Russell Maynard

I've worked in Community, Harm Reduction, Housing and Health for over 20 years. Opinions are my own and not those of the organizations I work with.

[Russell Maynard @rusmaynard]

This holds for the @liberal_party of Canada and most Western countries. If they won't - we MUST. Pressure the political class - they love stasis. This is how Apartheid in South Africa was dismantled.

[Amanda Burrows @BurrowsAmanda]

A win! Council unanimously supports cooling rights for renters in Vancouver by ensuring landlords can’t ban cooling devices.

Thank you to @Lucyincanada & @seanorr
for your leadership on this and for recognizing @FirstUnitedDTES for our work. This will save lives.

[Senator Chris Van Hollen @ChrisVanHollen]

Yesterday, the IDF seized 4 students from their homes in the West Bank, including 20-year-old American, Sama Safi.

The Israeli govt didn’t tell her family or the U.S. Embassy where or why she was being taken & is holding her without charges.

America must secure her release NOW.

[Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt @FranceskAlbs]

BREAKING - A Swiss Tribunal recognises the legitimate right to peacefully oppose the ongoing genocide in Palestine.

One again: justice for Palestine starts at home. It only takes people caring and applying Intl Law. And persevering.

[Yuen Pau Woo @yuenpauwoo]

My motion calling on Canada to examine its risk of complicity in grave violations of international law in Gaza was defeated 40-12.

Here is the exchange that preceded the vote:

[Jenny Kwan @JennyKwanBC]

Proposed water-intensive AI data centres mean 24/7 noise, constant diesel generator air pollution, and massive strain on our water supply as historic droughts loom.
Global lessons show Virginia found incompatible w/housing, and Ireland's data centres swallow 22% of grid power 2/3

[Russell Maynard @rusmaynard]

Palestinian child Ayoub Junaid broke his special glasses after a fall in war-torn Gaza.

His mother says he can “finally see the world clearly again” but still needs surgery & urgent medical care he can’t get under @Israel blockade of Palestinian territory https://t.co/f2kG6Oam06

[Russell Maynard @rusmaynard]

Barghouti – who has been called “Palestine’s Mandela” – has been “imprisoned by Israel for 24 years, 1 month and 19 days for crimes he did not commit”.

https://t.co/f2kG6Oam06 https://t.co/f2kG6Oam06

[Russell Maynard @rusmaynard]

Rare moment of justice @ UN: Germany lost its bid for UN Security Council seat. Germany’s scandalous support for Genocide in Palestine & aggression against Iran & its repression of human rights inside Germany, were all on display…

https://t.co/f2kG6Oam06 https://t.co/f2kG6Oam06

[Russell Maynard @rusmaynard]

Overnight @Israel air strikes on apartments in Gaza City have killed at least 9 people, with 4 children reported among the dead.
@cijainfo @markjcarney

https://t.co/f2kG6Oam06 https://t.co/f2kG6Oam06

[Russell Maynard @rusmaynard]

Three Lebanese hospitals hit by @Israel forces in under a week.

Airstrikes in south of country kill 9 people & wound another 150.

Most of them medical staff!
@cijainfo @markjcarney https://t.co/znsPR844rK

[Jason Hickel @jasonhickel]

It is crucial to understand that this is a major reason for the West’s increasing belligerence toward China over the past decade. China’s development is challenging Western monopolies. This imposes a direct squeeze on Western profits but it also undermines a core tenet of imperialism.

The West’s monopoly power allows them to impose dependency on the global South. The South is forced to export large quantities of raw materials and intermediate goods in order to pay for imports at monopoly prices.

This produces large net flows from the global South, propping up the West’s growth and profits. If the West’s monopoly power declines, this flow gets cut off. They are desperate to prevent this from happening, to the point of fantasising about going to war with China to destroy China’s industrial base.

The West’s whole model for capital accumulation depends on Southern dependency. As that arrangement becomes increasingly unstable, the Western ruling class will become increasingly violent.

[Shaun King @shaunking]

You would not know from ANY news outlets in the United States that Israel, using American bombs, is killing people all over Lebanon TODAY.

RIGHT NOW.

I told a brilliant man this week that Israel had killed more Lebanese people in this conflict than 9/11 and he was shocked.

[Andy Yan | @ayan604.bsky.social @Ayan604]

The Social Housing Dividend

A remarkable study that was just released on the benefits of a properly funded and supported social housing sector

Canada’s most comprehensive analysis of the economic and social impact of public housing investment here.

Nearly 3:1 Cost-benefit ratio

Every $1 invested delivers $2.80 in total quantified benefits (economic + social value)
$50B

Economic growth

Generates $49.6B in new economic activity by 2050

15K Full-time jobs annually (2050)

Creates 354,000 years of steady full-time work by 2050

524,000+ hospital days avoided between 2026 and 2050

52,000+ years of homelessness prevented between 2026 and 2050

$4.2B in system-wide savings

Lower ER use, hospital stays, policing, and shelter demand between 2026 and 2050

#bcpoli #vanpoli #vanre

https://t.co/uba5QufhYk

[Patrick Condon @pmcondon2]

@Ayan604 Reclaim urban land for wage earners

[Rowan Lubke @rowanlubke]

@globeandmail It's mind-boggling to me that anyone would still want to be associated with this psychotic nation, let alone defend its actions. The best thing that Canada could do, as a friend to Israel, is to cut off all ties until it comes to its senses.

[Russell Maynard @rusmaynard]

OMG America. It's pathological: the urge to be at war; to subjugate and to colonize. All via violence and Apartheid.
@Israel @CIJAinfo

[Mark Ruffalo @MarkRuffalo]

Read the room guys. We don’t want to be Israel and we don’t want Israel to lead our military anymore. We are done with this dynamic.

[Russell Maynard @rusmaynard]

Housing costs (rentals incl.) are eating up waaay too much of Cdns income. This will is, and will increasingly be, bad for the economy!

[The Economic LongWave @TheELongWave]

A Longwave perspective on Canada's economic recession.

A huge wave of Canadian mortgages matures between 2025 and 2027, with the biggest pressure points around June 2026 and June 2027.

That means millions of borrowers who locked in cheap money during the ultra-low-rate period will be forced to renew at much higher rates.

The danger is not just higher mortgage payments.

It is the second-order effect:

Higher payments → less disposable income → weaker consumption → rising delinquencies → pressure on banks → falling home prices → broader economic slowdown.

[Russell Maynard @rusmaynard]

The Palestinian journalists held in Israel’s ‘cemeteries for the living’
Held without charge in @Israel jails, West Bank reporters describe beatings, starvation, isolation, and threats meant to force them into silence.
@CIJAinfo @MarkJCarney
https://t.co/kFMPCaw7e3

[Cxspxxr✘🧸 @_6signxxx]

Mamdani is the Democrats’ worst nightmare because he’s living proof that they’re simply not doing their jobs.

[Yipeng Ge 葛义朋 @yipengGe]

Canadians kidnapped by the Israeli occupation during Gaza Flotilla mission call for answers from Prime Minister Carney and Foreign Affairs Minister Anand

Canadians kidnapped and subjected to torture on civilian flotillas to break the illegal siege of Gaza testify during a press conference on Parliament Hill and call on the Canadian government to sanction Israel