It’s been such a great experience working on Civic Searchlight with @rorywh.bsky.social + @jameswsthomson.com, and getting to see how it’s being used by journalists, researchers, and advocacy groups. It’s an honour for the @nationalobserver.com to be nominated for it.

i recalled the city manager making this commitment but couldn't remember the specifics of the exchange. civic searchlight was a huge help, what a great tool - ty!! @jameswsthomson.com @rorywh.bsky.social @nationalobserver.com

As competition for water peaks during hot summers, @policyalternatives.ca researcher @hadrianmk.bsky.social called for developers to disclose their water use “not on an annual basis, which is misleading, but on a peak basis.” www.nationalobserver.com/2026/03/23/i...

We analyzed the locations of 38 data centre campuses proposed in Alberta. Three quarters of them are in regions under high or extremely high water stress. Only three have been planned in low water stress regions, which comprise the majority of Alberta’s land mass.

"National Observer analyzed the locations of 38 data centre campuses proposed in the province, and found that three quarters of them are in regions under high or extremely high water stress." www.nationalobserver.com/2026/03/23/i...

Three quarters of data centre sites planned in Alberta are in high water stress areas www.nationalobserver.com/2026/03/23/i...

@natashabulowski.bsky.social and I analyzed the locations of 38 proposed data centre sites in Alberta for this investigation. The results aren’t pretty. www.nationalobserver.com/2026/03/23/i...

Nominations are out for one of Canada’s premier journalism awards. The National Newspaper Awards issued its preliminary decisions on Friday, and Canada’s National Observer is on the list. Twice!

Parts of my latest conversation with Zoe from Climate Caucus. Ironically I just finished another long interview with Arjun Singh and Brian Frenkel on the state and future of municipal democracy. www.linkedin.com/posts/climat...

Local electeds are sounding the alarm: rising disinformation and polarization are reshaping local democracy. We spoke with Mayor Blackwell about this growing crisis, whose concerns echo what we’ve been hearing. youtu.be/hOoGqgUWy3c #disinformation #cdnpoli #localgovernance #polarization #municipal

New article from me. Bill C-4 is now law, granting federal political parties immunity from privacy laws retroactively to the year 2000. The exemptions were "buried" at the end of the Making Life More Affordable for Canadians Act.

Civic Searchlight is a tool that is constantly transcribing municipal meetings across the country. It makes them searchable so if you’re interested in, say, bike lanes, you can search for any discussions happening about bike lanes in any Canadian city and most of its towns.

Kudos for @nationalobserver.com for building this valuable tool and making it free to use. #journalism cc @tcitiesdispatch.bsky.social @freshetnews.bsky.social

Juno News can get a reply from an IRCC spokesperson (www.junonews.com/p/immigratio...), but Jeremy can't. Huh!

And so I did. I asked how long this policy has been in place and whether it applies across government. Here’s what they said.

CivicSearchlight is now available for free for everyone, built by the amazing @rorywh.bsky.social for @nationalobserver.com. It allows you to search municipal meetings across the country with keywords, and is really helpful for understanding how a topic has moved through time and jurisdictions. ❗☺️❗

"Local reporting matters, and Civic Searchlight offers newsrooms a chance to tap into compelling local stories in real time to bring Canadians the news they need" -

Civic Searchlight is being used by hundreds of journalists, researchers and staff at big and small institutions alike. They’ve been given early access while we work out the bugs and start our first round of major additions, which are coming soon. And now it's free — for everyone.

This is awesome! Next up we need a tool that tracks every city's Lobbyist registry!

My life has just gotten SO MUCH BETTER thanks to the National Observer's Civic Searchlight! Love this tool for democratic action. civicsearchlight.nationalobserver.com @rwhite12345.bsky.social

As of today, you can sign up to access the 59,000+ hours of municipal transcripts from across Canada. For free.

Civic Searchlight is now free to use www.nationalobserver.com/2026/03/09/n...

Delighted to share that our tool Civic Searchlight is now freely available to everyone. Over 30k council meetings from 670 municipalities across Canada now searchable. And it updates every day. Check it out now! civicsearchlight.nationalobserver.com

Great news - The National Observer is now making Civic Searchlight free for everyone. If you want to follow any municipal council’s meetings, or see how a subject like bike lanes are covered by any Cdn council, you can use this database to find that info www.nationalobserver.com/2026/03/09/n...

If I had a nickel for every time Franz Ferdinand was involved in the precursor events of a world war, I’d have two nickels, which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird it happened twice

❗On Friday evening, the CAJ learned that journalist Rachel Gilmore had recently been approached in public by individuals linked to, or implicated in, an investigation she had written, and was published by The Tyee that focused on white nationalists. https://loom.ly/z22FRzg

The Tyee is proud to have published this important investigation by @rachelgilmore.bsky.social. We condemn this egregious harassment of a journalist for doing her job, and have offered support as she deals with this disturbing situation.

THREAD: We just released a tool that allows you to search billions of dollars in wealth, ties to the most powerful companies in the country, and details of the personal finances of President Trump and over 1,500 of his appointees. Here’s how it works 1/

So here's the thing I am going to keep shouting about for a good while: Pagenerd.com We're a book club podcast for sci-fi fans who suck at book clubs. Read along if you want but we’ll tell you what happens and have some fun figuring out the science, plot and characters.

Reportage maintenant traduit en français: Les politiciens se font vendre des «combattants numériques» alimentés par l’IA www.ledevoir.com/actualites/9...

Le reportage de @rorywh.bsky.social traduit.

The government wouldn't give us a list of data centres seeking power in Ontario. So, we built one ourselves. What @rorywh.bsky.social and I found: at least 15 projects drawing a combined 2,202 MW: more electricity than 2 million homes. #OnPoli for @nationalobserver.com 🧵

Good point from Dean Ball on Pentagon/Anthropic and why the real stakes go even further than AI www.hyperdimensional.co/p/clawed

Nobody would tell @rorywh.bsky.social and @cloelogan.bsky.social where data centres were planned in Ontario, or how big the plans are. So they scraped the picture together themselves, and it's startling.

Une nouvelle application encourage les partisans d’un candidat à publier des messages rédigés par des robots.

Data centres are coming to Ontario, and it’s sort of incumbent on people and governments and communities to understand: what does that mean? What are the costs? What are the benefits?” This is a key moment for those questions, Enoch explained. www.nationalobserver.com/2026/03/02/n...

New story out from @cloelogan.bsky.social and me. Data centres are being planned across Ontario, with some using the same amount of electricity as 700,000 homes. Where are they? And why are communities being left in the dark? www.nationalobserver.com/2026/03/02/n...

For the report: meo.ca/work/conspir...

Great discussion with @rorywh.bsky.social on our report on conspiratorial claims in Canada’s online ecosystem. Analyzing 14M posts across 4 platforms, we find: 1. Supply is highly concentrated 2. Conspiracy content primarily circulates on X 3. High awareness, limited belief among the public

@mathieulavigne.bsky.social spoke with @rorywh.bsky.social from @nationalobserver.com about our latest brief on online conspiracy theories and institutional distrust in Canada, from the Centre's Media Ecosystem Observatory (MEO).

NEW: Two important news stories by @rorywh.bsky.social reveal that online propaganda and AI are worming their way into the minds and actions of Canadian politicians. How does this affect our politics and our news ecosystem? I delve into it this week in The Catch.

Personne ne sera étonné, mais tout le monde continuera à trouver que le monde est fou sur internet. Et la démocratie continuera de s'empoisonner.

Local governments across Canada face a wave of “larger scale conspiracy theories” overwhelming council meetings, according to Zoe Grams, executive director of Climate Caucus. This has led some politicians to avoid mentioning certain topics altogether www.nationalobserver.com/2026/02/25/n...

Must read here via @rorywh.bsky.social. Politicians are being sold AI-powered 'digital fighters' www.nationalobserver.com/2026/02/24/i...

Very dystopian stuff: Canadian political candidates are getting pitched on signing up their supporters for apps that scan social media for negative comments about them, use AI to come up with counternarratives then post AI-generated comments defending them from their real human supporters’ accounts

At Queen’s Park on Tuesday, advocates called on the province to reform a liability ecosystem that they say pushes private contractors to overuse salt in winter, driving up costs and contaminating waterways in an effort to avoid injury. For @nationalobserver.com

The Media Ecosystem Observatory has found that just 100 accounts in Canada are responsible for 68% of posts promoting conspiracy theories. But they are having an outsized impact on local governments. Read my latest: www.nationalobserver.com/2026/02/25/n...

Think about this. Armies of people out there, incentivized by a company hired by politicians to post AI-generated political messaging as if it’s their real, organic thought. Dystopian sci-fi? Nope. Reality. I’m partnering with @nationalobserver.com to share @rorywh.bsky.social’s huge story:

Israeli company LogiVote is pitching strategists and politicians an AI-powered campaign tool that turns voters into "digital fighters" as six provinces gear up for municipal elections in 2026. Investigation by @rorywh.bsky.social www.nationalobserver.com/2026/02/24/i...

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.