David McKie

Pierre Poilievre’s great reset The leader of the Conservative Party of Canada is rolling out a kinder and gentler version of himself. But can he stick to the script, or will he revert to his political instincts?

Pierre Poilievre’s great reset www.nationalobserver.com/2026/03/05/o...

The Iran war is also a climate war At a time when civilization is hurtling toward irreversible climate breakdown, to overlook the climate consequences of three of the deadliest militaries on Earth going to war would be journalistic mal...

The Iran war is also a climate war www.nationalobserver.com/2026/03/05/o...

Public health emergency responses must reckon with climate change The Public Health Agency of Canada has a broad mandate from emergency response to research, and increasingly climate change is threatening its operations.

Public health emergency responses must reckon with climate change www.nationalobserver.com/2026/02/27/n...

One data centre or one million homes? Mapping Ontario's proposed hyperscaler boom Canada’s National Observer found and drew from multiple sources to put together a map of planned data centres in Ontario, and found at least 15 projects with a combined capacity of 2,202 MW currently ...

We put together a map of proposed data centres in Ontario + found at least 14 projects with a combined capacity of 2,227MW, the same electricity used by 2.2M homes. We also went to Milton, where the largest centre in the province is proposed: 720MW. www.nationalobserver.com/2026/03/02/n...

Canadian politicians are being sold AI-powered civilian patrols A new app gets around bot bans by recruiting real people to post political messages generated by AI.

With municipal elections coming up in six Canadian provinces in 2026, experts warn that “cyborg propaganda” tools could reduce campaigns to battles between humans ventriloquised by chatbots. www.nationalobserver.com/2026/02/24/i...

Juno News scraps plan to run residential school denial film after investigation by CNO The decision comes after Canada's National Observer determined a producer listed on the film's trailer credits — Simon Hergott — has published several videos and comments on his public YouTube channel...

Juno News scraps plan to run residential school denial film after investigation by CNO www.nationalobserver.com/2026/02/23/n...

Defence department warns of increasing climate risks to bases and infrastructure Climate hazards like flooding, storms, permafrost melt and coastal erosion are increasingly threatening nation defence infrastructure and operations, while complicating the management of its contamina...

Sixty-four per cent of the Department of National Defence's assets are exposed to a “high” level of climate risk, according to a recent climate-risk assessment submitted to Finance Canada. www.nationalobserver.com/2026/02/09/n...

Trumpism's war on the truth is coming to Canada. We need to be ready The Trump administration has made it clear that it will use almost everything at its disposal in its broader war on the truth. If we're not careful here in Canada, we'll become one of its casualties.

Donald Trump probably won't order the military invasion of Canada. But continued attacks on our informational ecosystem — and the cultural and political institutions that support it — is a virtual certainty. It's time for us to shore up those defence www.nationalobserver.com/2026/02/04/o...

Horns locked over dismal state of access to info Privy Council Office and info commissioner increasingly at odds

open.substack.com/pub/deanbeeb...

Mark Carney just shook up the world His speech in Davos might be the most important one ever delivered by a Canadian prime minister. Its consequences will determine his place in history — and ours.

Mark Carney just shook up the world www.nationalobserver.com/2026/01/20/o...

Trump will use the Greenland argument to grab Canada's Northwest Passage A 1988 agreement between Canada and the United States about the sea lane left its legal status largely undecided, allowing both countries to assert their respective positions. But now, thanks to US Pr...

Trump will use the Greenland argument to grab Canada's Northwest Passage www.nationalobserver.com/2026/01/20/o...

Canada’s fifth columnists are showing their hand Donald Trump is threatening to invade Greenland, and Canada might be next. It's time to look around and figure out who would fight back — and who would surrender.

It's time to think the unthinkable: what would you do if the United States threatened to invade Canada? We already know this much: many Conservatives would rather fold than fight. www.nationalobserver.com/2026/01/20/o...

The world as it is Canada’s “new relationship” with China marks the return of realpolitik.

Canada’s “new relationship” with China marks the return of realpolitik
www.nationalobserver.com/2026/01/16/a...

The triumph of clean energy is inevitable The ever-improving economics of technologies like wind, solar, EVs, and battery storage have become insurmountable — and, for countries in the developing world, irresistible.

Sorry, Donald: clean energy is going to win, whether you and the rest of the fossil fuel boosters like it or not. The only questions left are how fast it will happen — and how far behind countries like America will fall. www.nationalobserver.com/2026/01/15/o...

FBI executes search warrant at Washington Post reporter’s home The reporter, Hannah Natanson, covers the federal workforce and has been part of The Post’s most sensitive coverage of the first year of the second Trump administration.

A clear and appalling sign that this administration will set no limits on its acts of aggression against an independent press. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

Twitter is a litmus test for Canada With Twitter, the medium really is the message — one that should be clearly unacceptable for our elected officials and political leaders.

Elon Musk's "everything" has morphed into a digital equivalent of Times Square in the late 1970s: seedy, unsupervised and inherently unsafe. It's time for Canada's elected officials to leave it behind — and embrace a new technological future. www.nationalobserver.com/2026/01/12/o...

Hodgson’s briefing binder reveals provincial asks for new fossil fuels, critical minerals and electricity In 2025, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government began building the architecture to develop major projects, but 2026 is when the rubber meets the road. Here’s what the provinces and territories want t...

Tim Hodgson's briefing materials reveal points of leverage and opportunities for collaboration, offering an unprecedented view into the complex terrain of major project negotiations. Here are what the provinces and territories want most. www.nationalobserver.com/2026/01/12/n...

A cold-blooded murder Friends,

A cold-blooded murder
open.substack.com/pub/robertre...

Ontario First Nation says Ottawa still slow to act after 18 years of water issues A remote Cree community on the shores of James Bay has declared a state of emergency after its water treatment plant failed this week — a crisis residents say the federal government is responding to f...

Ontario First Nation says Ottawa still slow to act after 18 years of water issues www.nationalobserver.com/2026/01/08/n...

The same firm ran a campaign to save CBC — and Canada Proud's push to defund it “It's like the Trump administration promoting Biden in an ad campaign,” said Ahmed Al-Rawi, Director of the Disinformation Project at Simon Fraser University. “This is unreal, like science fiction.”

The same firm ran a campaign to save CBC — and Canada Proud's push to defund it www.nationalobserver.com/2026/01/08/i...

New pipeline for Canada not the answer to Venezuela crisis Any global crisis will have the fossil fuel industry and its allies pushing more oil and gas, but nothing about the US's takeover of Venezuela changes the long term forecast for oil demand or the clim...

New pipeline for Canada not the answer to Venezuela crisis www.nationalobserver.com/2026/01/07/n...

Climate change is multiplying the risks for Canada's food safety agency The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is already juggling multiple emergencies and costly climate change impacts and says another foreign animal disease outbreak like foot-and-mouth disease could push i...

Climate change is multiplying the risks for Canada's food safety agency www.nationalobserver.com/2026/01/06/n...

Ottawa is committing more funding to its climate goals. Is it enough? The city is investing $94 million into projects that “apply a climate lens” in the city, but advocates insist that more is urgently needed.

Ottawa is committing more funding to its climate goals. Is it enough? www.nationalobserver.com/2026/01/05/n...

Canadian government officials, what are you still doing on X in 2026? The platform's own chatbot started posting sexualized material of children and other people who couldn't consent. With no moral bottom in sight, it's well past time our officials found other ways to c...

Canadian government officials, what are you still doing on X in 2026? www.nationalobserver.com/2026/01/02/o...

How National Observer made a difference in 2025 As editor-in-chief, I believe you have a right to know how we’ve spent your dollars. But how to quantify impact when so much of what we do happens inside the minds of the people we reach?

How National Observer made a difference in 2025 www.nationalobserver.com/2025/12/17/o...

Building Canada Stronger — without us Youth representation in decision-making spaces holds politicians and policymakers accountable for the generational impacts of their choices.

Building Canada Stronger — without us www.nationalobserver.com/2025/12/29/o...

Japanese tree-planting technique helps combat climate change in cities This method has become popular globally, with different organizations worldwide vouching for its effectiveness, especially as they can grow 10 times faster than normal plantings. The method employs de...

Japanese tree-planting technique helps combat climate change in cities www.nationalobserver.com/2025/12/24/n...

This Japanese tree-planting technique helps combat climate change in cities This method has become popular globally, with different organizations worldwide vouching for its effectiveness, especially as they can grow 10 times faster than normal plantings. The method employs de...

“What I see as really exciting about the mini forest method is that it helps to create a forest area in a matter of decades versus a matter of centuries,” Jenn McCallum, manager of green infrastructure for Green Communities Canada, said. www.nationalobserver.com/2025/12/24/n...

Meet the director at the heart of Carleton's sustainability efforts Scott Macdonald is Carleton University’s director of energy and sustainability. His work and open-mindedness have helped the school become increasingly sustainable and push for a net-zero goal.

Meet the director at the heart of Carleton's sustainability efforts www.nationalobserver.com/2025/11/23/n...

A shrinking landscape for transparency Fewer Canadians bothering to file access-to-information requests

open.substack.com/pub/deanbeeb...