Hi all—

I just popped over to the r/Canadaland Reddit 👀. I know a lot of people are curious about why I left Canadaland. And honestly, what I usually tell people is: it all happened pretty publicly. Because, as I always say, whenever possible, tell the truth. You watched it all unfold in realtime.

Of course, there’s always more. There’s always the part people don’t say out loud. Those details about what it felt like, how the unexpected happened, how everything ultimately ended. Those details are actually very well-known inside the industry. But I think, out of respect for me, they’re being kept fenced in. And I’m grateful for that because since leaving, life has been a whirlwind—personally, professionally, everything all at once. I haven’t had time to sit still, let alone reflect. And I’ve been thankful for the space not to have to explain it all right away.

What I will say is it is speculated that I signed an NDA. I am a free expression advocate, and I would never sign an NDA. If anyone ever asked me to do that I would either walk away proudly with nothing or sue the fuck out of them. My story is mine and I value my voice. My silence is not for sale. (Obviously this excludes the stuff executives are expected to protect, for example I wouldn’t violate privacy on human resource issues, sources, business finances)

Back to this curious reddit. It seems most of the people writing at r/Canadaland now are former supporters. There’s grief in those posts. Grief and a kind of disappointment that comes from once believing something mattered. I feel that too.

That brings to what I really want to tell you.

Scott Martin at The Catch has been moving in, very responsibly I think, to try and fill a void on media criticism.

I was on Scott’s podcast last week—This Isn’t Canada’s Land. Not about Canadaland, but a good conversation. And a funny title. 🔗

Afterward, Scott and I kept talking, a little off the record. Canadaland came up. Maybe that conversation sparked the piece he wrote: 🔗 What We Lost with Canadaland’s Decline

It’s a thoughtful read. He spent some time in the Reddit threads—where, former supporters are trying to make sense of what happened. What they helped build. And how it went sideways. What it feels like when something you loved, stops being what it was, maybe even becomes so different it feels like its opposite.

I think Scott has real potential build a media criticism show and site. Of course it won’t be Canadaland, nor should it. It should be Scott’s voice, his take. He’s ethical and worth paying attention to. And I’ll still say that even if he critiques me (again). I’ll never be mad at him for doing his job. We do need some thoughtful media criticism in Canada.

Finally, I do want to add because people seem curious, that I still see the crew who used to work at Canadaland fairly frequently. Some of us do have plans to work together again on projects -just somewhere else.