Latest news with #ClimateSolutionsReportingProject
National Observer
15-05-2025
- Politics
- National Observer
Separatists, Silos, and the Battle for Canada's Future
With the federal election behind us and America's interest in annexing Canada apparently on hold for the time being, it's tempting to think the worst of the recent crisis is behind us. My fear is that the real battle has only just begun. Alberta's increasingly noisy separatist movement, and Premier Danielle Smith's willingness to amplify and enable it, creates a clear fissure that Donald Trump could exploit. The recent election helped expose the vulnerabilities in our informational ecosystem, ones that can and will be weaponized by foreign and domestic political actors. And our social media platforms continue to isolate Canadians in their own self-imposed silos, ones where things like facts and nuance barely stand a chance. This is precisely why our Climate Solutions Reporting Project has become more vital than ever. As these information battles intensify, climate journalism stands as a crucial counterweight to misinformation and division. We've set an ambitious goal of raising $150,000 by May 22 to expand this essential reporting, but we can't get there without your support. Your contribution, pays for journalism that cuts through these silos and builds the informed consensus we desperately need in these uncertain times. If Mark Carney government cares as much about protecting Canada's cultural and territorial sovereignty as it claimed during the recent election campaign, it will have to do more than just protect the status quo here. It has to meaningfully reinvest in the CBC and redirect its focus towards protecting our access to reliable news and information. It needs to crack down more aggressively on foreign-funded influence campaigns and the useful idiots who advance and amplify them domestically. And it should probably re-assess the value of its Online News Act, one that has only served to damage the access many Canadians have to news. But there are also things you can do to protect Canada from these malign and malicious forces. And yes, one of them is subscribing to Canada's National Observer. Like most online publications, we increasingly depend on subscribers to fund our journalism and share our work. And while other outlets might lean on techniques like rage-farming to drive their engagement and support, CNO is fact-based reporting. By supporting independent journalism you're helping expand an ecosystem where the facts are checked, the details matter, and the noisiest voices (present company excluded, perhaps) don't get all of the oxygen. With each subscription you're helping build a place where we can talk about the country we want to build and share, and creating cultural momentum that becomes more irrepressible with each additional voice.
National Observer
14-05-2025
- Politics
- National Observer
Help us raise $150K by May 22 to expose dangerous pesticide policies
As the election drew to a close last month, a source drew my attention to a Liberal pledge on pesticides that could increase use of the toxic chemicals. Buried in the party's election platform was a promise that, if elected, the party will tell Canada's pesticide regulator to start considering food costs and food security when deciding whether to approve new pesticides or not. The pledge wasn't entirely surprising: food prices have soared since 2021, exacerbating Canada's cost-of-living crisis and driving millions of Canadians to rely on food banks. Meanwhile, Trump's trade war and Canadians' renewed patriotism spooked people's faith in Canada's ability to feed itself without the US. Measures that claim to tackle both problems are an easy sell. This is precisely why we've launched our $150,000 spring fundraiser to fund the Climate Solutions Reporting Project until May 22nd – because tracking these kinds of environmental policy shifts requires sustained, investigative journalism that looks beyond the headlines. For me, the promise raised some major red flags. Over the past two years, I've written a series of investigations revealing major transparency and integrity problems with Canada's pesticide regulator. My stories have exposed how the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) helped pesticide giant Bayer keep bee-killing pesticides on the market and undermine data collected by Christy Morrissey, a University of Saskatchewan professor. They've revealed how the agency overlooked health data in approving chlorpyrifos, a pesticide related to the toxic nerve gas sarin, and made those data nearly impossible for the public to see. And they've highlighted deep transparency problems within the PMRA that experts say protect pesticide companies, not people. All those problems arose when the PMRA could only approve pesticides if the agency determined they were safe for human health and the environment. Ask the agency to consider if restricting pesticides will increase food prices — a message industry groups commonly cite to push for looser environmental and health rules — and who knows what will happen. The election is over. Now it's time to keep the new government accountable, including keeping a close eye on how it will impact the environment and Canadians' health. The first few months of a new government are critical: relatively protected by novelty, this is a time when the government can implement key policies and lobbyists can forge key relationships with elected officials and civil servants. But we need your help. For a decade, Canada's National Observer has revealed what's really happening – exposing greenwashing, sparking policy change, and delivering the truth about our climate and environmental future. As climate facts are erased and disinformation flourishes, our democracy faces a critical threat. , allowing us to investigate not just problems like pesticide regulation, but also the innovative approaches that can lead us toward a healthier, more sustainable future.
National Observer
09-05-2025
- Politics
- National Observer
Important words from Seth Klein
There has never been a more important and urgent time to support independent journalism. In an era when mainstream media is shrinking; when ascendant right-wing politicians around the world are doing everything they can to discredit genuine news organizations; when young voters increasingly get their 'news' from social media, and that same social media is awash in misinformation and disinformation – that is precisely when independent media you can trust most needs our financial support. Will you join me in supporting vital climate journalism by donating to the Climate Solutions Reporting Project? Your gift will help us reach our goal of $150,000 by May 22. There are numerous independent progressive media organizations I choose to support, and I hope you do, too. But as someone particularly focused on battling the climate emergency, I never fail to open my morning email from Canada's National Observer. Every day, I trust Canada's National Observer to bring us just the right balance of vital information — the bad news about the escalating climate crisis and policy foot-dragging and backsliding; the good news about emerging climate solutions, activists and champions; and the fact-checking that debunks the climate disinformation that increasingly litters the public landscape. This is what journalism at a time of emergency is supposed to look like, written by front-line reporters in this defining struggle of our time. It's setting an example for the rest of the Canadian media landscape to emulate. And, thankfully, it is attracting the attention of more and more Canadians in search of compelling and trust-worthy news, analysis and opinion.
