to be more technical, they *can't* sell the land — they also can't own it outright. it's held "in trust" by the federal government under the Indian Act. that's also why First Nations on reserve couldn't build the kind of generational wealth through home ownership that non-Indigenous Canadians have
framing this as some kind of First Nations revenge against settlers is inaccurate & just serves to fan the flames of non-Indigenous paranoiacs who believe Native people are out to get them. the First Nation here is behaving both fairly and legally.
not included in this rage-bait story is the fact that most B.C. municipalities use zoning to restrict mobile homes, camper vans, tiny homes etc, which is why you find so many RV parks on reserve land. an easy fix by non-Indigenous governments. thediscourse.ca/nanaimo/regi...
if we’re fomenting rage against First Nations because people are being given two years notice to vacate their expiring leaseholds on reserve land then we’ve kind of lost the plot
The asymmetry of the value placed on human life is so striking. Israel has a goal to recover 40-year-old remains; to do so, it invades a sovereign country, and the lives of 26 Lebanese are an afterthought. Their names not even worth printing in the New York Times.
thanks for joining! ❤️
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When the BC Conservatives voted for a bill to repeal the human rights code, the NDP caucus promptly put out a press release slamming the Cons who "couldn’t muster the courage to stand against it."
Today, 0 NDP MLAs mustered the courage to vote against a bill to close all BC's safe consumption sites
well, I hope you consider reflecting more deeply on it. if you have concerns about our policy, or more broadly with AI, we're soliciting feedback
we did not. we are testing one tool that generates audio versions of select articles (many publications now include AI audio with all articles, they just don't announce it), and we are asking for feedback from readers about AI generally. you can read more here: thenarwhal.ca/newsletter-a...
if you read our update, it was clear that we do not use AI in any part of our reporting process. our guidelines are here: thenarwhal.ca/ai-guidelines/
a very fun read on @thenarwhal.ca today from @zoeyunker.bsky.social!
I also think it's valuable to bear in mind that while there is a lot of attention on AI enviro impacts (and we report on those!), every online activity — streaming videos, storing files on Dropbox, sending emails — uses natural resources, and we should try to understand all of it holistically
appreciate all of this thoughtful feedback. re: the environmental impact, the audio file is generated once & each "play" uses that file, so it's not generating it each time; my understanding is that minimizes the data used
looking forward to this tomorrow!
it’s the voice of our cofounder, Carol.
the specific tool The Narwhal is using for audio versions is Everlit: www.everlit.audio
I'm not sure what other outlets use. as mentioned, we don't use ChatGPT/Open AI or other generative AI for any part of our reporting process.
if you’re a member I hope you included this reason in your email! thanks for the feedback
* of the stories, not the survey! another human typo
this feedback on the survey as well as the use of AI is really valuable, so thank you for filling it out
this is a fair point. I know a lot of people who use their own screen-reader tools rather than the built-in versions that most outlets have, though every one I'm aware of is an AI tool. if there are non-AI alternatives I'm unaware of — and there probably are — I'd be happy to bring those forward.
nope! I'm sure AI would make fewer typos. as we stated, we don't use AI to generate any reporting, emails, written content of any kind; the only use case here is the AI-generated audio versions of the survey. thanks for your feedback.
my statement was also not generalizing about what disabled audiences want; what I said was that some readers have requested this specifically, and those requests informed The Narwhal's decision. I appreciate that you feel differently and I'll bring that feedback to the team.
that's not what I'm suggesting, though I will say every media outlet I can think of that offers audio versions is doing so with AI; if you know of exceptions, I'd be interested to hear them
the fact that B.C. — like every other province and territory — also underfunds midwifery care is an exacerbating factor. in Indigenous communities, as well as many other remote communities across the country, pregnant people must be evacuated even for routine births thewalrus.ca/indigenous-m...
this is wild — as @andreawoo.bsky.social has reported, B.C. has a critical shortage of OB-GYNs that has led to diversions in rural areas for many months. that the largest hospital in the largest city of the province has no O.B. on call is a massive failure. www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...
really appreciate the feedback and I will pass it on
this is helpful feedback, thank you! I do want to point out that other outlets you're sharing stories from (The Tyee, National Observer) are also using AI-generated audio summaries on their articles, which is the one AI use case that The Narwhal has just implemented
we have also just released a policy that outlines explicitly how we do not use AI in any part of our reporting or writing processes, so I don't think "go all in" reflects our approach. if you think this sucks and it will damage your trust, please do put that in the comment field
I would say that's an unfair characterization. The Narwhal has just started using *one* AI tool to generate audio versions of stories, which are frequently requested as an accessibility measure. and unlike most other outlets I can think of, we're announcing it so readers are informed & can respond
