Donald Trump’s threats to annex Canada and his moves to launch a trade war mark a fundamental shift in a relationship that has defined our country since 1867.
We live in a time of deep uncertainty. Will hundreds of thousands of Canadians lose their jobs? Are we on track for a recession? Will Doug Ford cut off electricity to the U.S.? How about David Eby? Will the U.S. try to annex Canada? Will major Canadian firms like Shopify and Barrick Gold actually move to the U.S.?
And that’s just our relationship with the U.S.! Who will lead the Liberals? Who will be our next prime minister? Is the CBC about to be eliminated? Who are our allies? What is Canada’s place in a world of rising authoritarianism, where the United States withdraws from the world stage and where Russia and China dominate neighbouring countries? Is NATO dead? Will Taiwan be independent in 10 years? Who will control Greenland or Panama or Gaza in a decade?
All of these unknowns and the shifting world order lead me to the question that I think about more than any other: What is the role of the Investigative Journalism Foundation in a time of overlapping national and international crises?
We will continue to speak truth to power and expose hypocrisy, self-dealing and corruption. We will provide hard-hitting, nonpartisan reporting that helps Canadians understand a rapidly changing world. We will let others cover the daily announcements and counter-announcements between Trump and Trudeau. We will focus on deeper reporting.
This is what we do best. Our independent newsroom will continue to dig into these stories.
On the day we launched, we published an investigation into Justin Trudeau selling a record number of weapons to authoritarian countries despite promises to stop. We revealed that 76 per cent of federal judges who donate to federal parties give their money to the Liberal Party despite Trudeau’s promise to stop appointing partisans. We broke the news that the Liberals are holding fundraisers at the homes of some of Canada’s wealthiest people despite pledging to end the practice.
It’s not just Trudeau. We look at the gap between what the powerful say and what they do across Canada. We exposed how Doug Ford’s donors benefit from privatization of some healthcare services, how Pierre Polievre met with an oil industry association he called a “money-sucking lobby group,” how Lululemon threatened to move to the U.S. unless it could hire more temporary foreign workers in Canada and the fact that one-third of B.C.’s government-funded substance abuse treatment beds don’t provide any treatment.
Our investigative stories are more important now than ever
Over the coming months we will particularly be focused on stories showing what the powerful do, not what they say.
Earlier this week, Canadian politicians said they’d stop buying from U.S. companies. Today we’re publishing a story looking at how American arms manufacturer Lockheed Martin, which has already won more than $11 billion in federal contracts, is quietly lobbying for even more taxpayer money. Today we’re also reporting on how a controversial U.S.-based surveillance company barred from doing business in the U.S. in 2019 is now looking for Canadian contracts after Trump said Canada “failed to address” border concerns. Both those stories are made possible by our four lobbying databases, which collect information on what the wealthy and powerful are asking governments to do every day.
Next week we’ll have an exclusive story about how organized criminals, including cartels, are laundering money from drug sales through Canada's trade system. Our news comes as Donald Trump accuses Canada of being unable to secure its border.
The article is based on an access to information request document, one of over 51,000 we maintain for free in our Open By Default database, the biggest database of internal government documents in Canadian history.
Together we can strengthen democracy through public interest data and journalism. Want to help us? The biggest thing you can do is subscribe here:
We believe that journalism is the cornerstone of a strong democracy, and we want to continue to do these unique investigative stories that help you understand what’s really going on. We also understand that you may be concerned about the future of Canada’s sovereignty and the economy. At the IJF, we want to make it a little easier to support us.
For a limited time, we’re running a 25% discount in response to Donald Trump’s on again, off again 25% tariffs on Canadian goods. Much of what you buy is about to get more expensive, but an IJF subscription is now that much more affordable. The discount is good for any annual subscription - and it comes with a free piece of our “Speak truth to power” merchandise). Subscribe now and use the code CANADA25.
Use our databases to find public interest stories
The IJF was founded on the belief that you can scale accountability and transparency by making public interest data available to everyone. If you want to understand what’s going on right now, please check out our databases, and email me as you find stories in them.
Open By Default has over seven million pages of internal government records on border security, tariffs, fentanyl, and the last time we negotiated a trade deal with the U.S. Our team is reading through the lot, but if you find newsworthy things before us, please message us.
Our procurement database details the over $370 billion spent by the federal government buying things. It outlines who got the money and what it’s for. Canadian politicians are calling for U.S. firms to be banned from government contracting. Our reporting has already revealed that American firms were awarded $62.5 billion in government contracts since 2014. We’re going to continue looking at contracts held by Trump allies like Elon Musk and other controversial figures. Want to help us dig? There are nearly one million contracts to read through, and we’d love to have the extra hands.
In the coming months and years, there will be lots of uncertainty in Canada and around the world. The Investigative Journalism Foundation will, throughout it all, do the deep public interest reporting needed to help you both understand the world and build a better one.
If you think this work is important, please join us and subscribe today.