In 2008, I joined the Edmonton Police Service as a developer working on EPROS, the system police officers rely on in their vehicles, a system whose lives depend on.
As part of my role, I was placed on a rotating on-call schedule. Every other week, I carried a work phone, 24 hours a day, ready to answer it at any time. It wasn’t just a technical duty, it shaped how I lived. I couldn’t take my kids to the movies or the pool. I couldn’t be unreachable, even for an hour. I couldn’t have a glass of wine at dinner. And with a 10-month-old baby at home, those late-night calls affected more than just me, they disrupted my whole family.
All of that, for $1 an hour. Canadian.
A full holiday weekend from Friday to Monday, three and a half days on standby, for all the inconvenience and disruption, compensated about $90.
Everyone knew it was unfair.
Everyone also said, “It’s in the bylaws. You can’t change it.”
But I didn’t accept that.
I found every person who was regularly on call. I met them, listened, and gathered support. I researched what others in other cities and police agencies were paid, documented the case, and together we submitted a request for negotiation to our union. Met with the union, finalized the case.
It worked!
Since then, at the Edmonton Police Service and the City of Edmonton, people on standby duty are paid a fair rate. A long weekend now is compensated at about $500, not $90. That’s dignity.
This wasn’t handed down from above. It wasn’t a gift.
It was ordinary people seeing a problem, connecting, and doing something about it.
The lesson was simple:
Change doesn’t start from permission. It starts when people decide they’re ready to act.
Today, looking around at how technology and AI are evolving, I see bigger problems—and the same patterns of silence.
In my previous letter, I talked about some of the real problems I believe we need to solve:
- Governments make decisions based on emotion, bias, or incomplete knowledge, leading to wars and economic failures.
- Inefficiencies in national and corporate governance, where short-term thinking dominates long-term good.
- Unstable economic policies, crashing lives, and livelihoods because of poor planning and reactive decision-making.
- Small businesses are struggling because they lack the tools and insights to navigate complex markets and hiring strategies.
- Universities fall behind on education while charging an arm and a leg as tuition.
- Prices are growing like crazy, while salaries are lagging
- AI is centralized and controlled by a few who will be controlling all of us pretty soon.
And from my experience in Web3, I’ve seen something else too: demanding big returns without bringing in real value.
The community I want to help build is different. It’s for those who think and do.
Those who know that real change takes more than posting complaints. Instead, it takes showing up, listening, thinking, and building. Together!
We’re opening a simple space, a forum. Not to sell anything. Not to manage anyone.
But to bring together people who care enough to try.
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People who want to think about how AI can serve humans, not control them.
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People who want to solve the problems they are sick and tired of.
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People who are tired of seeing decisions made from the top down, without care for the people affected.
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People who are ready to work, even if the path forward isn’t clear yet.
If this speaks to you, you are welcome.
Bring your experiences.
Bring your ideas.
Bring your willingness to start small, and your belief that small actions, shared by many, can change big things.
We’ll figure the rest out together.
Elena.
