bad for biodiversity 2/ #yyccc

theguardian.com/environment/20…

1/An excellent piece from @NancySMacdonald raising important questions about human-wildlife conflicts and the evolution (or lack thereof) of our policy and ethics.

As humans continue to encroach on wilderness, how do we co-exist? #cdnpoli

theglobeandmail.com/canada/british… 2/The story itself is compelling, especially the approach of the conservation officer and the response of his superiors. What's clear is that things have not changed, and this is a problem across North America.

There's a few interesting subjects raised by this article as well.

After hearing McLean Creek was exempt from the #Kananaskis user fees, I hiked in to see the state of the area.

In short, it's a mess and shows why the entire thing is politically motivated.

A thread on all the destruction and the hyporcisty of it all.

1/6 #abpoli #AbLeg In his presser, @JasonNixonAB stated that the fees address services, usage, and conservation.

All of those apply here. It's a free for all and suffers from heavy, destructive usage where rules aren't being followed.

Exhibit 1 - OHV users ripping up creek beds and wetlands 2/6

Listening to Robin Campbell on @AlbertaatNoon trying to convince listeners that the environmental issues around coal in BC are a "legacy issue" and wouldn't apply here is one huge eye roll.

Guess what coal mining in the Eastern Slopes will become in 20 years? #AbLeg Now he's touting the water monitoring for Grassy Mountain.

This is just not true. The monitoring amounts to a "a plan to plan" if something goes wrong.

The fact is that Grassy will destroy endangered trout habitat no matter the quality of environmental monitoring #AbLeg

This is classic Farkas. Superficially engages with an issue using certain buzzwords only to make the right people in his base angry.

Just like with the Guidebook, this threatens to turn an otherwise solid plan into a subject of unnecessary debate and misinformation 1/3 #yyccc

https://twitter.com/CBCScott/status/1386802274979168265

So instead of constructive debate and discussion about a plan that will have a huge effect on the future growth of Calgary, we will get a muddled, uninformed debate about issues that have nothing to do with the actual proposal. It will be delayed and mired in misinformation 2/3

I love the Weaselhead and it's in need of some attention and care. Today my girlfriend and I visited one spot and found this much garabge 1/6 #yyc #yyccc @JeromyYYC @EWoolleyWard8 @DruhFarrell @CTVCalgary @CBCCalgary @GlobalCalgary @LiveWireCalgary @cityofcalgary @CalgaryParks This is such a beautiful, important ecosystem. In one trip I've seen over 20 species of birds, ducks, and geese as well as beavers, deer, moose, and muskrats. It's amazing to have something this intact within city limits 2/6