Michelle Cyca

@michellecyca.com

10447 Followers 1293 Following

it's "see-sa" hot takes bureau chief @thenarwhal.ca writer @thewalrus.ca adjunct prof @ubcjournalism.bsky.social journalist, nêhiyaw, mom, roller skater she/her ✌️michellecyca.com

A book cover entitled "HYBRID HYSTERIA — A Novel of Corporate Intrigue Both Holy and Diabolical (The Global Thriller Hysteria Series (part of the Dr. Fr. Cavanaugh Chronicles)". To describe it further would be a crime.
But his instinct toward humanism, admirable as it is, can lead to oversimplified generalizations about the technology itself. "Practically everyone who falls for the A.I. hype is dreaming of getting a human need fulfilled without having to extend moral consideration," he writes. "That's as true of the A.I. girlfriend weirdos as it is of the bosses hoping to use A.I. to replace half their workers and terrorize the remainder" I'm not sure you can call them "A.I. girlfriend weirdos" when, by some estimates, one in five young adults in America have engaged romantically with A.I.
a map of active long-term drinking water advisories, which shows 0 active drinking water advisories in B.C. First Nations communities. this is not true as there are many current, ongoing advisories that are simply not tracked by Indigenous Services Canada
Hi Ken, Thanks for the email. In the era of ChatGPT, it's almost touching to see someone write their racist screed the old-fashioned way! Unfortunately for you, Aboriginal rights are not an "abstract philosophical or political whim" but enshrined in the Canadian constitution, which legal experts say would be nearly impossible to amend — though I guess you can dream! For now maybe just deal with it :) I won't be forwarding this to Ms. White.
“Our Perfect Storm,” Fortune’s latest, follows in its predecessors’ footsteps — not only debuting at the top of the best-seller list but whisking readers to a bucolic corner of Canada. This time we’re off to Tofino, Vancouver’s rainforest beach paradise, on the heels of a jilted bride and her tall, handsome bestie who insists the honeymoon will proceed as planned. Well, mostly. All this razzle dazzle seemed far away as Fortune chatted, fresh- faced with a smattering of freckles, on a video call from her 1950s bungalow in Toronto.
a woman in a yellow sweatshirt drinks an iced cap while looking into her phone. she is also driving her car, which is moving while she records her video.
an excerpt reading: "“Here in Canada, unless you’re in downtown Toronto, you’re in bear country,” said Mr. McMullen, a former regional wildlife officer in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. “Black bears, grizzly bears and polar bears. You have to go out, aware that those things are there, and take the time to learn about them, what you can do to prevent encounters, and what to do if you do get into an encounter,” he said. “So a little bit of responsibility by people going into their country goes a long way.” He said mining companies in the Northwest Territories and in Nunavut, where he worked, erected electric bear fences around housing camps for workers in areas where bears were active. Saskatchewan is one of the few places in the world where there are overlapping ranges of black, grizzly and polar bears in the far north. “In bear country, you’ve got to pay a little more attention to your surroundings,” Mr. McMullen said. “That allows you to detect bears from much greater distances so you don’t surprise each other, making noises at the appropriate times.”
An excerpt from the article: At the event in Edmonton, he told a story about a reformed gangster turned marijuana farmer in Bonnyville getting beat up after cutting off a home invader's hand with an axe before driving his assailants away with an unregistered firearm. It ended with easily the most surprising punchline I have ever heard. "He's got a concussion," Sylvestre said of the ex-gangster. "And what happens in the hospital?" He paused for effect. "The doctor offers him MAID." (I was not able to reach either the axe-wielding marijuana farmer or his lawyer, but one Alberta expert on medical assistance in dying told me the scenario as described struck her as "ridiculous.")
Post reading: “ Long ago it said that the pressure campaign to get people to agree to not use Al would just cause them to use Al and lie about it (and do it badly) instead of learning to use it responsibly and that keeps being proven emperically. "No Al" just causes worse outcomes at scale.”
When I met Stirling via video chat, she was wearing a T-shirt she sells on her website, where she promotes her writing and merchandise. The words on it say, “Every Living Child Matters Most of All!” and shows a young girl with braids wearing a jingle dress and dancing inside a red heart. It’s the “All Lives Matter” equivalent to the “Every Child Matters” movement. The website’s product description says the shirts are meant to “honour the living children who are sometimes forgotten” rather than focusing on the “past that is gone.”
Headline from the Times reading "How The New York Times Uses A.I. for Journalism". The subhead reads: "We don’t use A.I. to write articles, and journalists are ultimately responsible for everything that we publish."
Editors’ Note: May 1, 2026 This article was updated after The Times learned that a remark attributed to Pierre Poilievre, the Conservative leader, was in fact an A.I.-generated summary of his views about Canadian politics that A.I. rendered as a quotation. The reporter should have checked the accuracy of what the A.I. tool returned. The article now accurately quotes from a speech delivered by Mr. Poilievre in April. He said, “My personal opinion is that when a member of Parliament goes back on the word they made to their constituents and switches parties, constituents should be able to petition to throw them out and have a byelection. That would put the people back in charge of our democracy rather than having dirty backroom Liberal deals by Mark Carney determine our destiny.” He did not refer to politicians who changed allegiances as turncoats in that speech.
Highly public moments like this are key for these white nationalist groups, who have been open about their desire to shift what’s seen as acceptable discourse in our society. Speaking in another X Space on Dec. 3, Vriend displayed all the strategic prowess of a villain in a bad movie, monologuing about the group’s key weakness to anyone listening. “In my experience, the much more threatening element is actually non-state actors. So it’s the [Canadian Anti-Hate Network], the CBC, random Antifa... they will do much more damage to your life for being part of an organization like this than the police will,” he explained.
a screenshot from the TV show Veep, where Kent is correcting someone who says "Happy Daylight Savings Time." It is, as Kent points out, "Daylight SAVING Time." No plural savings. Got it???
Mandy Moore wearing a butter-yellow camisole over a red cami, with a teal silk skirt matching her teal discman (on a strap!)
Hi. We live a [address redacted] and with face north towards the proposed school zone location. Not only do we disagree with the extended height, but the location of the school, which is not safe for children. There's been stabbing murders and crime and drug usersin the area and by putting a school there it's not going make any difference or any safer for families. We paid a lot of money for the view of our condo as most of our neighbours have done also Extending the height will obstruct more of our view so we totally oppose of any extended height of this building and to be Frank putting a school in this area is totally ridiculous as most families do not want to live in an area that's unsafe.
I don’t agree with putting a school in this area. The park is used by residents in the neighbourhood and there is already a shortage of green space. The green space should be put to a use that benefits all residents and not just a small select group. The proposed size of the school is too small to meet current and future needs, and a bigger school in another larger location would be more effective. A school will exacerbate traffic and parking issues for residents at peak commuting times. There is a limited amount of parking available and it would impact local businesses to take it away for school related users. Increasing the height of the permitted zoning would unfairly block views of the buildings behind the school and would decrease property values for owners who bought based on the existing zoning. This park is very coveted green space and an important part of the community. It should be available for use by all residents and not taken away to service the needs of a select minority.
an illustration of a snowy owl looking for partners on a bird dating app called BREEED
A generation 3 iPod with the spinny wheel feature playing Anger as Beauty by Hawksley Workman
A Very Modern, Al-First Role This is not a traditional journalism job. In fact, it's the opposite. You will not be writing your stories. Al will handle the writing. If that sentence bothers you, this isn't your role. But does that mean we're looking for bad writers? Absolutely not. You still need to be a strong writer, storyteller, and communicator so that you can recognize when Al spits out slop. You're essentially the editor, quality control, and context-builder, making sure the article actually reflects local reality. Think of yourself as a reporter who doesn't type. You investigate, gather, fact-check, shape, and guide. The Al does the drafting.
A tshirt featuring Luigi Mangione shirtless with pink text reading “I can fix him” and some hearts and doves
tweet from Peter Meiszner reading "I've heard from some residents concerned about a staff comment in council recently regarding removal of baby change tables. I want to provide more information as to why a small number are being removed--as a headline would likely raise eyebrows. #vanpoli" his tweet contains an excerpt of a report stating the city spent $56,000 over two years repairing vandalism to change tables specifically.
screenshot of an Instagram post reading "This budget stinks! We demand a change". The date of the event is Nov. 25 at 9am, meeting in the lobby of Vancouver City Hall at 453 W 12th
the first paragraph of Ryan Lizzo's revenge blog post "Part 1: How I Found Out" reading "Olivia had just returned from a reporting trip—at least that’s what she told me it was—and her Herschel backpack, the one with the flap that never quite closed properly, was tossed beside our bed, its contents scattered on the floor." If you don't know anything about this, don't read it, it's terrible.
a screenshot of the change table map. green icons indicate accessible change tables; yellow change tables indicate change tables available only in women's bathrooms; red indicate businesses without change tables
A crescent of beach with the city in the background and a blue sky streaked with clouds overhead
An image from the School of Journalism, Media and Creative Writing website reading "Asper Visiting Professor 2025-2026: Michelle Cyca, Bureau Chief, The Narwhal"
I hope you are doing well. I read your article on the Walrus on the reality of the current state on implementation of recommendations from that TRC. It truly is unfortunate that implementing these recommendations isn't proceeding with alacrity. One are that is confusing for me is the truth around the Kamloops mass grave site. In your article, you state, "discovery of unmarked graves on the grounds of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School". However, follow up work hasn't found any mass graves. I have tried to find primary sources on discovery of actual mass graves without success. Can you please share primary sources on this? I have spoken to others who state that though ground penetrating radar found some suggestions of graves, follow up digging did not find any actual graves. Appreciate any help you can provide. Thank you.
A screenshot from the National Post article titled "How Canada's short-term thinking sparked a national housing crisis" opening with the plight of a guy named Eddie, who supposedly can't afford a house in Ottawa but also owns a rental property that generates $5,000/month net income
rendering of the proposed new elementary school, which is shown next to Hinge Park, a very cute park and playground
photo of a loft with brick walls, a large wood table and a full wall bookshelf lined with suspiciously blank books. the text overlaying the image says "Would you buy it? This $900K Vancouver loft is for bibliophiles"
Like the earliest architects of the national education system, we could look elsewhere for inspiration. In Japan, schools typically have three short breaks between terms and one-third more days of instruction. Children are also less intensively supervised: in Tokyo neighbourhoods, a song is broadcast at 5 p.m. as a daily test of the emergency sound system, but it’s also a city-wide reminder for kids to head home as their parents finish work. Many European countries have similarly-scheduled school years but much more vacation for working adults. Distributing vacation time more evenly across the school year might benefit students, but it won’t address the widespread problem of North American parents who are expected to work fifty weeks per year.
text from the CTV news article: That was the case when Hurwitz [the VPD privacy and information lawyer] initially received no material from the police chief related to Ken Sim or the election, and sent an additional email to Palmer’s assistant. Noting that the FOI request from CTV News covered the months after Sim was elected mayor, a position that automatically makes him chair of the Vancouver Police Board, Hurwitz asked: “There is nothing?”
A question reading: Property taxes are the City’s main source of revenue and help fund the services people rely on. For that reason, decisions about property tax rates and service levels are considered together during the budget process. Given this, which of the following do you prefer for managing property taxes and service levels? Select one." Options include raising taxes by 5%, 2.5, 1.5 and 0. Only 5% would maintain service levels, everything else represents a cut. There is a write-in option.
A demographic question on the City of Vancouver budget survey that asks respondents to identify their main ethnic origin. The options for Indigenous include First Nations, Metis, Inuit, Indigenous general, and Multiple Indigenous identities
Quote from today's article by Marsha Lederman: "A Vancouver therapist e-mailed me, mocking me for complaining about antisemitism in Canada, given what’s going on in Gaza. Would anyone (therapist or otherwise) dare write that to a member of any other ethnic minority group? Stop complaining; the racism your people are experiencing isn’t valid. Would they even think it?"
Michelle holding a Harris's hawk, a little reddish-brown hawk with white feathers under its tail, wearing a falconer glove for protection
councillors and those assembled. “That’s something we won’t tolerate,” he said. “I know how hard it is for people to come here — there’s a fear of speaking, it’s nerve-wracking and if there’s an opinion expressed that may not be aligned with councillors in this chamber — or the mayor — it’s intimidating at the best of times.” Sim agreed the signs should come down. “You made your point, you got your shot in the media. Now let’s make this chamber a safe space for everyone who wants to make their voice heard.” Dominato, who attended by Zoom, asked for clarification: “Is that not artwork that was brought to city hall today by children, representing children?”
a tweet reading "asked my kid what she wanted to do over the long weekend and she said 'go to the big library and then eat a croissant.' a flawless itinerary"
text of an email reading: Hello Michelle, Just watched a video posted approximately 11 months ago with you saying private owned property was not on the table with indigenous land claims. Now you can see with the latest court ruling that what you said is totally wrong. John Rustad was right when he said it was an assault on property land owners in British Columbia. The supreme Court may overturn this ruling however it definitely is an assault on private land owners. I wonder if you were a property owner in British Columbia if you would still have the same opinion on indigenous land claims??
Excerpt from CBC News reading “ Radiff, whose military call sign is "Fat Daddy," spoke to CBC from NORAD's headquarters on the Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colo., to discuss how these high-level defence decisions get made.”
a screenshot of the change table map in Vancouver, B.C.
Screenshot of a letter from these so-called Indigenous leaders, with text reading (in part) Hosting a performance that spreads hateful and racist messaging stands in direct opposition to the values these treaties uphold: mutual respect, coexistence, and responsibility to one another and to the land. We strongly urge you to cancel the scheduled Kneecap performances and to stand in solidarity with Indigenous communities, Jewish Canadians, and all those committed to peace, equity, and justice. Signed, Grand Chief Lynda Prince, President of First Nations of North America (FNNA) and North American First Nations Envoy of Indigenous Embassy Jerusalem Melodie Greyeyes, Muskeg Lake Cree Nation, Saskatchewan, First Nations of North America (FNNA) Grand Chief Harvey Yesno, Eabametoong First Nation, Ontario, Former Chief of Eabametoong First Nation and Grand Chief of Nishnawbe Aski Nation Chief Reggie Neeposh, Ouje-Bougoumou Cree Nation, Former Chief of Ouje-Bougoumou Cree Nation Brian LaBounty, Kitigan Zibi (River Desert), Central Quebec, Algonquin Anishinaabe, First Nations of North America (FNNA) Gela Naqica, Inuk from Inuit community, First Nations of North America (FNNA) Lizzie Gordon, Rankin Inlet, Nunavut
a screenshot from The National Post's X account, reading "A group of Indigenous leaders are pushing for the cancellation of shows featuring Irish hip-hop group Kneecap, arguing the rappers glorify terrorism and promote antisemitism"
Screenshot of Ken Sim appearing on a video podcast called "Bitcoin is going to $100M"
She’s since written a memoir, titling it “When Life Conspired Against Me.” A summary provided to the Star described the book as an examination of the toll of the public backlash that destroyed her professional reputation. She’s “a victim of online bullying and was crucified in the media, despite not being involved in the fraud,” the summary reads. (The book does not have a publisher.) “I’m serving a life sentence for a crime I didn’t commit,” Archer says in a prepared blurb. “I was the victim, but that means nothing when the court of public opinion plays both judge and executioner. In their story, I’m the villain, and that’s all that matters.”
quote from the story reading: "Manji had lived in Iqaluit in the ’90s and had grown close to an Inuit family. That much was true. As her mother explained, when the father became ill with cancer, Manji took care of a daughter. That connection, Manji lied, had made her eligible for Inuit enrolment and, by extension, so were her daughters. Should Archer have questioned things? Maybe. But she says she believed her mother."
the "distracted boyfriend meme" with the girlfriend labelled "edits I need to do on another story" and the distracting lady labelled "new story idea"
post on X of Caroline Elliott also saying the park is closed to "non-Indigenous British Columbians"
Screenshot of a National Post article with the headline: "FIRST READING: Non-Indigenous visitors being turned away from B.C. public parks Province of B.C. has authorized two parks to close to all but Indigenous users"
That decoupling accelerated in 2009, after the Bank of Canada dropped interest rates further to shield Canada from the kind of housing crash that decimated the United States. It worked. Home prices climbed faster than ever, propping up the Canadian economy. This lopsided national reliance on real estate has only grown in the past 15 years. Today, buying, selling and leasing property represents the largest segment of our national GDP, at 13 per cent. More than a fifth of our national wealth is tied up in housing. Property owners have always enjoyed more wealth than renters, but that disparity has grown too. In 2019, their average net worth, at $685,400, exceeded that of renters by 29 times. As housing inflation has made property owners richer, many have leveraged that equity to buy more, concentrating more Canadian property in fewer hands. Multiple-property owners now own nearly one-third of homes in Ontario and B.C., and around 40 per cent in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
Michelle looking very pleased with her "Proud Donor" sticker from Canadian Blood Services
Mr Burns offering Homer Simpson a "friend ship"
We recognize the importance and urgency of improving the donation experience for trans, non-binary, Two-Spirit, and gender diverse donors and are actively working on several short- and long-term changes to current registration and screening practices, in consultation with communities.  Changes implemented to date:  Trans donors are no longer asked if they’ve had gender-affirming surgery.    We no longer ask donors to verbally state their gender at each donation appointment.   Trans and gender diverse donors with a binary gender can now register in their gender, and can make this change themselves in the Give Blood app.   We’ve made changes to our booking systems to ensure that a donor’s chosen name/name-to-use can be recorded in our appointment booking system. We are still working on IT and software system changes to adopt diverse gender options in our registration processes and to capture chosen name/name-to-use in our donation software but expect to have these changes in place shortly. We strive to ensure an inclusive, safe, and affirming donation experience for all donors and will continue to take timely actions to expand gender registration options, prevent deadnaming in all donor touchpoints, and provide ongoing inclusion training and education to our staff.
Headline reading "Squamish Nation hope to be recognized as part of Stanley Park" with a photo of two Squamish Nation members planting trees in Stanley Park