If you know me, you know I love investigations and accountability journalism.
So you’ll know I mean it when I say I’m thrilled to be working with CBC Marketplace for the next few months.
If there’s a consumer story you think I should dig into, send a DM!
A prominent developer and key figure in the Ford government's controversial Greenbelt land swap purchased a Hamilton property a month before Ontario announced its plans to open the protected farmland up for residential development.
#HamOnt
Sonia Hill, who identifies as Mohawk from Six Nations of the Grand River and is a McMaster University sociology teaching assistant, says the pro-Wet’suwet’en blockade on CN rails between Aldershot and Hamilton will continue “indefinitely.”
#HamOnt
#WetsuwetenSolidarity
#BurlOnt
NEW: Toronto lawyer
@CarymaRules
says she's "vindicated" after the trespassing charge related to the
@fordnation
rally in Hamilton this past May was withdrawn.
#HamOnt
NEW: Suspended police officers have cost taxpayers in Hamilton, Halton, Niagara and Brantford roughly $14.8 million since 2013, according to an exclusive database compiled by CBC News.
Hamilton officers accounted for $8.89 million of that.
1/7
#HamOnt
NEW:
@SarahJama_
has been acclaimed as the Ontario NDP candidate for Hamilton Centre.
Jama, a prominent activist and community organizer in
#HamOnt
, previously said she wants to raise ODSP rates and work toward a guaranteed basic income.
#onpoli
NEW: Disability activist
@SarahJama_
intends to seek the nomination as the Ontario NDP candidate for Hamilton Centre.
She spoke with me this morning about her vision and how she will bring "peaceful disruption" to the party.
#HamOnt
NEW: Questions about
@CarymaRules
’s arrest at a Doug Ford campaign stop at the Hamilton airport in May continue to swirl amid new details that show the role OPP and the
#HamOnt
airport played.
Dear ‘established’ journalists,
Stop telling reporters in j-school the industry is dying and they’ll never find a good-paying job in a newsroom.
1) It’s not true
2) It’s not helpful
3) It’s already been said
NEW: My latest investigation focuses on segregation in Ontario jails — and how it's becoming more common.
In Hamilton, it's happening at a higher rate than anywhere else in the province and has met the United Nations' threshold for torture.
1/7
#HamOnt
Black people are the most common victims of hate in Hamilton, while also being the most over-represented group of people when it comes to police's use of force — again.
#HamOnt
NEW:
@SarahJama_
says she will table motions at Queen's Park that would boost Ontario Works and Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) rates.
The first hearing on her censure at Queen's Park will also be next week.
#HamOnt
NEW: Using court documents and inspection records, we're able to paint a picture of how how someone with no training — a fake nurse — was able to work at three different long-term care homes and administer medication to residents.
#HamOnt
NEW: HWDSB
@sabreina_dahab
is facing an ultimatum — delete a November social media post about being under investigation for other social media posts in support of Palestinians or be barred from all private board and committee meetings.
#HamOnt
The Ontario government says it will not revisit its controversial decision to expand Hamilton's urban boundary to include land owned by well-connected developers | Another scoop by
@Samantha_KB
for
@CBCHamilton
#HamOnt
"They had an opportunity, city council. We knew this was going to happen one day, sooner or later. Here we are,"
@Jordan_Carrier
told
@CBCHamilton
's
@eva_sita
.
Hundreds marched to Gore Park in downtown
#HamOnt
and took down the Sir John A. Macdonald statue on Saturday afternoon.
NEW: How much of the Science Centre is at risk of collapsing?
See for yourself.
@Alowishoes
and I dug into the consultant reports Ontario cited as proof the centre should close.
We asked engineers and architects to do the same for us.
#onpoli
NEW: The Hamilton Spectator (
@TheSpec
) is losing its office space as its owner tries to save money, CBC Hamilton has learned.
It means one of Ontario's longest-running newspapers will no longer have a physical newsroom.
#HamOnt
#cdnmedia
I had a Grade 1 teacher named Ms. Bagel who wasn’t my biggest fan and once told me, “Bobby, you’ll never find a job where they pay you to talk to people all day.”
I haven’t broke the news to her yet.
BREAKING:
@DrThomasStewart
has resigned from the Health Coordination Table, the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table, and the LTC Incident Management System Table after news from
@CBCHamilton
of his vacation in the Dominican Republic.
#COVID19
#HamOnt
I'm grateful to be a finalist for
@RTDNA_Canada
's Emerging Journalist Award.
It's an honour to know my reporting on policing for
@CBCHamilton
set me apart from the 50 applicants.
The winner will be named on Oct. 20 — and win or lose, I'll keep digging.
#cdnmedia
#rtdna
NEW: I’m excited to share this story, which has been in the works for a while.
For as long as I’ve been in
#HamOnt
, I and many of our readers have wondered how much unused land is there in Hamilton.
We’re now closer to that answer, thanks to an interactive map I built.
THREAD: A judge has ruled Hamilton Police Service (HPS) violated a woman's Charter rights with "cavalier disregard" after smashing their way into her downtown apartment home to look for drugs.
1/6
#HamOnt
NEW: Controversial Haldimand-Norfolk medical officer of health
@strauss_matt
is suing
@queensu
and
@DrStephenArcher
, saying he was forced to resign from his position at Queen's because of defamatory statements made about him.
LGBTQ students say they lived in fear while attending Redeemer University because of a rule that says only people in heterosexual marriages can have sex and be intimate.
It took months of investigation, but here’s the full story.
#HamOnt
“It made me not like school.”
Alex told me teachers have misgendered and deadnamed them every day since coming out more than a year ago — but the ones who do it over and over again seemingly face no consequences.
#HamOnt
NEW: Hamilton is reviewing its contracts and funding of Redeemer University after a trans student died by suicide at the school late last year.
Bekett Noble, 34, died in November 2022.
They were known for their advocacy on campus for LGBTQ+ students.
NEW: Former Toronto police board chair
@AlokMukherjee45
and former Hamilton police board member
@jmulkewich
have serious questions about the police board complaint against
@CameronKroetsch
.
Mukherjee thinks the
#HamOnt
police board needs to be reviewed.
@UofT
So the GTA campuses are closed but UTSG, the most populated campus with lots of students from the GTA, is open...
I don’t even care about missing my midterm — I just want answers.
Journalism should be accessible to everyone who needs it. It should also serve the community it covers.
That's why
@CBCHamilton
has translated this story about Imam Kamal Gurgi in Arabic.
It's the first time our newsroom has ever done this.
#HamOnt
NEW: The Hamilton man who livestreamed himself unleashing a transphobic tirade and assaulting someone on an city bus in 2022 received a roughly seven-and-a-half month jail sentence on Thursday morning — longer than what Crown attorneys asked for.
#HamOnt
A new Black and African studies course at
@McMasterU
is poised to be a stepping stone to a new program.
I spoke to Kojo Damptey (
@EasyThePianoMan
) who will be teaching the class this September.
#HamOnt
NEW: Data from Ontario's rental housing tribunal analyzed by CBC News shows landlords of 275 properties in Hamilton and nearby areas applied to raise rents above provincial guidelines from 2017 to 2022.
The story includes an interactive map.
#HamOnt
I'm grateful to announce I've joined
@CBCHamilton
as a reporter and editor.
I can't wait to move to
#HamOnt
in two weeks and get to work.
The team is already a crew of juggernaut journalists and I am thrilled to follow their lead and bring impactful stories to light.
NEW:
@YWCA_Hamilton
has a midwifery clinic for pregnant women experiencing homelessness.
Here's all you need to know about the clinic, why it's needed and how it's one small solution to a complicated issue.
#HamOnt
“Respecting the living has a lot to do with respecting the dead as well.”
After seeing years of no one do anything, James Russell is now putting faces and names to the people buried in unmarked graves at Niagara-on-the-Lake’s Negro Burial Ground.
EXCLUSIVE: It's becoming more common for police in tactical gear to barge into homes unannounced in Hamilton and Halton, according to new data obtained by CBC News.
#cdnfoi
#hamont
NEW: Almost a year after Hamilton city councillors voted to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of illegal drugs, CBC Hamilton has learned city officials still haven't submitted that request for exemption to Health Canada.
#HamOnt
Legal experts like
@CassDeMelo
and
@3mendous
still have questions and concerns with Caryma’s arrest, the Trespass to Property Act and if there was a a potential human rights violation.
You can read about all this and more below.
"This brings Indigenous stories and Indigenous ideas to the forefront and that's what we need right now."
Kyle Joedicke, a 29-year-old Haudenosaunee artist, is breathing Indigenous life into
#HamOnt
, one mural at a time.
TL;DR - After a long meeting,
@HWDSB
trustees passed a motion to implement an indoor masking policy that has no restrictions for those who want to opt out.
The policy can be renewed in January.
#HamOnt
I'm live-tweeting the
@HWDSB
meeting where we may see trustees vote to impose a mask mandate.
You can follow along live here.
If you don't want to stay up late, don't worry — I'll have a story up on
@CBCHamilton
's website tomorrow.
We are thrilled to announce that "The long wait" wins gold in the
#DPA22
Best Feature Article (Short) category. Congratulations to
@cbchamilton
and
@bobbyhristova
!
It’s official. I’m a
@UofT
and
@UTSC
graduate.
You’ll notice
@jdvorkin
gave me a hug on stage — without him, I might not have ever pursued journalism.
Thank you for being a mentor and helping me realize my passion. I promise to make you proud.
Vanessa Amos died on Thursday, but questions are still swirling about their death, including why they were reportedly discharged from hospital the same day they died.
A vigil is planned for Amos at Bathurst and Bloor streets for 7 p.m. tonight.
#HamOnt
Former grade 4 and 5 students from St. Luke’s Catholic Elementary School reunited after 20 years to open their “millennium boxes” made right before 2000.
Their teacher, Julie Petis Parco, still remembers their names.
#HamOnt
#Hamilton
@CBCHamilton
I just got my fourth vaccine shot against COVID-19.
It was fast and painless.
I’m still going to wear a mask and physical distance, but it feels great to know if I do get infected, my chances of hospitalization or death are low.
#HamOnt
I’m thrilled to announce I’ve joined the
@nationalpost
.
I’m also incredibly fortunate to keep working with 680News.
This success is the product of my mentors, family, friends, supporters and critics — I hope I can make you proud and tell a good story or two.
Instead, talk about:
- Marketing yourself as a journalist when job hunting
- What newsrooms are focusing on now
- How to maximize internships
- The best news orgs to work for
- Practical tips for finding/developing stories
- What skills will be the most valuable in the future
NEW: Councillor
@CameronKroetsch
is calling the Hamilton police board's budget committee "undemocratic."
The committee is supposed to meet a minimum of four times but has only met once. 1/4
#HamOnt
NEW: Inmates at the Barton Jail in
#HamOnt
started a hunger strike today amid constant lockdowns and a lack of time for fresh air, according to an advocate group.
A lawyer told me she's struggling to contact inmates because of all the lockdowns.
In a rare move, Hamilton council has sent back the police service's proposed $213 million budget for further review as elected officials attempt to trim the 2024 tax levy |
@Samantha_KB
#HamOnt
NEW: My new investigation looks at police drones.
Police across Canada use drones, but in Hamilton, there are privacy "red flags."
I obtained documents through FOI that show how, when and why
#hamont
police use drones.
Here's what I found: [1/5]
#cdnfoi
NEW: Tensions between Hamilton police board chair Pat Mandy &
@CameronKroetsch
flared Thursday over comments Kroetsch made about the police’s proposed budget.
She addressed his comments, then told him he could only respond to her in-camera.
#HamOnt
NEW: Roughly three in five Hamilton Police Service officers don't live in Hamilton, new data shows.
I used a freedom of information request to get the data.
Researchers and retired officers offer their thoughts.
#HamOnt
#cdnfoi
NEW: Smooshi the walrus and her calf, Koyuk, are leaving Marineland in Niagara Falls for SeaWorld Abu Dhabi in United Arab Emirates, according to
@walruswhisperer
, who raised concerns about their health and safety years ago.
NEW: A beluga whale and a bottlenose dolphin have died at Marineland, according to Ontario's Ministry of the Solicitor General.
The deaths come two months after Kiska, the last captive killer whale in Canada, died in the park.
Someone told me on Thursday
@Nique_Hamilton
wouldn't ask for proof-of-vaccination to eat in the restaurant.
I soon found Facebook groups and websites saying dozens of
#HamOnt
businesses had the same approach.
I called them all. Here's what they said:
The office of Ontario's ombudsman says it will "raise questions" with the province after a CBC investigation showed the use of segregation has grown in recent years and is happening at a higher rate in
#HamOnt
than any other provincial jail.
#onpoli
NEW:
@HWDSB
is once again calling for mandatory masking as
@Alex__Johnstone
says some absent teaching positions in
#HamOnt
are being filled by teaching students.
I’m honoured to have won the Letter Award from the University of Toronto for lasting contributions to student life.
I only accomplished this because of the tremendous people I met along the way.
I can’t wait to make an impact in the next phase of life!
@UTSC
@UofT
Unlike other Ontario cities, the
#HamOnt
community seems pretty engaged on Twitter.
If you’re migrating to another social media platform, I’d love to hear where you’ll be.
BREAKING: Dr. Tom Stewart, the CEO of St. Joseph's Health System and Niagara Health, has ended a vacation that started in mid-December and included a trip to the Dominican Republic.
#HamOnt
Prime Minister
@JustinTrudeau
said the government will build 328 homes across southern Ontario including 95 in
#HamOnt
.
He said it’ll be passive housing, which means they’ll be energy efficient and affordable properties for tenants.