Michelle Gamage

@michellegamage

Reporter for The Tyee covering health and biodiversity. I write about local research, sex, salmon, toxic drugs, bats, what your grandmother is up to, and all the different ways you can (but haven't yet) become dead in B.C.

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Michelle Gamage@michellegamage· 21d

New cigarette risk labels dropping Aug. 1. Canadian Cancer Society says tobacco use remains the leading preventable cause of disease and death in Canada, killing 46,000 Canadians each year, including about 30% of all cancer deaths.

Four pictures of the ways cigarettes can impact consumers, including (clockwise from top right) a baby at risk of SIDS; a senior with part of their jaw missing after mouth cancer; a torso recovering from heart surgery; and a cancerous and cancer-free colon. The pictures are overlaid with text warning consumers about the risk of smoking.

Michelle Gamage@michellegamage· May 15

I've been covering Francisco's story for @thetyee.ca for a couple months now and will stay with him, so stick around for updates. We finally got to meet in person yesterday. It was his birthday.

A small crowd of people hold brightly-coloured home-made signs supporting Francisco Barahona. He is in an electric scooter wearing a white hat in the centre of the group. A fee estimate for the chemotherapy drugs is posted on the front of his scooter, which total around $271,000. Underneath the printout is written "health before profit." The crowd is standing next to an ad for BC Cancer.

Michelle Gamage@michellegamage· May 15

Attended a rally yesterday held in support of Francisco Barahona, who has lived in Canada for 15 years but doesn't have immigration status. He has cancer and is facing $400,000 in medical bills because he isn't covered by BC's MSP. Rally participants called on BC to give him status and MSP coverage.

A man wearing a white baseball cap, white polo shirt and black unzipped jacket smiles gently at the camera. He has a tidy salt and pepper beard.

The camera is looking over a man's shoulder who is wearing a white baseball cap and black jacket. He is looking at a small crowd of people holding brightly coloured signs. The signs closest to the man say, "Illness should not lead to abandonment," and "solidaridad con Francisco," and "cancer treatment is a necessity not a luxury."

Michelle Gamage@michellegamage· Feb 4

If you are part of the Canadian Packaged Bread Class Actions Settlement you might get an email asking to verify your ID through Interact. Problem: my bank wasn’t on there. Solution: you can call the help number and after about 10 min on hold I could verify over the phone. No bank info needed.

An Interact sign-in page that asks people to select one of the following banks to sign in through. The banks listed are: BMO, CIBC, Dejardins, Envision Financial, Island Savings, Libro Credit Union, Prospera Credit Union, RBC Royal Bank, Scotiabank, TD and Valley First.

Michelle Gamage@michellegamage· Aug 26

More than one-quarter of people hospitalized due to COVID in Canada caught COVID while in hospital. And that's a lot lower than it has been. But health care facilities still aren't requiring masks. Coolcoolcool health-infobase.canada.ca/cnisp/viral-...

A graph showing red bars, representing the total amount of people hospitalized from a COVID infection who caught COVID in hospital, compared to blue bars stacked on top, representing the total amount of people hospitalized from a COVID infection who caught COVID outside of a health-care setting. The red bars consistently make up a little under half of the blue. The date range goes from Aug. 4, 2024 (on the left) to July 20, 2025 (on the right). Small grey bars are visible at the top, which represent a COVID hospitalization with an unknown source of acquisition.

Michelle Gamage@michellegamage· Jul 28

TIL that the Canadian criminal code used to have a section covering duels, but it was repealed in 2018.

A screen shot of black and red text on a white background reads: "Duels; 71; repealed 2018, c. 29, s. 4." It's a screen shot from the Canadian Criminal Code.

Michelle Gamage@michellegamage· Apr 14

New Conservative Party survey dropped and OH BOY someone needs to speak with them about what is called a "leading question." They can't actually be hoping to collect data from this? www.conservative.ca/canada-first...

A survey question reads, "Mark Carney and the Liberals will make Canada weaker. Pierre Poilievre and Canada First Conservatives will make Canada an economic fortress.

Do you support a stronger Canadian economy?This question is required.*"
The options for answers are; A, yes it's a good idea to end dependence on the U.S.; B, no; C, prefer not to say."
The questions are in white test on a blue background. There is a red maple leaf at the top of the page.

Michelle Gamage@michellegamage· Mar 27

Alarming to see the Federal Conservatives putting the weird "grimy filter of badness" on this press release. Feels like they're trying out the Trump-style highly stylized videos of people being deported. What the fuck is this edgelord style of policy proposals. www.conservative.ca/cpc/life-sen...

A press release about how Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre proposes a minimum life sentence for all people carrying 40 milligrams of fentanyl. The press release, from the Conservative website, is displayed next to a picture of a person facing a dirty concrete wall, next to a suitcase cracked open to show taped baggies. The person is wearing handcuffs and holding their hands in fists.

Michelle Gamage@michellegamage· Mar 10

Nightmare fuel

Two AI generated faces. One appears a normal face of a young woman with dark hair, light skin tone and glasses. The second is a demonic, twisted AI nightmare, with a glowing grey eye, twisted skin and a shrunken skull.

Michelle Gamage@michellegamage· Mar 10

Just learned about thispersondoesnotexist.com which generates a fake portrait of a non-existent person every time you hit refresh. It's deeply eerie. Especially with this face of satan peeking in the side of this one portrait.

An AI generated portrait of a woman who does not exist. The person in the picture is smiling and had brown hair, light skin tone and brown eyes with glasses. She is pictured posing next to a second face which has been cut off in a crop. But the AI did a poorer job constructing this mostly cropped face. An eye is visible but it is contorted, with a grey-black eyeball peering out. The person's cheek is also twisted and their head size is disproportionate.

Michelle Gamage@michellegamage· Feb 4

Normally my ad blocker keeps me from such nonsense but this bizarro ad still got through and I need to say DO NOT DO THIS. WD40 is poisonous and you CAN NOT DRINK FROM A FAUCET YOU PUT WD40 IN!!! If you do, immediately call poison control, do not induce vomiting. uwaterloo.ca/fine-arts/si...

An internet ad instructs people to spray the poisonous WD40 into a water faucet, with the text "LifeHack Guru" at the bottom. A red X has been drawn over the ad.

Michelle Gamage@michellegamage· Jan 30

After three months of not answering my questions on clarification around Jody Toor's medical and academic credentials, the BC Conservative caucus comms director takes to X the day after we publish to say Jody Toor has a medical degree. All I want to know is: From where Brad?

An X post from Brad Zubyk claiming Conservative MLA Jody Toor has a medical degree. The text reads: "Jody has a medical degree. She is a cancer survivor who pursued a different path. CTV should be ashamed of themselves. Yellow journalism is one thing. Making up facts is another. In case anyone wondered why eleven people still watch CTV."

Michelle Gamage@michellegamage· Jan 29

Apparently this fake account (not mine, though it uses my name and startlingly good looking profile pic) has been lurking on X since spring 2023. How embarrassing, what bots are even still on X?

Michelle Gamage@michellegamage· Jan 3

In love with this visual comparison. The large yellow piggy bank represents the salary of Richard Kruger, president and CEO at Suncor, at $36,946,735 in 2023. The tiny pink piggy bank represents the median Canadian income of $55,300. Nicely done @sevawood.bsky.social !! thenarwhal.ca/pathways-all...

A large yellow piggy bank is shown in comparison to a tiny pink piggy bank (by the yellow one's front foot) to illustrate the average Canadian's annual income (the pink small piggy bank) with Richard Kruger, president and CEO at Suncor's average annual income (the large yellow piggy bank).

Michelle Gamage@michellegamage· Dec 17

Lol looking at stuff for bird flu aka H5N1 aka Avian Influenza and I chuckled looking at this link list because yeah sure I guess the gov could also be warning us about the signs of AI, or Artificial Intelligence.

A screen grab of black and blue text on a white background that reads "on this page: what is AI; recognizing the signs of AI; reporting sick or dead birds; is AI a risk for people?"

Michelle Gamage@michellegamage· Dec 5

Tweet from Connecticut State Comptroller yesterday saying "absolutely the fuc not thanks"

A Tweet from Dec. 5, 2024 from Connecticut State Comptroller that reads, "After hearing from people across the state about this concerning policy, my office reached out to Anthem, and I'm pleased to share this policy will no longer be going into effect here in Connecticut." The Tweet is in reply to a Tweet from the nonprofit newsroom More Perfect Union that highlighted the Blue Cross Blue Shield policy in Connecticut, New York and Missouri that would no longer pay for general anesthesia for the entire length of a surgery.

Michelle Gamage@michellegamage· Mar 25

I'm in love with this BC gov image from a 1991 report because they had to hire someone to stage this photo, take it, develop it and put it in this report. Now the gov just uses boring stock photos of families smiling while outdoors. Bring back the moody burnt out candles on top of a wad of cash!