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The Ontario election race appears to be tightening ahead of the formal start of the campaign, with one new poll putting the Liberals only four points back of Doug Fords Progressive Conservative party.

The Abacus Data survey of 1,500 Ontarians found that 36 per cent of decided voters plan to cast a ballot for Fords PC party in June, compared to 32 per cent who intend to vote for Steven Del Ducas Liberal party and 23 per cent who said they would vote for Andrea Horwath and the NDP. About six per cent of respondents indicated that they vote for the Green party while four per cent said that they would vote for another party entirely.

The Liberals are up four points from a similar survey conducted in January while the Tories are down one point and the NDP are down two points.

In a release accompanying the poll results, Abascus Data CEO David Coletto said the Liberals do appear to be within striking distance in the hypothetical ballot, but he cautioned that they still have a lot of work to do if they are going to win the election, starting with the profile of their leader.

The poll found that nearly six out of 10 Ontarians (59 per cent) expressed a degree of unfamiliarity with Del Duca. Only 39 per cent said that they were unfamiliar with Horwath and only 15 per cent said that of Ford.

Ford also had a considerable advantage when it came to personal popularity.

Approximately 41 per cent of respondents said that they had a positive impression of the PC leader, up nine points since January.

About 31 per cent of respondents said that they had a positive impression of Horwath, compared to 30 per cent who said that they had a negative impression.

Del Duca was the only leader of the three main parties with a negative score. About 22 per cent of respondents said that they had a positive impression of him but 27 per cent said that they had a negative impression. A further 27 per cent expressed a neutral opinion of the Liberal leader.

Meanwhile, when it came to who would make the best premier 35 per cent of respondents identified Ford as their pick. Horwath was chosen by 17 per cent of respondents and Del Duca was chosen by 12 per cent of respondents.

Steven Del Duca remains unknown to a large portion of the electorate and those that do have an impression of him are more likely to view him negatively than positively. He is well back in third when respondents are asked who will make the best premier, Coletto noted in the release. What is unknown at this point is whether vote intention will align more closely with the perceived best premier or whether the Liberals can hold onto their support despite how people feel about Mr. Del Duca.

Abacus has been tracking Fords popularity at regular intervals throughout his time in office.

The 41 per cent of respondents who said that they had a positive impression of the PC leader in its latest poll marks his highest level of support since May, 2020.

It is also a significant reversal from this time last year when only 28 per cent of respondents said that they had a positive impression of him.

Looking ahead to the election campaign, which is likely to start next month, the cost of living was top of mind for many voters with 52 per cent of respondents identifying it as a ballot box issue. Other top issues included housing affordability (36 per cent), improving the healthcare system (33 per cent) and taxes (30 per cent).

Interestingly fewer than one out of four voters (22 per cent) identified the COVID-19 pandemic as a key issue.

The cost of living is top of mind for more voters as housing, healthcare, and taxes round out the list of top issues. The PCs and Doug Ford have a natural advantage on that matter but are not immune to criticism about how their government has handled the issue, Coletto said. While about half of Ontarians definitely want a change in government, the desire for change isnt at a level where a PC re-election is in peril. The federal Liberals faced a similar environment in the lead-up to that vote.

The survey was conducted between April 14 and 19.

It is considered accurate to within 2.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

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Ontario election 2022: New poll puts PCs and Liberals only 4 points apart | CTV News - CTV News Toronto

Electorial boundaries commission could combine rural ridings and add more in urban areas.

The urban-rural divide that exists in B.C. politics may soon become wider.

That is because the B.C. Electoral Boundaries Commission, which could recommend a significant redrawing of the provinces electoral map, is nearing the end of the public hearing process.

The three-person commission headed by B.C. Supreme Court Justice Nitya Iyer will file its preliminary report by October (followed by more consultation and feedback, with the final report due in April2023), and is now embarking on a tour of 15 communities in the north, interior and the coast.

The Iyer commission is the 10th such commission since 1965 (currently, one is struck after every second provincial election). It has been given the ability to come back with recommended changes that could tower over the changes made by its predecessors.

The current commission can recommend the addition of up to six more ridings. But it also tasked with ensuring the principle of representation by population is followed in establishing riding boundaries, as well as taking into account historical and regional interests.

Any additional ridings will likely be located in regions with high population growth rates since the last commission in 2014: Langley/Surrey/Abbotsford, the Okanagan and perhaps Vancouver Island.

The commission will no doubt find it easier to create new ridings compared to recommending that some ridings in less-populated areas be eliminated or combined.

A curious part of the terms of reference for the commission was removing the specific protection that was provided to 17 ridings in the North, the Columbia-Kootenay region and the Cariboo-Thompson regions.

The 2014 commission was specifically prevented from touching those ridings even if their population base was significantly lower than the provincial average. The current commission faces no such restrictions.

Since then, the population gap between many of those ridings and the ridings in Metro Vancouver has grown. For example, in the 2020 election there were more than 50,000 voters in each of four Okanagan ridings, as well as ones in Langley, Surrey and the Capital, but there were less than 20,000 voters in each of the northern ridings of North Coast, Nechako Lakes, Stikine and Peace River South.

Some BC Liberal MLAs are worried about the commission coming back with recommendations that could combine the two Cariboo ridings as well as the two Peace River ridings.

But small population concerns aside, creating huge ridings could present some huge and even insurmountable challenges to MLAs trying to meet the needs of constituents spread out over ridings the size of France.

I will be surprised if the commission eliminates more than one or two rural ridings. More likely it will opt for the expansion approach, with new seats in those Metro areas I mentioned as well as the Okanagan.

As an aside, if the commission does recommend the creation of even a handful of ridings it could result in a completely new look for the B.C. legislature chamber. Simply put, there may not be enough physical space to put even a few more desks on the floor.

One potential option being considered: get rid of the desks and move to benches as they have in the Mother Parliament in the British House of Commons in London.

In any event, I expect the urban-rural divide when it comes to B.C.s electoral ridings will be even more visible come the next provincial election.

Keith Baldrey is chief political reporter for Global BC.

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BC Liberals fear loss of shoe-in rural ridings - Burnaby Now

U.S.Liberals are worried that the popular Libs of TikTok account is making them look "bad, stupid, and completely out of touch with reality." According to multiple sources,it's doing this by just sharing their actual words, according to leftists who have raised concerns about the targeted harassment of their ideas by just sharing their ideas.

"Yes, I posted that video of myself screaming about teaching gender ideology to kindergartners," said local Portland teacher Marie Walsky. "But it was just intended for psychotic people on TikTok to consumeI never meant for normal people with regular thoughts and feelings to see it. By sharing my ideas, the Libs of TikTok account is making me look like a real dummy."

"When I screamed at the sky because someone misgendered me, I never thought someone would amplify that to a wider audience and make me look like a completely unhinged psycopath. By, you know, just sharing exactly what I actually did."

Some are calling the tactic of just sharing liberals' actual words "the most sinister attack on liberals you could think of." Said one journalist, "See, you could try to parody what we believe, but eventually, you're gonna run out of material. If you just repost things we actually say with no commentary whatsoever, completely unedited, well, that's a dangerous attack on our ideas that makes us look totally stupid."

At publishing time, Taylor Lorenz was knocking on the door of the author of this Babylon Bee article.

Mandy is absolutely triggered by Twitter's possible takeover by Elon Musk. She attends a Twitter-sponsored therapy session to help her cope.

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Liberals Raise Concerns About Account That's Making Them Look Bad By Just Sharing Their Actual Words - The Babylon Bee

In January 2021, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez took to Twitter to declare his city the new cryptocurrency mecca. The City of Miami believes in #Bitcoin, he tweeted, and Im working day and night to turn Miami into a hub for crypto innovation.

Those werent just empty words: That same year, Suarez launched MiamiCoin, a crypto coin for the city that generated $5 million for the city since its launch. And with no state income tax and a corporate tax rate of just 5.5%, it wasnt hard to see the appeal a place thats nicknamed The Magic City might have to a still-fledgeling industry that is sometimes itself accused of magical thinking. And its sort of working: For instance, crypto giant Blockchain.com left New York City and leased a massive office in the city earlier this year.

There is an incentive for any place to be the hot new place, economist Jodi Beggs told Fast Company. If, for no other reason, then your branding city is associated with a hot new thing. And, honestly, thats kind of Miamis jam, right?

Earlier this month, at a kick-off event for Bitcoin 2022, the worlds largest Bitcoin convention thats held in Miami, Suarez was at it again. Proudly posing in front of the citys prized new art piece, a 3,000-pound statue of an android-esque bull that the Miami Herald astutely pointed out looks like a giant Transformer, the mayor exclaimed that we need to integrate Bitcoin into every aspect of our society.

But if the current state of Miamis Bitcoin integration is any indication of what a crypto city might look like, its safe to say both the concept and the city have a long way to go.

Beggs, who has previous experience in the crypto analytics space, grew up outside the city and is very familiar with the Miami ethos that has begun attracting interest from the crypto world.

There was already somewhat of a culture of, hey, were going to go do our somewhat non-traditional finance activity where the weathers nice. And I think that the finance players taking their Bitcoin business to Miami is completely within that same, she says.

Miamis flirtations with the crypto business is noticeable everywhere you look. Immediately upon entering the city from the airport, youre greeted with billboards advertising NFT lines; its not uncommon to see a Bitcoin ATM next to a regular one while driving around the city. (Beggs says that the idea of a Bitcoin ATM doesnt even make sense: The whole point of crypto is that you dont need any ATMs.)

The reality of Miamis blockchain-centric ambitions, though, doesnt live up to the hype radiating from Suarezs tweets. Miami is fifth in the country for crypto investment, according to Bloomberg. San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, and Albany all outrank it in terms of money generated from crypto investment deals. Also, the vaunted MiamiCoin has seen poor returns for early adopters. According to CoinMarketCap, the coin peaked at $0.05 last September. Its currently hovering around $0.002, which makes its future feel hazy at best. (Mayor Suarezs office did not respond to a request for comment.)

Making matters worse, this years Bitcoin 2022 wasnt the slam dunk that many seemed to expect it to be. The convention had a lukewarm reception among some of Bitcoins biggest diehards. Mr. Whale, a cryptocurrency-tracking Twitter account with half a million followers, declared the event a complete failure. Not only were over 70% of the seats empty, but many big guests like [El Salvadors President] Nayib Bukele didnt even show up, Mr. Whale tweeted. Bitcoin is tanking, and many attendees have left very disappointed.

And Mr. Whale wasnt alone in the post-convention Bitcoin malaise. [I] dont think I can do another crypto conference for a few months, love meeting people and re-connecting with friends and partners, but it feels incredibly unproductive to have so many events all the time, Meltem Demirors, the chief strategy officer for CoinShares, tweeted over the weekend.

But there are larger issues here: A city trying to adopt Bitcoin institutionally is arguably antithetical to the very nature of cryptocurrency, where the appeal is that its not tied to any specific government. Another issue for a crypto city is that no one wants to spend their Bitcoin.

If your expectation is that your cryptocurrency is earning a return and youre using it as a speculative vehicle, youre not gonna buy [anything with it], Beggs says.

Sure enough, there wasnt much Bitcoin being spent at the Bitcoin 2022 convention. The bars, food trucks, and cafes all took credit or debit cards only. Which, of course, might not be totally surprising, considering a popular meme within the Bitcoin community is that cash is for spending, Bitcoin is for holding.

Toward the back of the convention hall, in a small bazaar tucked in the corner, people sold Bitcoin-themed art (and one person offering real, permanent Pepe the Frog tattoos) there were some satsor fractions of a Bitcoinbeing sent back and forth between vendors and customers. One artist at the convention, Susan Van Volkenburg, saysthat she had sold a few of her pieces in Bitcoin. Her pictures, which werent NFTs but rather physical paintings that paid tribute to Bitcoin (and glowed in the dark) are part of a project calls Essence Of Bitcoin. Ive had one cash sale. One Visa. Everything else has been Bitcoin, she says.

Van Volkenburg, who got into Bitcoin in 2017 and comes to Miami for Bitcoin events, says shes extremely optimistic about the Miami mayors crypto initiatives. I think the mayor of Miami is all about it, she says. I think Miami is going to be all about it. She says that she had not used Bitcoin to buy anything while staying in Miami, however.

If one wanted to find an actual use for their Bitcoin, there are a few restaurants around the city that accept it, the most notable being Bitcoin Pizza, a chain with several locations in Miami. But a Google search for Bitcoin in Miami mostly pulls up Bitcoin ATMs, which are scattered all over. Though actually finding one of the machines can be almost impossibly difficult.

On Miami Beach, heading south from where Suarez installed the Miami Bull, there were four working Bitcoin ATMs. The machines were tucked in mini-marts and check-cashing centers along Washington Avenue. Finding them is hard, but using them is even trickier.

All four ATMs on Washington Avenue required a special account and corresponding crypto wallet that matched the ATM you wanted to use. Which meant you would have to transfer your Bitcoin from the wallet you used to a new wallet before being able to buy or sell anything. Also, the majority of the ATMs didnt actually contain any cash, meaning if you did have the account and wallet needed to activate the ATM, all you could do with it is buy Bitcoin, which is something you can easily do with most crypto trading apps.

Victor, a man working behind the counter of one of the mini-marts on Washington Avenue that had a Bitcoin ATM in it, told Fast Company that it took a little while for people to start using the machine in his store, but its now around 20-30 people a week.

Theres a guy that comes from [mainland Miami] once a week and uses it, but I tell him to call the store first, Victor says. Because what happens is, when the machine gets full of money, it goes into a non-use mode. It looks like, you know, The Matrix, with zeros and ones.

Washington Avenues stretch of Bitcoin ATMs isnt in the true heart of the citys crypto boom, though. Wynwood, across the water from the neon flash of Miami Beach, is the part of the city that feels the most San Francisco-fied, complete with Lime scooters and block after block of warehouse-cum-beer gardens. All over the neighborhood, the former industrial center is being turned into Silli-coin Valley. It boasts a selfie museum, a nonprofit called Crypto Corridor, and the Blockchain Institute of Technology. But it was, one again, hard to find anyone actually engaging with Bitcoin there.

Two people working at a vape store pop-up in an open-air shopping area called Wynwood Marketplace told Fast Company they had never seen anyone ask about trying to use Bitcoin, but did say it sounded like a fun thing they could accept one day.

Google Maps lists one Bitcoin ATM near a corner on 23rd street in Wynwood and includes a picture of a store called Lucky Records in its Google listing. Though, when asked about whether or not a Bitcoin ATM was inside the premises, a man working behind the counter told Fast Company, Nah, mantheres none of that gimmicky shit here.

In fact, beyond Suarezs made-for-Twitter Bitcoin optimism, there seems to be an overwhelming kind of annoyed ambivalence from the people who actually have to live and work in Miami in between the citys endless crypto conferencesof which there are many. There are at least 15 more big crypto events in the Miami area between now and June.

A Miami Beach resident named Nicole living near the convention center housing Bitcoin 2022 last week wasnt shy about how much she disliked the citys blockchain-based transformation over the last year.

Its growing too fast right now, she told Fast Company as she walked by the convention center. And its not good because the people that live here, we are used to a certain lifestyle and all of a sudden we become California. No bueno.

She says that she thinks Suarez is pushing Bitcoin because he invests heavily in it, not because of any particular desire to see decentralized currency flourish. As of last November, Suarez said that he will receive his entire $97,000 salary in Bitcoin, though that isnt his only source of income. He also works as a lawyer.

[Crypto investors] are too full of themselves, Nicole says. They think theyre better because they have that technology and they can pay with something like its in the air. Im old fashioned, I believe in cash. So I dont believe in something that comes and goes and can disappear in seconds. Its gambling.

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Miami is still far from being the Bitcoin capital of America - Fast Company

What is the true meaning of Black Lives Matter? Many are still muddling the powerful message of the global movement.

What Black Lives Matter is and what Black Lives Matter isnt has been feverishly debated since its inception in 2013. What began as a hashtag on social media posts andanti-racism quoteshas snowballed into a global rallying cry in the battle to combat systemic and institutional racism, which became impossible to ignore after yet another series of high-profile police brutality incidents. BLM is now proudly proclaimed and derided. Scrawled on posters. Graffitiedand subsequently defacedon concrete. It hasdivided loved onesand united loved ones. Still, people are searching for the answer. Ask Google, What is the BLM meaning? and youll get 37 million results to sift through.

Black Lives Matter is not only the movement for Black lives now, and its not only the phrase that people can attach to, but its an affirmation that I think goes beyond the organizers of the movement for Black lives, says Camara Jones, MD, PhD, an anti-racism activist and adjunct professor at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University who is not affiliated with BLM.

If youre here, youre likely looking for answers, whether youre a member of the Black community, youre looking to be an ally in the movement toward equality, or youre wondering what it truly means to be anti-racist. Once youve learned the meaning of BLM, you might also consider makinga Black Lives Matter donationorsupporting these Black-owned businesses.

The BLM message was born in response to police and civilian brutality against Black lives. Simply put, Black lives matterperiod. Just as much as every other race, but not more so than any other race. Still, many non-Black people miss the BLM meaning, says Dr. Jones, because their privilege blinds them. She likens the phenomenon of White privilege to patrons eating in a restaurant, in an allegory she calls Dual Reality: A Restaurant Saga. There are many people whove been born inside a restaurant, sitting at the table of opportunity, eating, and they see a sign that says Open, and do not recognize that that sign is a two-sided, open-closed sign, she explains, because its difficult for any of us to recognize the system of inequity that privileges us. Its a vicious cycle perpetuated by a lack of understanding. Those already eating look outside, seeing hungry, would-be patrons and wondering why they dont simply come inside. Those outside wonder why their side of the sign says Closed when there is plenty of room inside the restaurant.

The phrase Black Lives Matter was born out of a Facebook post from Alicia Garza after the July 13, 2013, acquittal of George Zimmerman in the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman shot and killed an unarmed Martin, who was returning from a store to a relatives Sanford, Florida, home after buying Arizona iced tea and a pack of Skittles. Black people. I love you. I love us. Our lives matter, wrote Garza, to which her pal Patrisse Cullors replied, #blacklivesmatter. Garza, Cullors, and pal Opal Tometi teamed up to form the BLM movement. Today, BLM has ballooned to an international movement with 40 chapters.

RELATED: What People Get Wrong About Protesters

Because it is not the truth in this country, says Dr. Jones. It is not the reality of this country that all lives matter. The police-involved murders of Black men and women are proof. So, too, are the inequities that can be found at every level of American society. All we have to do is look at how resources are distributed by so-called race [and] look at the relative safety by so-called race. We can look at who gets the benefit of the doubt and who would be immediately perceived as a threat. We can look at those in whom we invest and in which communities we actively divest. And it is clear that Black lives and Indigenous lives, and Hispanic lives, Latinx lives, are devalued in this country and dehumanized. The harsh truth was laid bare in George Floyds final moments, and thats why the BLMs meaning and newfound stature is so important. What did Derek Chauvin think he was doing? she asks. People said that the way he looked was the way that hunters squeeze the life out of a deer.

RELATED: What Derek Chauvins Conviction Really Means for the Black Community

The BLM movement raised more than $90 million in 2020 and saw up to 26 million supporters join in protests, making it the largest movement in U.S. history. Dr. Jones says BLM and the BLM meaning became a formidable force in part due to technology. Because of cell phone video and police body cams, people who were born inside the restaurant [of the Dual Reality allegory] could see the reality on the other side. For centuries, weve had these stories, adds Dr. Jones, but now, all of a sudden, the images and the truth of it is barging into those people who have had the privilege of not having to know.

Whats not unique, or anywhere near new, says Dr. Jones, is the struggle of Black people against racism. It is a continuation of struggles of people of African ancestry for centuries, for four centuries, to affirm our humanity. But what is unique is the new generations fight for justice. It is the young people, many of whom may not have studied even the history of the civil rights movement, or may think of that as something old. Some may not have been fully aware of the history, and many of them may have thought that they were the first ones to engage in these struggles around the rights to our humanity, to the recognition of our humanity. So, the thing that makes them different is that its this generations iteration. There has also been some good news in the midst of this ongoing struggle: A number of positive changes have been made since the anti-racism protests began.

You can donate, volunteer, and sign up for events and information via BLMs official website. But there are also other ways to fight alongside the movement. Dr. Jones suggests that Black people and non-Black people alike need to bear witness to the inequities facing Black and Brown peopleand, if necessary, hit the record button, much like how bystanders bravely recorded Chauvin as he and three other cops pinned Floyd to the ground. She says she recently took her own advice when she stuck around after seeing a Black father and child involved in a multi-vehicle crash. No matter how ugly or fraught it may get, she says, stay and bear witness.

RELATED: Small Ways You Can Fight Racism Every Day

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