The North State

In an April 14 story by New York Times reporter and Canada Bureau Chief Matina Stevis-Gridneff, she used AI to fabricate a quote by federal Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre that did not exist. In a May 1 correction, the NYT stated "The reporter should have checked the accuracy of what the A.I. tool returned." How did such a big mistake get through one of the biggest newspapers in the world? What does this say about the state of reporting at the US paper of record? When will we ever escape this nightmare? Conservation and fellowships bureau chief at The Narwhal and contributing writer to The Walrus, Michelle Cyca joins Scott to discuss the high-profile gong show.Follow Michelle on BlueskyFollow Scott on BlueskySources and further reading:https://readthecatch.ca/nyts-canada-bureau-chief-used-ai-for-fake-poilievre-quote-ft-michelle-cyca-podcast/Artwork 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/

After Amazon pulled "The Camp of Saints" from their storefront, the publisher raised a stink online of censorship. This was quickly picked up by right-wing forces like the Washington Examiner and former Alberta premier Jason Kenney as an attack on free speech. Amazon has since returned the book to their marketplace and a white supremacist screed, describing nonwhite people as violent inhuman criminals inherently motivated to kill and rape, has entered the mainstream. Amidst all this, National Post columnist Jamie Sarkonak described the book as "highly relevant today in light of Canada’s own situation." Carmen Celestini, lecturer in Religious Studies at University of Waterloo and author of the upcoming book God’s Angry Men: The Political Legacy of the John Birch Society joins Scott to actually discuss the contents of the book, its use by far-right forces and how Sarkonak and the Post helped bring hateful fascist conspiracies into the mainstream.Follow Carmen on BlueskyGod's Angry Men: The Political Legacy of the John Birch SocietyFollow Scott on BlueskySources and further reading:https://readthecatch.ca/national-post-praises-white-supremacist-novel-ft-carmen-celestini-podcast/Artwork 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/

You know what this is about, don't be coy.04/27/26- Correction/Clarification: Mark Bourrie has reached out to me to inform me that the phonecall I reference in the Canadaland podcast is not the phonecall made on March 19, but one from 2021.Follow Scott on BlueskySources and further reading:https://readthecatch.ca/monologue-why-do-we-talk-about-jesse-brown-podcastArtwork by Zo at Studio BonjourhiIntro Music: Vigilante - Cross Dog

It's official. Mark Carney's Liberal government is now a majority. But the tactics used to gain this majority have mainly focused on cultivating floor-crossers from other parties to join their caucus. Even before the decisive victories in three byelections, it became clear Carney's majority goal came from coaxing dissatisfied MPs. What does this mean? In a politics bonanza, University of Toronto political scientist Elizabeth McCallion joins Scott to discuss the political climate this cultivates, pathways for the Liberals in the future and how the Conservatives will respond.Follow Scott on BlueskySources and further reading:https://readthecatch.ca/crossing-into-a-majority-ft-elizabeth-mccallion-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 NDP selected Avi Lewis as their new leader after a conference this past weekend. After a long campaign that largely went under-reported due to the party's meagre seat count, we now have a federal party leader pushing for public options, scaling back fossil fuel production and backing peace on the world stage. Independent journalist Nora Loreto spent the weekend at the convention and joins Scott to discuss the vibes, the vote, their critiques and how legacy news has shown they don't care to know about left-wing politics at all.Follow Nora on BlueskyNora's SubstackFollow Scott on BlueskySources and further reading:https://readthecatch.ca/avi-lewis-more-like-avi-lenin-ft-nora-loreto-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/

Ontario premier Doug Ford used his personal cellphone for provincial business, leading a panel of three judges to rule his personal cellphone was subject to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests. Now, Ford wants to exempt the premier, cabinet ministers and parliamentary staffers from FOI laws, explicitly saying because of his cellphone use. The move is a brazen attack on the public's right to knowledge about their government, but it's a large and unique piece of a larger attack on freedom of information systems. Justin Ling, investigative reporter and columnist at the Toronto Star, joins Scott to discuss the larger context, the attacks against FOI systems across the country and what news organizations need to do to push back.Follow Justin Ling on BlueskyJustin's SubstackFollow Scott on BlueskySources and further reading:https://readthecatch.ca/the-assassination-of-the-foi-by-the-coward-doug-ford-ft-justin-ling-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 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/