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Mark Bourrie

@drmarkbourrie.bsky.social
3.1K followers 2.9K following 823 posts

Author, lawyer, trilobite hunter.

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Mark Bourrie @drmarkbourrie.bsky.social · 9h
Here's a very rough recording of a book session I did last night in Ottawa with Patrick Lennox, talking about his new book "On Treason". Any advice on editing and editing software is very welcome. markbourrie.substack.com/p/patrick-le...
markbourrie.substack.com
Patrick Lennox and Mark Bourrie talk about Lennox’s book “On Treason”
This is my first attempt at a podcast, and I have no editing experience. Any advice is welcome.
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Mark Bourrie @drmarkbourrie.bsky.social · 11h
Gotcha!
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Mark Bourrie @drmarkbourrie.bsky.social · 14h
Here's something I'd never heard of. "Corvette Fordite", an agate-like "gemstone" cut from the gobs of dried acrylic paint from old Detroit assembly lines. They're not making any more of the stuff because they've developed more efficient painting systems. www.rockngem.com/fordite/
rockngem.com
Fordite: Motor City’s Unexpected Gemstone - Rock & Gem Magazine
Once a byproduct of car factories, Fordite is a prized, man-made gemstone with vivid color and history. No two pieces are the same. Each is a happy accident.
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Mark Bourrie @drmarkbourrie.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Vass Bednar, one of Canada's best young minds, has me laughing out loud and reading paragraphs to my wife. One fact in this piece: to curb AI abuse, Amazon limits authors from posting more than three self-published books a day. pencanada.substack.com/p/a-future-f...
pencanada.substack.com
A future for writing
“Writing is thinking, and thinking is the ultimate solitary act. No matter the tech, at some point, you’re still just solo with a page trying to fill it.”
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Mark Bourrie @drmarkbourrie.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Come hear Patrick talk at St. Paul's University in Ottawa Tuesday night. "Alberta Separatism Is Built on a Big Lie" thewalrusca.substack.com/p/alberta-se...
thewalrusca.substack.com
Alberta Separatism Is Built on a Big Lie
Danielle Smith has turned western grievance into a national unity crisis
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Mark Bourrie @drmarkbourrie.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
If you're in Ottawa, please out this on your schedule. Tuesday night, St. Paul's University.
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Mark Bourrie @drmarkbourrie.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Just for giggles, as far as the 17th century Huron-Wendat were concerned, we're not too accurate about the location of Lake Ontario. (You might have to click the picture): commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ca...
commons.wikimedia.org
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Mark Bourrie @drmarkbourrie.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
I wrote a peer-reviewed paper about the culpability of authoritative media normalizing the behaviour of criminal governments: cjc.utppublishing.com/doi/full/10....
cjc.utppublishing.com
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Mark Bourrie @drmarkbourrie.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Anyone ever been to Haileybury Ontario? Anyone ever been to Haileybury, ON? www.realtor.ca/real-estate/...
realtor.ca
Check out this listing
758 LAKE SHORE ROAD, Temiskaming Shores (Haileybury), Ontario   P0J1K0
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Mark Bourrie @drmarkbourrie.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
My latest Walrus piece. When Elon Musk's grandfather spilled the secret of the Manhattan Project: thewalrus.ca/elon-musks-g...
thewalrus.ca
The Time Elon Musk’s Grandfather Almost Exposed the Atomic Bomb | The Walrus
A speech at a fringe political convention sent Canada’s wartime censors into a panic
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Damn tired 🍁 @ohcarolinian.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
This quote from @drmarkbourrie.bsky.social lives permanently in my head.
Image is a quote from April 8th 2025 article from Cult MTL by Toula Drimonis as follows: Trump and Poilievre also share a total lack of respect for people who don’t completely agree with them and bend the knee. “If you’re not with Poilievre,” he says, “you’ll be treated as a non-person whose views aren’t worth listening to or considering.”

This bothers people who grew up around bullies, Bourrie explains, because it’s bullying behaviour. “A lot of women are turned off by it, “he says, “because many women have experienced cycles of abuse. I think men don’t quite get it.”
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Mark Bourrie @drmarkbourrie.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
This guy killed his two children, blew up his business and killed himself. You'd never know it from this obituary: theirstorylives.site/dr-mohammed-...
theirstorylives.site
Dr. Mohammed Hus Al-Lami Obituary - Road 2 Dentistry Owner Dies in Tragic Ottawa Murder-Suicide Shooting - Theirstorylives
The Ottawa community is mourning the tragic loss of Dr. Mohammed Hus Al-Lami, a respected dentist and owner of Road 2 Dentistry, who died in a devastating
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John Roscoe @johnroscoe.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
The kind of creep that makes other creeps who see his creeping roll back on their heels whistling through their teeth and quip, "yikes, what a creep!"
"When I clicked the link, it took me to a page with a 50-year-old picture of me, taken from a Penetanguishene Secondary School yearbook,” Bourrie told his social media followers.
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Don Cochrane 🇨🇦 @doncochraneyow.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
pressprogress.ca
Jesse Brown Insists He’s Done Nothing Wrong
Banned from Reddit and accused of phishing critics, Canadaland’s founder is leading a chaotic 'investigation' into an army of sockpuppet accounts
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Adelle Loiselle @adelleloiselle.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
This is Big Men Fear Me Mark Bourrie. Not far in but very much enjoying the clear-eyed descriptions of my hometown. Hey Mark, big parts of London will never change. Still brawlers.
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Jonathan Jarry @jonathanjarry.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
Canadaland has been leading the way to Conspiracyland on this important story from the start. Now, with a new journalist behind the wheel, what do I make of this latest update?
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Mark Bourrie @drmarkbourrie.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
www.thestar.com/news/ontario...
thestar.com
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Melonie @quioui.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
"Mark Bourrie, meanwhile, simply doesn’t understand why Jesse Brown posted a yearbook photo of him as a Grade 10 or 11 teenage boy on Canadaland’s website." I mean, does *anyone* understand?
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Nomi Claire Lazar @nomiclairelazar.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
It will get better. But it will also get worse. This is the way.
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Lorax Horne @lorax.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
Because I am a masochist, I did an AMA over on r/canadaland: www.reddit.com/r/canadaland... I'll try to answer any questions posted there until the end of the week.
reddit.com
From the canadaland community on Reddit: I am Lorax Horne, Canadian freelance journalist and Canadaland phishing target. AMA
Explore this post and more from the canadaland community
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edwardrow @edwardrow.com · 29/05/2026
I feel like people who used to work for Canadaland should be calling Jesse out. I don't think it's appropriate that he issues targeted attacks on other journalists and misrepresents reality without pushback from his peers and colleagues who helped legitimize him
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Max Fawcett @maxfawcett.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
Serious question for serious people: does Alberta have any actual, substantive grievances that go beyond raging at the facts of confederation or the realities of global energy markets?
static.klipy.com
Alexis Rose in Schitt's Creek: Tell Me More
ALT: Alexis Rose in Schitt's Creek: Tell Me More
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Mark Bourrie @drmarkbourrie.bsky.social · 24/05/2026
I guess they've got all their shorts covered.
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🍉 Vancouverismism 🍉 @vancouverismism.bsky.social · 24/05/2026
"People who know Jesse [Brown] personally will have to evaluate whether they can continue to lend their names to him as employees, backers, funders, or whatever else he needs public access for in the future." www.reddit.com/r/canadaland...
reddit.com
From the canadaland community on Reddit: I am Lorax Horne, Canadian freelance journalist and Canadaland phishing target. AMA
Explore this post and more from the canadaland community
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edwardrow @edwardrow.com · 21/05/2026
according to Mark Bourrie, that recording is three years old, not his current behaviour or reaction to the reddit story - despite being presented that way by Jesse
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Marc Elias @marcelias.bsky.social · 24/05/2026
Elias Law Group is currently litigating 79 voting and election cases in 39 states. The fight for free and fair elections is the fight of our generation. I'm proud that we are doing our part.
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Pat G🇨🇦 🍁🏳️‍🌈🍉 @pguist.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
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Mark Bourrie @drmarkbourrie.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
I have stopped posting/writing about Canadian politics. I feel wrung out, hung out to dry.
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Mark Bourrie @drmarkbourrie.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
Wikipedia and Me: Socks and Thugs and Shots on Goal open.substack.com/pub/markbour...
open.substack.com
Wikipedia and Me: Socks and Thugs and Shots on Goal
Not all trolls live under bridges
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Mark Bourrie @drmarkbourrie.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
Every time I go to the Canadaland web page, I get this warning from my antivirus/privacy software. Does anyone know what it means?
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e𝕏ed out @exedout.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
Excerpt from "Ripper": "An angry teenager in the body of a grown man."
Renowned author and lawyer Mark Bourrie on Pierre Poilievre in his new book, “Ripper”:

Pierre Poilievre is very good and finding and hyping problems: taxes, crime, housing, drugs, inflation, doctor shortages, pandemic management. In more that 150 years of democratic government, no leader of a major party has come close to having Poilievre’s skill as whipping up mass anger, in part be cause no one except John Diefenbaker ever tried, though he at least had boundaries. No one has spoken in slogans the way Poilievre has. No one has been so shameless in his lies about his real and perceived enemies in politics, the media, and elsewhere. But real solutions? We haven’t heard many of those. Maybe they’ll come later. Maybe.
Is he a bad person? I’m reluctant to make that claim. I think he’s an angry teenager in the body of a grown man. That makes him a stellar opposition politician. It is a bad combination in a prime minister.
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Tyler Smith 🫐🫒 @plantarum.ottawa.place.ap.brid.gy · 03/04/2026
#JesseBrown Insists He’s Done Nothing Wrong This all just seems petty and weird :/ #Canadaland pressprogress.ca/jesse-brown-insist…
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Mark Bourrie @drmarkbourrie.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
It was policy when I wrote for the Globe and the Star that accused were not named unless the paper was commited to following the case through the courts. It wasn't a perfect policy. Charges often appeared on P. 1 and court results on p. 40, but there was some respect of people's rights.
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Heather e^-1/x^2 @heathermoandco.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
Sorry about that. Here’s the alt.text
Contrary to Jesse Brown's depictions, our charity in many ways could not be more local. We are a Kenyan-registered nongovernmental organization that works closely with local leadership and mobilizes community members to help us deliver our important health and educational programs.
Because of the persistent attacks on WE
Charity driven by Brown and Canadaland, we have been forced to cut back our work in the developing world: eighteen communities in Kenya that were supposed to receive clean water, schools, and development support will not get any of it because of the closing of WE Charity.
Does that sound like positive change resulting from responsible journalism?
No, it is simply privilege masquerading as journalism.
Jesse Brown creates a podcast, hires a Black man to "narrate" — i.e. read the words written by a White person - and Jesse Brown has the audacity to title the podcast "White Privilege".False accusations like that in Brown's podcast only add to the uncertainty and fear about vaccines in our communities.
Brown has attacked WE Charity's work, which caused a loss of funds for our
medical programs in Kenya. Children will die because of this.
The accusation that our programs are "a lie" is grossly offensive to me and the hundreds of global medical practitioners who have participated in our extremely successful immunization programs.
All the funds raised for these programs go directly to helping children as intended.
By stating otherwise, Jesse Brown is creating vaccine misinformation, which is extremely dangerous and irresponsible for communities like mine where the need for immunization is among the greatest in the world.
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Heather e^-1/x^2 @heathermoandco.bsky.social · 22/03/2026
Mark Bourrie has written extensively about the takedown of WE. The absolute sleaze that included Jesse Brown and Pierre Poilievre, using WE to create a faux scandal. A Kenyan woman (sadly I don’t have her name) who worked for WE also wrote about the harm it caused so many by destroying WE Charity
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edwardrow @edwardrow.com · 24/03/2026
Jesse Brown is saying people are "jump[ing] to wild conclusions surrounding his IP tracking saga - that he is referring to as "Reddit Drama" - so I laid out just the facts in a Substack post here -https://open.substack.com/pub/toomuchanalysis/p/canadaland-reddit-drama-mark-bourrie
open.substack.com
Canadaland "Reddit Drama" / Mark Bourrie and the CLtipster
March 19th - Jesse Brown (Canadaland’s founder/editor) sends an email containing a link to Mark Bourrie (lawyer/journalist) and asks him to comment on it.
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Mark Bourrie @drmarkbourrie.bsky.social · 22/03/2026
Can someone tell me how to unlblock an account?
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Mark Bourrie @drmarkbourrie.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
Spring fever! markbourrie.substack.com/p/the-bugs-t...
markbourrie.substack.com
The bugs, the bugs are calling me...
I itch to go back to an Earth that had a Saturn-like ring, 20-hour days and Bay of Fundy tides along every coast.
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Coaster5725 @g1-bmama.bsky.social · 15/02/2026
Library & bookstores, Writers Festivals…👍🇨🇦
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Bob Makichuk 🇨🇦 @bobmakichuk.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
Good to see @drmarkbourrie.bsky.social getting recognition. During my too-brief stint in the Parliamentary Press Gallery (a lifetime ago), I noticed its caste structure. A few stars, some egos, duds too, many diggers, and others just underrated. From my POV, he was among that last group. No more. 👏
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Mark Bourrie @drmarkbourrie.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
Making saints in Ontario's cottage country: open.substack.com/pub/markbour...
open.substack.com
Jean de Brebeuf: when Indigenous-European contact went terribly wrong
This time of year, my thoughts turn to 17th century warfare and collateral causalties.
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Mark Bourrie @drmarkbourrie.bsky.social · 08/02/2026
What can we do to foster Canadian non-fiction? open.substack.com/pub/markbour...
open.substack.com
Save Canadian stories, save the country
Reflections on a post-national state's post-national non-fiction, and some analysis of Richard Stursberg's "Lament for a Literature: The Collapse of Canadian Publishing"
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Mark Bourrie @drmarkbourrie.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
Greetings from Ottawa!!!
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Mark Bourrie @drmarkbourrie.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
When I was a 'tween, I wanted to be a historian. I was encouraged by family members and great teachers. I wish more of them were still here to see this. quillandquire.com/omni/mark-bo...
quillandquire.com
Mark Bourrie named winner of 2025 Pierre Berton Award - Quill and Quire
The $5,000 award is granted to someone whose work has made Canadian history engaging and broadly accessible.
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Heather Mallick @hmallick.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
Congratulations to Canada's finest historian. He has detail and drive. He loves his country. We need him so badly right now.
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Mark Bourrie @drmarkbourrie.bsky.social · 02/01/2026
One can hope...
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Mark Bourrie @drmarkbourrie.bsky.social · 01/01/2026
Spinels are a girl's best friend: I am into fossils, not gems, but I do love pretty things and I keep an eye on what's happening in the world of precious stones. Here's my take, including a warning about Trump and the gem market: open.substack.com/pub/markbour...
open.substack.com
Spinels are a girl's best friend
Canada came late to the diamond trade, and the stones aren't an investment. Here are some other gems, some Canadian. You can go elbows-up when you shop for jewelry, even if you don't want a diamond..
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Mark Bourrie @drmarkbourrie.bsky.social · 28/12/2025
A media partnership with an AI company is on the same level as inviting six people with bubonic plague into your bed.
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Richard Reeleder @nbdatapoints.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
"It is possible, Noakes notes, that Alexander nursed a grievance against Pugliese for his critical reporting on the Afghanistan mission or other episodes, such as Alexander’s championing while in office of the controversial “Victims of Communism” monument"
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