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How Canada's National Observer tracked a climate misinfo group going 'under the radar'

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Reposted by Justin Crann

Rory White @rorywh.bsky.social · 6d

As the campaign continues to pop up in communities across the country, Canada’s National Observer has developed an unprecedented new tool that allows us to track the spread of campaigns like this: Civic Searchlight.

www.nationalobserver.com/2025/10/08/i...

As KICLEI's campaign moves into the shadows, Canada’s National Observer has developed an unprecedented new tool: Civic Searchlight. To build it, we assembled a database of council meetings in more tha...

Canada’s National Observer unveils a powerful tool for fighting disinformation

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Justin Crann @jcrann.bsky.social · 6d

This new tool is the sort of thing I would have loved to get my hands on when I was a community news reporter more than a decade ago. Kudos to @rorywh.bsky.social and the CNO team for their hard work on this asset, and to the publication for releasing it freely to journalists and researchers.

Civic Searchlight brings together municipal meeting transcripts from across Canada into a searchable database for the first time. It has already been used to fight disinformation, report on impact, di...

A decade later, Carney's climate wake-up call to financiers still falls on deaf ears

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Reposted by Justin Crann

John Woodside @woodsideful.bsky.social · 15d

Mark Carney's 'Tragedy of the Horizons' speech was a landmark moment for the financial sector to recognize climate change was a severe threat, but a decade later he's flouting his own prophetic warning as climate breakdown rapidly approaches.

Mark Carney's 'Tragedy of the Horizons' speech was a landmark moment for the financial sector to recognize climate breakdown was a severe threat, but a decade later he's flouting his own prophetic war...

A Liberal environment caucus is born

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Justin Crann @jcrann.bsky.social · Sep 13

That Greaves quotation is money. Parliament needs more Parliamentarians willing to break rank over issues they and their electorate care about.

Arno Kopecky @arnokopecky.bsky.social · Sep 12

Climate advocates within the Liberal party are finding common cause and voice, on the eve of parliament's resumption.

“I was not elected to parliament to either bite my tongue or not use my brain,” Will Greaves, freshman MP for Victoria, told me.
www.nationalobserver.com/2025/09/11/a...

About 50 Liberal MPs have formed a sub-caucus on environment to serve as a forum for the party’s environmental advocates to compare notes and speak with a collective voice as they push for progressive...

Trump’s war on science mirrors Harper’s chilling Canadian legacy

Justin Crann @jcrann.bsky.social · Sep 9

New from me for CNO: Trump's anti-science strategy is so familiar, it could have been cribbed from the playbook of a former prime minister.

#cdnpoli

US researchers grappling with the challenges presented by the president can look to their counterparts north of the border for strategies.

A ★½ review of Eddington (2025)

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Justin Crann @jcrann.bsky.social · Sep 3

Such a great story. Sea otters have made an almost unprecedented comeback on the west coast, but their resurgence is threatening Indigenous ways of life. CNO's Sonal Gupta handled this piece adroitly, respecting the Indigenous point-of-view while also spotlighting the hard science of conservation.

Canada's National Observer @nationalobserver.com · Sep 2

Sea otters have made an astonishing comeback from the brink of extinction, reaching populations so dense that they're now ploughing through shellfish.

All of which is prompting some First Nations to ask: is it time to hunt sea otters again? www.nationalobserver.com/2025/09/02/n...

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Justin Crann @jcrann.bsky.social · Aug 27

A rare misfire from director Ari Aster and star Joaquin Pheonix, Eddington aims for satire but lands far short of the mark. Catch my review on Letterbox'd — but be warned, spoilers abound!

This review may contain spoilers. Visit the page to bypass this warning and read the review.

Meta banned the Epoch Times from advertising. Then it accepted $300k in new ads targeting Canadians

Justin Crann @jcrann.bsky.social · Aug 24

Got out for a 6 hour hike with the pup today. A wonderful time.

Justin Crann @jcrann.bsky.social · Aug 21

Some genuinely excellent investigative work by CNO's @rorywh.bsky.social — don't miss it!

In the past 12 months, The Epoch Times has spent over $300,000 on Facebook and Instagram ads promoting political surveys to collect the emails of Canadians using a series of anonymous pages.

How industrial forestry and climate change created the NS wildfire problem

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Justin Crann @jcrann.bsky.social · Aug 9

Solid reporting here for CNO from Marc Fawcett-Atkinson and Joan Baxter. Canada has, for too long, engaged in a lot of exploitative resource extraction (and not just in the oil and gas sector) that has unfortunately primed our land for the climate crisis.

Canada's National Observer @nationalobserver.com · Aug 9

Nova Scotia's ban on entering the forest due to wildfire fears comes as the province deals with a moderate-to-severe drought, no rain in the forecast and a forest more susceptible to burn because of logging, say experts.

Nova Scotia's ban on entering the forest due to wildfire fears comes as the province deals with a moderate-to-severe drought, no rain in the forecast and a forest more susceptible to burn because of l...

A ★★★★★ review of The Life of Chuck (2024)

Justin Crann @jcrann.bsky.social · Jun 17

Stephen King, from whose work the film is adapted, describes The Life of Chuck as a "joy machine" — but that sells short the full emotional impact of one of the best films of the year so far.

My spoiler-free Letterboxd review: boxd.it/a2k8Zf

I have long said that my favourite films are the ones that can elicit great emotional responses, and The Life of Chuck did exactly that — three times over — when I caught it in the cinema this afterno...

NDP grassroots buck against 'top-down' leadership race

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Justin Crann @jcrann.bsky.social · Jun 12

Some excellent reporting here from CNO's very talented @natashabulowski.bsky.social and @rochellebaker1.bsky.social.

Cloe Logan @cloelogan.bsky.social · Jun 12

The question of how to rebuild has become existential: the NDP is down to seven MPs and lost official party status for the first time since 1993. @natashabulowski.bsky.social + @rochellebaker1.bsky.social on the future of the NDP for @nationalobserver.com

With the NDP reduced to seven seats, Former MP Charlie Angus and party activists want to scrap data-driven or social media strategies and return to old-school organizing.

Spaceballs 2 | Announcement

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Justin Crann @jcrann.bsky.social · Jun 12

The original Spaceballs is one of my favourite spoof comedies ever made. I'm ready.

YouTube video by Amazon MGM Studios

youtu.be

Justin Crann @jcrann.bsky.social · May 28

An opening message from Tom Cruise, the actor, precedes The Final Reckoning. Somehow, it raises the stakes far better than the previous entry in this franchise — and even though the first hour is heavy with exposition and flashbacks, the eighth Mission: Impossible still makes for great viewing.

A ★★★★ review of Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (2025)

At my local cinema, after the "Feature Presentation" graphic screened, a shot of Tom Cruise — out of character, as himself — appeared. The actor thanked his audience for turning out at a theatre to se...

A ★★★★ review of Thunderbolts* (2025)

Justin Crann @jcrann.bsky.social · May 6

This one isn't going to top any lists for most memorable villain or even greatest Marvel movie, but Thunderbolts is a respectable return to form(ula) for the studio, bolstered by some memorable setpieces and excellent performances from its key players.

I have long said that I am a big fan of an old story told well, and at its heart, that is all that Thunderbolts really is: a return to form(ula) for Marvel after several consecutive swing-and-miss att...

A ★★★★★ review of Sinners (2025)

Justin Crann @jcrann.bsky.social · Apr 28

I'll be offering the most modest of back-end support to this stellar effort from two brilliant independent media organizations tonight. Join us!

Canada's National Observer @nationalobserver.com · Apr 28

TONIGHT: Join us + @ricochetmedia.bsky.social at 7:30 PM ET for election coverage that connects campaign narratives to voting realities. Live reports from across Canada. Expert analysis. Real context.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel to get notified when we go live! www.youtube.com/c/NationalOb...

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Justin Crann @jcrann.bsky.social · Apr 27

David Bamber is also perfect as Mr. Collins.

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Justin Crann @jcrann.bsky.social · Apr 22

Ryan Coogler is at his stylistic best and newcomer Miles Caton stands out amid a remarkable cast in Sinners — perhaps the best movie I've seen in years.

Full review on Letterbox'd: boxd.it/9uCnmH

There are movies that are great and there are movies that I love. Sinners is one of the films that lands squarely on both lists — it's a movie I thoroughly enjoyed, and probably the best one I've seen...

A ★★½ review of Novocaine (2025)

Justin Crann @jcrann.bsky.social · Apr 10

Jack Quaid is solid as the lead in Novocaine, and the film's fine enough. It's just 20 or 30 minutes too long.

Full review on Letterbox'd:

There's nothing horribly wrong with this action film. In fact, there are a handful of great sequences and exciting moments, and Jack Quaid is solid in his leading role. Amber Midthunder and Jacob Bata...

A ★★★★½ review of Black Bag (2025)

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Justin Crann @jcrann.bsky.social · Apr 8

Sleek, stylish and sexy, Black Bag doesn't seek to reinvent the spy thriller, but it does nail its assignment. A stellar ensemble cast and Soderberg's best work in at least a decade made it the most fun I've had in the cinema year-to-date.

Full review on Letterbox'd:

Sleek, stylish and undeniably sexy, Black Bag doesn't reinvent the spy thriller genre in any way, but it does deliver one of the best showings that genre has seen in years and — arguably — is Steven S...

A ★★★ review of Seven Veils (2023)

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Justin Crann @jcrann.bsky.social · Mar 19

Amanda Seyfried acts her ass off in Seven Veils, and is easily the brightest spot of this slightly muddled meditation on childhood trauma and abuse.

The full review —

If you're a fan of Amanda Seyfried, this meditation on childhood and family trauma, as well as artistic obsession, is worth the price of admission. She acts her ass off in this and is easily the highl...

A ★★★ review of Mickey 17 (2025)

Justin Crann @jcrann.bsky.social · Mar 12

You'll have a pretty good idea of what you're in for after Mickey 17's first 15 minutes, for better or worse.

My full review of this sci-fi satire —

There is a lot to like about this science-fiction satire, penned by Bong Joon-Ho (fresh off the success of Parasite) and adapted from Edward Ashton's Mickey7. The film stars Robert Pattinson in a dual...

A ★★½ review of Canadian Bacon (1995)

Justin Crann @jcrann.bsky.social · Mar 3

At the time of Canadian Bacon's release, the notion of any sort of conflict between the U.S. and Canada seemed so farfetched that its central premise could only be played as a punchline. Now look where we're at.

Full review on Letterboxd -

Three decades ago, Michael Moore wrote, produced and directed this satirical film. A lot has changed in 30 years, not least the Toronto skyline. But the truly remarkable thing about watching this movi...