Award-winning Canadian journalism that:
🔎 Holds the rich & powerful accountable
🔎 Exposes unsafe & unfair workplaces
🔎 Shines a light on hate & bigotry
Angry vendors say they were deceived by an Ottawa book festival that featured far-right convoy speakers.
Vendors say they lost thousands of dollars at a confusing and chaotic festival where an event with Maxime Bernier spiralled out-of-control
#ottnews
EXCLUSIVE: Leaked emails between Russian officials and Ontario PC insiders reveal efforts to flow Russian money into Ontario amid US sanctions.
Frank Klees, a top adviser to Doug Ford, admits relaying a backchannel message to the Premier’s Office
#onpoli
BREAKING: Emergencies Act Inquiry’s final report points blame at Doug Ford’s “absence” during convoy occupation of Ottawa.
“I find the province of Ontario’s reluctance to become fully engaged ... at resolving the situation in Ottawa troubling.”
#ottnews
Right-wing trolls are freaking out after learning they can get sued for calling people ‘groomers’ on the Internet.
A new court decision is reinforcing that there is no public interest in speech that exposes vulnerable groups to hate.
#cdnpoli
Pierre Poilievre is presenting himself as the solution to Canada’s affordability crisis.
But donation records show Poilievre’s Conservatives have enjoyed support from CEOs at big real estate investment trusts who are driving up costs of living.
#cdnpoli
Jordan Peterson was an expert witness in a murder trial. Manitoba’s highest court ruled:
• He was “clearly not qualified” as an expert
• His evidence was “dubious” and “not scientific”
• He got basic facts about the case wrong
#cdnpoli
#cdnmedia
Conservative leadership candidate Leslyn Lewis claims Microsoft Windows creator Bill Gates is funding a plot to undermine Canadian “sovereignty.”
#cdnpoli
#cpcldr
A Conservative MP’s photo of an ‘empty Canadian grocery store’ was actually taken in Northern England, not Canada.
Canadian conservatives have repeatedly shared misleading photos of grocery stores on social media over the last week.
#cdnpoli
#cdnmedia
Pierre Poilievre is under fire after a video surfaced of a homophobic and transphobic speech.
2SLGBTQIA+ community leaders are denouncing the Conservative leader’s speech accusing Justin Trudeau of imposing “radical gender ideology” on children.
#cdnpoli
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre claims he’s a friend of the ‘working class’.
In fact, Poilievre has spent his entire career attacking Canadian workers, undermining workers’ rights and pushing policies that drive down wages.
#cdnpoli
#canlab
Five more unions that endorsed Doug Ford are now condemning Ford’s attack on workers’ rights:
“We are deeply concerned about the potential removal of collective bargaining rights impacting educational workers.”
#onpoli
#canlab
#ontedsolidarity
NEW: A newly resurfaced video shows UCP leader Danielle Smith and her top adviser endorsing the illegal convoy blockade at Coutts.
“We want to see it win in Coutts.”
#ableg
#cdnpoli
Instagram is apologizing for deleting posts about missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people.
But they still won’t explain how a “technical issue” caused MMIWG2S posts to disappear on a national day of awareness.
#cdnpoli
#MMIWG2S
Convoy supporters falsely claim the Freedom Convoy was a “peaceful protest.”
The
@ottpeoplescomm
’s final report, based on testimony from over 200 people, shines a light widespread violence, harassment and hate crimes in the streets of Ottawa.
#cdnpoli
EXCLUSIVE: CSIS is investigating a Southwestern Ontario Conservative nomination vote, Conservative sources say.
The Conservative Party of Canada is denying knowledge of a CSIS investigation involving a chaotic nomination battle in Oxford County.
#cdnpoli
During a press conference this week, Ontario Premier Doug Ford pitched private surgeries as a solution to Ontario’s health care crisis.
Some procedures Ford singled out are offered by Ontario PC donors that lobbied Ford’s government.
#onpoli
#onthealth
NEW: It turns out the angry parent in Joe Warmington’s recent Toronto Sun article criticizing teachers has ties to Doug Ford’s education minister.
He partied with Stephen Lecce on Canada Day and appeared with him in photo ops:
#onpoli
#onted
NEW: In a recent Zoom call, Erin O’Toole shared tips with campus conservatives on how to win a debate with Liberals about residential schools.
He suggested the architects of the schools only meant to ‘provide education’ to Indigenous children.
#cdnpoli
New: Richmond Hill’s deputy mayor is apologizing for cheering on a homophobic and transphobic speech Pierre Poilievre delivered last week.
But 2SLGBTQ+ groups question why Poilievre’s “bigoted” and “discriminatory rhetoric” keeps getting a pass.
#cdnpoli
NEW: ‘Save the Children Convoy’ leaders plotted to capture police and Members of Parliament during secret meetings, participants allege.
Participants say convoy leaders allegedly planned to send convoys to Toronto, Ottawa and Tofino.
#cdnpoli
#ottnews
NEW: Ottawa convoy served as a breeding ground for “violent extremists” to recruit and radicalize, says a newly obtained federal counterterrorism report.
The report warned of possible threats to elected officials and federal buildings.
#cdnpoli
#ottnews
NEW: Facebook is blocking Canadians’ posts about the assassination of a BC Sikh leader. Their posts were targeted by India’s government.
Canadian Sikh FB users were told their posts were taken down because they violate Indian law.
#cdnpoli
#bcpoli
NEW: A week before trucks arrived, convoy leaders circulated a planning document outlining how to “occupy” downtown Ottawa.
The document appears to show organizers proposed one plan they acknowledged “breaks the law.”
#cdnpoli
#ottnews
NEW: Conservative MP helped draft text of a conspiratorial United Nations petition, author of petition says.
The man behind a petition sponsored by Leslyn Lewis believes the UN wants to enslave humanity and turn humans into a different species.
#cdnpoli
NEW: Danielle Smith suggested criminal charges could be laid against individual police officers for enforcing public health orders.
Smith made the comments in a livestream with a top Take Back Alberta organizer two weeks before she became Premier.
#ableg
“You don’t cancel elections where your political rival was running for an office, just because your political rival is running for that office,” said Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi.
“That is a direct affront on democracy. That is tinpot dictator stuff.”
#cdnpoli
#onpoli
#topoli
Doug Ford is now looking to cut costs in healthcare staffing, documents show.
Ford is cutting costs at a time when Ontario’s hospitals are ‘overwhelmed’.
#onpoli
#onhealth
#canlab
NEW: Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce was a participant in a ‘slave auction’ during his time as a frat house leader.
Educators who work with racialized communities call it “disgusting” and say Lecce should be held accountable.
#onpoli
#cdnpoli
NEW: Stephen Harper’s global alliance of conservative parties quietly scrubbed India off its website.
Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi’s BJP was removed without any announcement or explanation as a member of the International Democrat Union.
#cdnpoli
Far-right website ‘True North’ is spreading deceptive information about Canadian wildfires.
In a recent video, ‘True North’ linked wildfires to arson by presenting old news stories from 2021 and 2022 as if they had just occurred in 2023.
#cdnpoli
NEW: The CEO of private healthcare company hosted a fundraising event for Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole.
O’Toole once helped promote the same CEO’s “radical” message about privatizing health services in Canada.
#cdnpoli
#cdnhealth
#canlab
EXCLUSIVE: Take Back Alberta leaders are training “scrutineers” to infiltrate campaigns and act as “security” on voting day.
We went inside a group that is training its supporters to dispute votes and sow doubts about Alberta’s upcoming election.
#ableg
Doctors are critical of employers demanding doctor’s notes to prove their employees are really sick, noting it’s a waste of time and public resources.
The Canadian Medical Association (
@CMA_Docs
) has called it an “unnecessary public health risk.”
#canlab
NEW: Ottawa Police intelligence unit relied on dubious and politically-biased information about convoy.
Intelligence report expressed sympathy for protests against public health rules, mocked left-wing activists and quoted Rex Murphy opinion column
#POEC
Far-right extremists keep targeting Canadian schools and residential areas. And it’s getting out of control.
School boards, teacher’s unions and local leaders are speaking out about a strange new threat to their communities.
#cdnpoli
#cdned
#ottnews
Doctor's notes are a “strain on the system,” one former Tim Hortons worker told us.
“You’re exposing others who may have a weak immune system or are infants or are elderly for absolutely no reason other than to get a stupid piece of paper.”
#canlab
Twitter says placing a cash “bounty” on Canadian doctors does not violate its policies.
Canadian doctors are calling on
@TwitterCanada
to stop this “disturbing trend” amid rising cases of harassment targeting health care workers.
#cdnpoli
#cdnhealth
NEW: An Ottawa book festival platforming far-right speakers is using fake employees and misleading sponsors.
The Embassy of Mexico has pulled out of the event and organizations listed as sponsors want their logos taken off the festival’s website
#ottnews
FACT-CHECK: Pierre Poilievre and right-wing media sources are spreading misinformation about a court battle over Canada’s vaccine mandates.
Court docs tell a different story from one in a viral blog by a convoy-friendly National Post columnist.
#cdnpoli
NEW: Three of Canada’s biggest newspapers are running expensive full-page ads paid for by a mysterious group using a ‘made-up name’ and a fake mother to attack Ontario teachers
#onpoli
#onted
#vaughanworkingfamilies
Doug Ford’s government quietly cut over $100 million for protecting school children from COVID-19.
Ford scaled back funding to ‘support the safe re-opening of schools’, leaving local school boards to shoulder extra costs.
#onpoli
#onted
NEW: An Ontario PC candidate bought shares in one of the province’s deadliest long-term care companies several months into the pandemic.
Advocates say it shows the cozy relationship between the for-profit LTC industry and Doug Ford’s government.
#onpoli
We spoke to a dozen wealthy business people who donated to the far-right convoy that has occupied Ottawa for 3 weeks.
They include investment bankers, real estate moguls and owners of educational websites focused on vaccines and UFOs.
#cdnpoli
#ottnews
The European parliamentarians who defended the Ottawa convoy also promote anti-vaccine and anti-immigrant policies.
Several Canadian media outlets are boosting voices of far-right politicians who promote extreme, hateful and conspiratorial views
#cdnpoli
Tamara Lich appeared at a global summit with leaders of the European far-right and MAGA Republicans.
The Freedom Convoy leader was on a bill with French far-right politician Éric Zemmour, Brexit leader Nigel Farage and US House Speaker Mike Johnson.
NEW: An Ottawa school board is confirming an incident at a local elementary school.
An eyewitness told
@pressprogress
a vehicle displaying the word “freedom” drove by slowly, taunting and harassing a group of students, teachers and parents.
#ottnews
NEW: Far-right convoy groups are planning to occupy Canadian police stations until government officials are arrested.
In a planning meeting last night, they suggested bringing ‘tents and BBQs’ to occupy police stations for weeks or even months.
#cdnpoli
Pierre Poilievre meets with far-right extremist group at Nova Scotia-New Brunswick border.
“Everyone’s happy with what you’re doing,” Poilievre tells conspiratorial fringe group camped out on side of highway.
#cdnpoli
Only one-in-10 Canadians believe ‘free speech’ is in crisis, despite claims from Pierre Poilievre and right-wing media sources.
New research shows these views are concentrated among a small but loud minority of “very right leaning” Canadians.
#cdnpoli
Right-wing media personality Derek Fildebrandt is going viral after posting a “weird” and “creepy” video recorded inside an airport washroom.
Ottawa’s Airport says it is aware of the video recording and referring complaints to police.
#cdnpoli
#ottnews
FACT-CHECK: Biggest benefits from Andrew Scheer’s so-called tax cut for ‘lowest-income’ Canadians would actually go to the rich.
Lowest-income Canadians will “see basically no benefit,” economists say.
#cdnpoli
#canlab
FACT-CHECK: ‘Canada Proud’ claims this photo of an empty grocery store shows life under Justin Trudeau resembles the final days of the Soviet Union.
Loblaws clarified the empty shelves were due to delivery delays caused by a snow storm.
#cdnpoli
#nbpoli
EXCLUSIVE:
Star UCP candidate complained ‘white supremacist terrorists’ are treated unfairly, leaked messages show.
‘I am saddened by the demographic replacement of white peoples in their homelands,’ UCP candidate Caylan Ford wrote.
#ableg
#cdnpoli
Doug Ford quietly reduced education spending by nearly a billion dollars last year
Ontario’s Ministry of Education did not spend hundreds of millions of dollars that was officially budgeted for Ontario schools.
#cdnpoli
#canlab
#oned
Jason Kenney’s Anti-Alberta Inquiry redacted details about millions of dollars in foreign funding that went to right-wing groups.
But we found a list of right-wing groups unredacted on their website.
#ableg
#cdnpoli
NEW: The Conservative Party of Canada confirms Conservative MP Derek Sloan accepted a donation from a notorious neo-Nazi.
“Mr. O'Toole is outraged that anyone would accept donations from this individual,” a CPC spokesperson told PressProgress.
#cdnpoli
Canada’s Far-Right is planning another convoy, this time to Toronto to “save the children.”
But the ‘Save the Children Convoy’ is struggling as organizers accuse one another of being “undercover cops” and planning acts of “terrorism.”
#cdnpoli
#topoli
Doug Ford’s budget includes a hidden $1.3 billion ‘decrease’ in education funding.
Ontario schools likely on track for $12.3 billion ‘shortfall’ over next decade.
#onpoli
#oned
We tracked down the mother presented as the public face of the mysterious “Vaughan Working Families” group.
It turns out she’s not from Vaughan – she’s from Poland, and she’d like you to know she has “nothing to do with the teacher strike in Canada.”
NEW: A Toronto school trustee has filed a complaint with Canada’s ad standards body over anti-teacher attack ads from a fake parents’ group.
The Globe and Mail told PressProgress they “cannot disclose” the true identity of the mystery group.
#onpoli
Doug Ford’s ‘Director Of Pandemic Response’ was a private health lobbyist for Shoppers Drug Mart.
Shopper’s and other companies that provide private health services have been busy lobbying the Ontario government for COVID-19 contracts.
#onpoli
#cdnhealth
New academic study shows how a Canadian ‘taxpayer’ group is fuelling anti-Indigenous racism.
The study finds the Canadian Taxpayers Federation has promoted ‘disinformation’ and ‘contributed to anti-Indigenous racism’ for two decades.
#cdnpoli
#cdnmedia
NEW: Members of a controversial and secretive religious sect funded a 3rd-party group behind anti-Trudeau ads.
The group has a number of links with operatives connected to Scott Moe’s Saskatchewan Party and Jason Kenney’s UCP.
#cdnpoli
#skpoli
#ableg
NEW: ‘Save the Children Convoy’ says Conservative MP invited them into House of Commons as ‘VIP’ guests two days after meeting with convoy.
The convoy group, which has called for jailing MPs, was kicked out following questions by
@pressprogress
.
#cdnpoli
EXCLUSIVE: A&W told an anti-union conference in Toronto they keep a secret ‘watch list’ to make sure their workers don’t unionize.
A&W said Foodora’s recent union drive leaves them worried unions will spread across the service sector.
#canlab
#cdnpoli
Pierre Poilievre keeps railing against “gender ideology,” an “ambiguous conspiracy theory” inciting paranoia about schools and LGBTQ+ communities
Poilievre’s rhetoric is rooted in the global far-right’s attack on LGBTQ+ rights around the world.
#cdnpoli
NEW: Doug Ford just announced he is outsourcing ‘50%’ of surgeries in Ontario to private, for-profit facilities.
In his announcement, Ford claimed Ontario’s health system is currently run the same way as ‘Cuba and North Korea’.
#onpoli
#onthealth
The BC RCMP says it deployed snipers and assault teams against unarmed Wet’suwet’en land defenders because it is ‘more practicable’ to be over-prepared.
Experts say the BC RCMP’s use of heavily-armed units was ‘improper’ and ‘abusive’.
#bcpoli
#cdnpoli
NEW: Doug Ford’s government gave an oil company run by senior members of a secretive religious sect millions of dollars for face masks.
Klondike Lubricants received a nearly $2 million contract for the “provision of surgical masks.”
#onpoli
#cdnpoli
We did a close-reading of the Emergencies Act Inquiry’s final report.
Here are 15 of the most surprising, strange and troubling details buried in Justice Rouleau’s 2,092 page document.
#ottnews
#cdnpoli
Large Coalition Getting Ready to Fight Scott Moe’s Pronoun Policy Overriding the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
‘Scott Moe has no idea what he started’
#skpoli
#canpoli
NEW: The far-right ‘Save the Children Convoy’ is currently gathering at a rural base camp outside Ottawa.
Leaders of the convoy, which revolves around various pedophile conspiracies, say they are planning daily marches through Ottawa.
#cdnpoli
#ottnews
Doug Ford’s PCs claim they’re “working for workers.”
But records show they received thousands in donations from the owner of a business linked to several workplace deaths after Ford scrapped a law that would have protected their workers.
#onpoli
#canlab
An anti-union lobby group has received millions of dollars from Doug Ford’s government.
Ford has claimed he’s “working for workers” while millions of dollars flow from his government to lobbyists targeting skilled trades unions.
#onpoli
#canlab
“Pierre Pollievre should be ashamed.”
Community leaders are speaking out after Conservative leadership candidate Pierre Poilievre joined convoy organizers and others with far-right views on a march through a residential neighbourhood in Ottawa.
#ottnews
EXCLUSIVE: Emails reveal a pipeline connecting Take Back Alberta organizers to election fraud ‘scrutineers’ and a UCP campaign.
UCP candidate Eric Bouchard is defending his campaign’s links to a group warning about voting machines and fake voters.
#ableg
NEW: Elections Alberta is looking into Take Back Alberta’s finances and donations, the group’s former CFO says.
TBA founder David Parker also had his posting privileges on the group’s Telegram channel revoked amid in-fighting between TBA leaders.
#ableg
Manitoba PC leader Heather Stefanson took out a full-page ad in the Winnipeg Free Press declaring she will never support the search of a local landfill for the remains of two Indigenous women believed murdered by an alleged serial killer.
#mbpoli
#cdnpoli
NEW: Intelligence report says bots and fake accounts linked to India’s governing party are harassing Canadians.
New documents tabled in Foreign Interference Inquiry say ‘Pro-BJP’ accounts targeted Canadian activists, journalists and politicians.
#cdnpoli
EXCLUSIVE: Meta adopted policy to censor Canadian Facebook posts about assassinated Sikh leader, company emails show.
Meta removed Sikh organization’s posts calling on Canadian government to investigate “foreign interference” by India.
#cdnpoli
#cdnmedia
NEW: Manitoba government gave $50 million to a group of companies linked to a secretive religious sect.
A number of the companies operate out of the same building near Winnipeg’s airport, housing several businesses linked to the sect.
#mbpoli
#cdnpoli
NEW: A Manitoba PC campaign adviser is promoting Trump-style election fraud claims before voting day.
On a far-right livestream, the Manitoba PC adviser spread conspiratorial claims about labour unions and Elections Manitoba voting machines.
#mbpoli
EXPLAINER: Anti-LGBTQ+ ‘Million Man Marches’ Are being held across Canada this week. Who is behind them and what are they really about?
Everything you need to know about the organizers, their extreme ideas and big planned counterprotests
#cdnpoli
#canlab
A right-wing third-party advertising group funded by billionaire Lululemon founder Chip Wilson is posting homophobic memes mocking the end of Justin Trudeau’s marriage.
#cdnpoli
#bcpoli
Here are all the corporations lobbying Doug Ford to privatize and outsource parts of Ontario’s health care system.
Advocacy groups are warning Doug Ford’s government wants an ‘expanded role’ for private health services.
#onpoli
#cdnhealth
Pierre Poilievre is ignoring calls to disavow a far-right extremist identified as a national security threat.
Poilievre’s spokesperson mocked the media after the leadership candidate shook hands with a man flagged in a counterterrorism report.
#cdnpoli
Photo shows Ontario MPP Randy Hillier with the flag of a group linked to an armed ‘Freedom Convoy’ plot.
The RCMP recently seized guns and charged four men with conspiracy to murder who had links to the neo-fascist Diagolon movement.
#cdnpoli
#ottnews
QAnon, neo-fascists, violent revolutionaries, criminals and doomsday preachers.
Meet the extremists and social media influencers at the centre of the far-right siege of Ottawa.
#cdnpoli
#ottnews