This is a gratitude thread for someone whose work was a valued and significant contribution to the city, the province and to my life personally.

@nickeagland is moving on & while I respect why & wish him best, this is a loss for local journalism. https://twitter.com/nickeagland/status/1281622975590969344?s=20

I will keep my comments about Van Sun to a minimum. This thread is about celebrating @nickeagland and his contributions to journalism & also my life personally. But suffice it to say imo a talented journalist like him leaving is another mark against the leadership of Post Media.

For years on here I wished we had local journalism around disability. We finally got some and now he and it are leaving the paper. I’m selfishly crushed but also I know Nick and can’t wish for him to stay.

There are remarkably few people in this world who I both like as a human and whose work I admire. Nick is one of them.

Integrity and compassion are too words that come to mind. Compassion - not empathy. Legitimate human caring. And ethical. So incredibly rare.

Imagine my surprise when after years of no replies to tweets about disability stories waiting to be covered and begging for local coverage about disability issues that wasn’t about Rick Hansen and wasn’t inspiration or pity porn, I got a DM from some guy at Vancouver Sun.

He wanted to meet for coffee. He said he’d been reading my tweets about the need for some substantive enforceable disability rights legislation in BC and wanted to talk to me.

I was cautious. OK I was actually suspicious. But within a few minutes of meeting him he earned my trust. Sincere curiosity is not a brand and its not a ‘look.’ It radiates from the inside and it’s either there or it isn’t. Openness and listening. Really listening.

We met. We talked. We talked more. We met again. I invited him to this meeting I organized. https://vancouversun.com/health/local-health/advocates-say-b-c-accessibility-legislation-cant-wait

Nick was the first person I saw after I had the last of my teeth removed. We met in the lounge of my building. He'd read my thread about dental coverage. At that point I wasn’t sure I would ever go out again. By end of the meeting I knew I would. https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/why-b-c-should-introduce-universal-dental-coverage

Nick had seen my tweets about my teeth and the connection to disability and poverty and knew there was a bigger story to be told. He researched and wrote that piece which forced dental care as healthcare into the public and political discourse. It had national impact.

Some of you know the Active Transportation Summit I worked on and curated disabled and other speakers for. He covered that here. https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/how-to-make-b-c-active-transportation-accessible-for-all

You may remember when Vancouver Sun published that absolutely trash racist oped... https://www.citynews1130.com/2019/09/07/absolute-garbage-vancouver-sun-op-ed-draws-backlash-criticized-as-racist/

Nick didn't wait to find out what the party line on it was, he spoke out against it publicly. https://twitter.com/nickeagland/status/1170201065607725056?s=20

Who else covered the Broadbent submission about accessibility legislation that included harm reduction, and contextualized ableism to its history of colonialism, eugenics and anti-Black racism? Oh I know no one. https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/broadbent-pushes-b-c-government-for-inclusive-accessibility-law

Remember back when it was impossible to get a grocery delivery because of COVID and this had particular impact on disabled people and no one was discussing it at the time? Nick covered it. https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/tentative-covid-19-leave-grocery-delivery-for-those-who-need-it-most-plead-disabled-people-in-b-c

Of course he covered a lot more than disability. He covered a lot of other things that matter. Like Hogan's Alley. https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/action-worth-more-than-words-over-hogans-alley-says-vancouver-non-profit-group

He brought important issues in our city to the fore. https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/society-believes-justice-delayed-justice-denied-for-black-community-at-hogans-alley

Like tackling the opposition to supportive housing. https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/how-to-make-supportive-housing-more-inclusive

This piece should not be remarkable in its humanity but it is. Especially in this city. https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/friends-say-dtes-homicide-victim-cristobal-esteban-was-beloved-valued

His coverage around the overdose crisis and the people we've lost and the grief and grieving and the human lives we put in jeopardy every day we fail to act, was where his heart wrote. How could it not? https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/a-father-fights-for-his-daughter-after-overdose-death

I know there are a lot of new articles every single day. But some articles matter more than others. These ones mattered to me. I felt part of this city in a way I had never felt. Even the stories that weren't about disability.

I have always believed one person can and does make a difference. Sometimes we don't know how but we do. Nick Eagland made a big difference in this city, in disabled lives and in particular in mine.

His words will be missed.

Please join me in thanking him.