The North State

In November of 2021, the RCMP raided a land defender camp in Wet'suwet'en territory with assault rifles and chainsaws. Over a dozen people were arrested, including photojournalist Amber Bracken and documentary filmmaker Michael Toledano. The Narwhal, who had Bracken on assignment, teamed up with the photojournalist to sue the RCMP. The trial is now ongoing and set for closing arguments in April. What's the suit about? What are the details? Scott lays out the landscape of the lawsuit, context surrounding it and, finally, his take.Follow Scott on BlueskyIntro Music: Vigilante - Cross DogArtwork by Zo at Studio BonjourhiSources and further reading at:https://readthecatch.ca/

Pierre Poilievre swept the leadership vote at the federal Conservative party's convention this past weekend in Calgary. While news outlets breathlessly explored the vote and what it means for the party, one journalist who applied for media accreditation was denied. The reason? "I don't know." Meanwhile, at that same convention, a new category of accreditation was made to designate "content creators." Many of these included open Poilievre and Conservative partisans. Arno Kopecky, national politics reporter for Canada's National Observer joins Scott to discuss the change, wider denial of access to journalists and what he learned reporting from the convention lobby.Clarification: Shortly before this was recorded, Ontario Premier Doug Ford and the Ontario Progressive Conservatives had changed their policy and allowed reporters to cover Ford's speech. No details were given on allowing journalists to cover any other part of the convention.Canada's National ObserverFollow Arno on BlueskyFollow Scott on BlueskySources and further reading at:https://readthecatch.ca/barred-from-the-conservative-convention-ft-arno-kopeckyArtwork by Zo at Studio BonjourhiIntro Music: Vigilante - Cross DogOutro Music:"Magic Escape Room" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Happy 2026! Scott's back and he's angry. Everybody's talking about Prime Minister Mark Carney's speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. After countless articles and panels waxing poetic about how great a moment it was for Canada, few felt the need to criticize anything about it except for its possibility at implementation. In this monologue, Scott uses Carney's speech as a lightning rod for everything wrong with the modern journalism landscape in Canada. In short, it's not good; Welcome to The Bullshit Years.Follow Scott on BlueskyIntro Music: Vigilante - Cross DogArtwork by Zo at Studio BonjourhiSources and further reading at:https://readthecatch.ca/monologue-the-bullsh-t-years-podcast

So the first full-year of The North State has wrapped up. What a time it's been! This podcast has interviewed journalists from Karyn Pugliese, to Rachel Gilmore, to Sarah Samuel and not to mention that one that happened recently. But since Scott's always the one asking the questions, it's that rare time of year where you can pose them to him. Eric Wickham, Ontario reporter for PressProgress and podcast producer extraordinaire, joins The North State to look at the year in review, the state of news media, his contentious interview with a certain indie media figure and pose your questions to the host.Follow Eric on Bluesky and TikTok.Check out his reporting for PressProgress.Follow Scott on BlueskyIntro Music: Vigilante - Cross DogArtwork by Zo at Studio BonjourhiSources and further reading at:https://readthecatch.ca/the-north-state-q-a-fest-2025-ft-eric-wickham-podcast

After a tumultuous year in Canadian federal politics, it seemed that the 2025 Parliamentary Press Gallery Dinner was geared for virality before it even began.Then NDP interim leader Don Davies stole the show with his self-deprecating humour. Pierre Poilievre stunned with his other-deprecating humour. But these moments lead us to assume that the relationship between politicians and the press is, after all is said and done, a cordial affair. This assumption blankets the dinner and leads to some questionable outcomes. Rachel Gilmore, independent journalist at Bubblepop Media, joins Scott to discuss her experience with the event, how it shows legacy journalism's coziness with politicians and how a room full of journalists laughing at jokes made at the expense of marginalized people may, in fact, be bad.Submit your questions for the Q&A here!Check out Bubble Pop with Rachel GilmoreFollow Rachel on Bluesky.Follow Scott on BlueskyIntro Music: Vigilante - Cross DogArtwork by Zo at Studio BonjourhiSources and further reading:https://readthecatch.ca/killjoys-ruin-parliamentary-press-gallery-dinner-ft-rachel-gilmore-podcast

In a move that was in the works for month, the UCP government in Alberta has invoked the notwithstanding clause to shield three bills from court challenges. These bills specifically target trans kids, requiring birth gender to enter sports after 12 years old, preventing them from using differing pronouns at school without parental permission and bans on medical treatment under 16 years of age. With such unprecedented use of the clause, it's important to have a discussion on the very real implications for trans people, kids and wider society. Mel Woods, senior editor at Xtra Magazine joins the show to discuss the approach by the government, the effect on trans kids and their article calling out premier Danielle Smith for dishonest justifications.Submit your questions for the Q&A here!Follow Mel on BlueskyCheck out Xtra MagazineFollow Scott on BlueskyIntro Music: Vigilante - Cross DogArtwork by Zo at Studio BonjourhiSources and further reading:https://readthecatch.ca/human-rights-trans-kids-notwithstanding-ft-mel-woods-podcast/

If you're a news nerd, a media freak, or some sort of schadenfreude savant, you're probably aware of the spectacular implosion of CANADALAND and its equally infamous leader, Jesse Brown. This week the network drops the first two episodes of a podcast examining antisemitism in Canada. To be blunt: hopes are not high. Nothing has been convincing that they should be, either. So why do we like talking about it? For this week's monologue, I dive into my latest critique, why I hope to focus less on CANADALAND in the future, and what news media critique means in a landscape without the indie giant.Submit your questions for the Q&A here!Follow Scott on BlueskyIntro Music: Vigilante - Cross DogArtwork by Zo at Studio BonjourhiSources and further reading:https://readthecatch.ca/monologue-post-canadaland-wasteland-podcast

It's been a week since the federal Liberals released the 2025 budget. In that time we've heard a lot of coverage, some useful, some not. In the first North State panel, we discuss the potential impacts in this budget, its massive investments in the military, abandonment of the environment and the complete lack of health considerations. Of course, the news media doesn't get away unscathed either. Karyn Pugliese (APTN News national affairs correspondent), Arshy Mann (co-founder and host at The Hatchet) and Ian Barclay (editor at Avant-Garde Press) join the show to dissect the budget and the news coverage surrounding it.The HatchetAvant-Garde PressKaryn's newsletterFollow Scott on BlueskyIntro Music: Vigilante - Cross DogArtwork by Zo at Studio BonjourhiSources and further reading:https://readthecatch.ca/panel-sifting-through-the-sludge-of-budget-2025-the-north-state-podcast