Yeah! The recliner seats at Market Square are great.

Sorry to be this person, but I want to warn the community about a pattern I’ve seen with flyweather’s posts.

I think he has been running this grift for several months now, where he posts a sob story and suggests that he just needs ~$50 more dollars to pay for something or another. I’ve fallen for it and given him money a few times already.

He also posts on other Lemmy communities and on reddit as well. He goes by PaintRush and other accounts. He has been an atheist kicked out of his house, a queer person kicked out of his house, a homeless person looking for food, a stabbing victim looking to pay for an ambulance, a person diagnosed with ADHD, an amputee paying for a prosthetic, etc.

• https://archive.is/rK1WJ
• https://archive.is/HoW68 (where he replies to his alt account)
• https://archive.is/lrwWn
• https://archive.is/VcKoj

He usually deletes his posts shortly after someone actually sends him money.

I generally want to help people, but I think he’s just taking advantage of several communities at this point. Maybe some part of his story is true, but he’s changed it so many times now, it may all be made up.

They are seeking an injunction first, with a court hearing later on. Last I checked, they plan to contest the removal as a violation of the Charter of Rights given that it will lead to injuries and loss of life.

Here are the grounds from the Notice of Application from December:

1. The Ontario Government has embarked on an ill-conceived, arbitrary, and hurried legislative campaign against people who ride bikes in the City of Toronto by mandating the removal of approximately 19 kilometres of protected bike lanes in each direction on Bloor Street, Yonge Street, and University Avenue (the “Target Bike Lanes”). It has done so in full awareness of, or lacking all concern about, the increased number of injuries and deaths that will result.
2. This reckless legislative act infringes the rights of people who ride bikes (used interchangeably with “cyclists”), other road users, and/or pedestrians in the City of Toronto under s.7 of the Charter by depriving them of life and security of the person contrary to principles of fundamental justice.
3. There is no rational connection between the purported object of the law (reducing traffic congestion and gridlock) and its effect. The seriousness of the increased risk of death or serious injury to cyclists is entirely disproportionate to that ostensible objective.

https://ecojustice.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Notice-of-Application-Cycle-Toronto-V-Attorney-General-of-Ontario.pdf

Ah, well their donation link is on their website, under the “About Us” section. They just use buymeacoffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/isitfromcanada, if you want to contribute.

I recently learned about this black-owned bookstore in Toronto, and their website has a filter for Canadian authors:
https://adifferentbooklist.com/browse/filter/b/canada/v/popularity

Are you talking about more dependencies from a developer’s point of view? I get that to a degree, but from a user’s point of view, isn’t AMP technically better, especially now that it’s open source?

I agree with the petition, but I wish it had mentioned that Twitter hides most, if not all, of an account’s tweets behind a login wall. Same for Instagram for that matter. That’s a strong reason not to use it for government communication.

Thanks for the non-AMP link. Though my understanding is that the past concerns about AMP have been resolved now that it has moved to an open-source project under the OpenJS Foundation. Is there still reason to avoid AMP?

Well said. Toronto has long been too dense for commuters.

I just lean towards it being a scam. I did some searching as well and couldn’t identify the organization behind “Voter Research Services”. If it was legitimate, they’d make that information readily available on some website. I think text message scammers consider it valuable information to find out if there is actually a person behind a phone number, so if they are scammers, even your first reply validated your number as a target for future unrelated scams.

I like this take. When I read some of Dan’s concerning posts, I see someone who is really not used to working with others, not someone who is actively malicious

Oof, I wasn’t aware of this. Thanks for the link. The sub-linked open letter about his behaviour towards others is particularly concerning: https://dansup-open-letter.github.io/appendix/#behaviour

I’m still a bit torn, because I think Pixelfed (the software) is still worth supporting, but we can let more of the community decide. Ultimately the Lemmy.ca/Fedecan representative would have to decide anyway.

Archive link: https://archive.is/eTzrX

Looks like Ryan is applying to be a registered charity. The gofundme should qualify for tax receipts after that.

https://tinytinyhomes.ca/
https://www.youtube.com/@tinytinyhomes
https://www.instagram.com/tinytinyhomestoronto

I’m not aware of Canadian instances. /u/otter mentioned recently that Fedecan may setup a Pixelfed instance next: https://lemmy.ca/post/25251642/13926523

Thanks for staying on top of it. Glad to hear you’re moving to a better situation!

Hey, have you actually read the article? I’d also highly suggest you watch the two videos included as well.

DM me. I can transfer some money to keep you afloat for a few days.

Edit: I’ve transferred some money to flyweather. Should help with food at the very least, but they’re still looking for work.

Realistically we need to do both. $7,500 in cash is not going to solve the affordable housing shortage. Give them a roof over their heads for shelter, warmth, hygiene, privacy, security, autonomy, electricity for charging a phone. The psychological benefits alone seem huge to me. It would allow some of them to climb one or two rungs out of their situation. As you’ve said even a rental may not be guaranteed with $7,500 in cash. A tiny home guarantees a lot immediately, and it is a sustained investment that will last the lifetime of the home. I 100% agree that a basic income is proven to be beneficial. It doesn’t mean we stop doing everything else that we can. I’m sure you know the issue isn’t a lack of means, it’s a lack of will. If this helps in the short term, that’s great. If you also want to fight for basic income in the long term I will also support you in that. It’s not a zero sum game.