Varun Banthia

oversight @cityofvancouver, board chair @phscss. @nyuniversity + @ubc alumnus. harm reduction, anti-corruption, and accessibility. views my own. (he/him)

[Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @NYCMayor]

This morning we are introducing COGE — the Commission on Government Efficiency.

This Commission will find ways for our city to work smarter, faster, and more effectively for working people. 

New Yorkers deserve a city government as careful with their money as they are.

[The Globe and Mail @globeandmail]

Canada selected to host new multinational defence bank, sources say https://t.co/VAUFGNXVmz

[guyfelicella🇨🇦🍁 @guyfelicella]

The Downtown Eastside didn’t create this crisis.
It was forced to absorb it.
Thread 🧵👇

[Theresa 🇨🇦 @TheresaLubowitz]

Get rid of safe injection sites and everywhere becomes an unsafe injection site.

[Gabrielle Peters 👩🏻‍🦽 @mssinenomine]

Hi. I voted by telephone and I wrote a thread about how it works. It's actually not "insane" and it'd be great if you stopped using that word for things you don't understand or agree with.

I would not have been able to vote otherwise. Making voting more accessible is not bad.

[PHS @PHScss]

"See you at the finish line!" Varun Banthia is running the #UAEastside10K to support the DTES.

Donate to his run: https://t.co/jA3cvcV7a8

He said: "Now, more than ever, harm reduction needs our support, and through this run, I'm honoured to contribute, in a small way, to that."

[Raghu Venugopal MD @raghu_venugopal]

BC's former Chief Coroner writes how politicians there will say anything for votes with evidence-free populist ideas. BC pushes involuntary care when voluntary care is virtually inaccessible. Violating Charter rights will not end the drug crisis.
https://t.co/UL6uXT8UCb

[Bill Tieleman @BillTieleman]

I seriously wonder how many people complaining here about the “coercion” of Covid-19 vaccine mandates are 100% in favour of involuntary care for those with serious drug addiction and mental health issues? 🤨

[Mo Amir 🪬 @vancolour]

The BC NDP government pulled harm-reduction kiosks from Vancouver Island hospitals after Conservative outrage…
But at what cost?

@guyfelicella is on This is VANCOLOUR
@CHEK_News 📺

Apple: https://t.co/0dS4t3fcop
Spotify: https://t.co/lXsbmv5Yxj
YouTube: https://t.co/OTIWomcdcx

[Sarah Blyth - Gerszak @sarahblyth]

How about let's start with a bed for the guy we've been trying to get in to detox for the past two days that is going to wait two weeks for a bed. He's at risk of losing his legs and his family is supporting him. #bcpoli

[Rashida Yosufzai @Rashidajourno]

To raise money for transport, Imane Khelif sold scrap metal for recycling and her mother sold couscous. Together they were able to afford the bus to the town for Imane to have regular boxing training sessions. https://t.co/O2ECLBmHNy

[Nerdy Pursuit 🐉 @nerdypursuit]

I think about this clip a lot.

[Sarbjit Kaur @sarbjitkaur1]

These people are the worst. People hated your parents and family too. Some still do. Being a clown racist toward newer immigrants isn't going to make you better than anyone. Embarrassing mindset. Our parents and immigrants before them struggled to make it easier for others. 🙏🏽

[@andreawoo.bsky.social | 鄔瑞楓 @AndreaWoo]

B.C. Provincial Health Officer Bonnie Henry has issued another report on the provision of pharmaceutical alternatives to illicit drugs, reiterating her call for non-prescribed models of access https://t.co/Qk0BH95wRI

[PHS @PHScss]

We bring our low-barrier approach to banking.

Pigeon Park Savings, a unique collaboration between PHS and @Vancity, is the Downtown Eastside's bank. There are more than 7,000 members and hundreds more calling in to cash cheques.

Minimum ID requirements, maximum service.

[PHS @PHScss]

Congratulations to former PHS Mental Health Worker Allison Russell who this week collected a Grammy Award for her song 'Eve Was Black.'

Pics include Interim Programs Director Tanya Fader giving Allison a staff-issue PHS hoodie last year.

@outsidechild13

[BC Centre for Disease Control @CDCofBC]

New study: People with an opioid use disorder prescribed 1+ day's supply of opioids as part of BC's Risk Mitigation Guidance were 61% less likely to die in the following week, compared to a similar group of people who did not receive a prescription. https://t.co/NsxUT3nMNu

[Cass Sunstein @CassSunstein]

Stunning new @Nber paper on sludge: If officials just allow people a little flexibility in scheduling their interviews for SNAP benefits, they can significantly increase participation rates. (Note the extraordinary modesty of this sludge reduction strategy.) @dilipsoman @LiamDelaney2020 @SamanthaJPower
https://t.co/Jwr2jUUTzw

[Sarah Blyth - Gerszak @sarahblyth]

A person who used our DTES OPS was in our care, waiting for a ambulance was filmed by @tyleraloevera without consent. This is what he has to say about it. @AaronGunn @elenoresturko @ashtrey5 @Ncanuel1 @adamzivo @NikiSharma2 @pattibacchus #bcpoli #canpoli @izavarise @JeanSwanson_

[City of Vancouver @CityofVancouver]

News Release: Integrity Commissioner makes impact at the City of Vancouver in first term ➡️ https://t.co/Hxkvo5Xj9J