The North State

In 2019, Canadian journalism outlets meeting certain requirements were able to receive a tax credit under federal law. These were codified under the federal government's Qualified Canadian journalism organization (QCJO) guidelines. Now, seven years later, it turns out at least two government agencies were basing their response to journalist inquiries on these qualifications. The Orchard founder and journalist Jeremy Appel discovered that he initially didn't qualify as a journalist when inquiring Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada about a different story. IRCC has since backtracked, but what does this say about government designation of journalists? Scott and Jeremy discuss.Check out Jeremy's work at The Orchard.Follow Jeremy on Bluesky.Follow Scott on BlueskySources and further reading:https://readthecatch.ca/oops-the-government-determined-who-was-a-journalist-ft-jeremy-appel-podcastArtwork 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/

The USA and Israel launched a joint military campaign against Iran. With most legal scholars saying this strike was illegal and most official investigations into Iran's nuclear program saying they weren't building weapons, you'd think a position would be easy to strike. Instead, Prime Minister Mark Carney has supported the US in their attack, at most attaching some "regret" to that support. When lined up against his world-famous Davos speech, Carney's position seems untenable, but he's actually been quite consistent. Ian Barclay, editor-in-chief at Avant-Garde Press joins Scott to discuss the timeline of Carney's statements, possible Canadian involvement in the operation and a discussion about what this means, especially when news media doesn't forcefully push back against these statements.Avant-Garde PressFollow Ian on BlueskyFollow Scott on BlueskySources and further reading:https://readthecatch.ca/supporting-the-illegal-bombing-of-iran-with-regret-ft-ian-barclay-podcastIntro Music: Vigilante - Cross DogArtwork by Zo at Studio BonjourhiOutro Music: "Magic Escape Room" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The Narwhal and Amber Bracken are suing the RCMP for wrongful arrest. Officers held Bracken for multiple days after raiding a Wet'suwet'en land defender camp in unceded territory. It's one of the most consequential cases for press freedom in Canada... so what's the deal with the lack of coverage? This week, Ethan cox, co-founder and editor at Ricochet Media and Camilo Ruiz, independent journalist who has covered every day of the trial for his Instagram, join Scott to discuss the wider context of the case, the limitations of court decisions and why it's important to hold the RCMP to task.Follow Ethan on BlueskyRicochet MediaFollow Camilo on InstagramSources and further reading:https://readthecatch.ca/courtside-for-amber-bracken-v-rcmp-trial-ft-ethan-cox-and-camilo-ruiz-podcastArtwork 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/

It's now been a couple months since Jesse Brown's Canadaland series reporting antisemitism in Canada. Was there value in his reporting? While some points may have been well-made, the series obscured the issue and downplayed Israel's role in antisemitism in general. Blake Lambert, journalist, professor at Humber Polytechnic and TMU journalism instructor joins The North State to discuss the series, fundamental issues with Brown's approach and how the faults in reporting reflect a broader outlook of fear in the Canadaland series.Follow Blake's SubstackFollow Scott on BlueskySources and further reading:https://readthecatch.ca/how-to-report-on-antisemitism-in-canada-ft-blake-lambert-podcastArtwork 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/

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