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Jimmy Thomson

@jameswsthomson.com
17K followers 1.8K following 2.9K posts

Environment and climate journalist | Editor in Chief at @nationalobserver.com | Work in The Globe and Mail, The Narwhal, The Guardian | www.jameswsthomson.com

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Reposted by Jimmy Thomson
Luke LeBrun @lukelebrun.ca · 16h
[The judge] “said in court on Tuesday that the pair ‘selflessly’ put themselves to the side for the cause. ‘Mr. Kalicum and Ms. Nyx have borne the burden of bringing a successful constitutional challenge, thereby doing the public interest a service at considerable personal cost’
cbc.ca
Judge tosses drug trafficking convictions for B.C. compassion club founders after constitutional challenge | CBC News
A British Columbia Supreme Court judge has ruled in favour of two harm-reduction activists convicted of drug trafficking who argued they were doing it to reduce the harms caused by toxic drugs.
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Reposted by Jimmy Thomson
My IRL friends call me Chris @christyceeck.bsky.social · 19h
"If your campaign is breaking your own privacy policy, or swamping your Instagram with fawning, machine-generated praise, it's your mess to clean up. The opposite impulse — to lie & attack — is not a quality voters expect of someone vying to lead Canada's largest city," writes @jameswsthomson.com.
When pressed by Habibinia to respond to CNO’s reporting, Bradford dug in.

"They're inaccurate. It's a mischaracterization. I'm surprised they published it."

It goes without saying that calling a news outlet's reporting false is a dagger to the heart. The implication that we got something wrong would give any reporter, any editor cold sweats. 

Having watched White labour over every word and sentence of both investigations, it was particularly offensive to have the candidate attack his work — and our publication — so casually.

Of course we make mistakes. When we do, we issue corrections and take ownership over the failure.

But this was not one of those times. So we published a recording that should put the question of veracity permanently to bed.
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Jimmy Thomson @jameswsthomson.com · 19h
It's a terrible feeling to be accused of lying. Terrible, that is, when you aren't sitting on a recording of the precise thing you reported.
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Reposted by Jimmy Thomson
Tabatha Southey🇨🇦 @tabathasouthey.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
By rights, each post in this thread should be nail in the coffin of Brad Bradford’s campaign. Great work, @nationalobserver.com.
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Reposted by Jimmy Thomson
Rory White @rorywh.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Today Bradford stood up at a press conference and described our reporting as "inaccurate." "I'm surprised they published it," he said. In response, we are sharing our recording of Bradford's Zoom call that corroborates our reporting. www.nationalobserver.com/2026/09/28/i...
nationalobserver.com
Bradford calls CNO reporting of AI app rewards ‘inaccurate.’ Here’s the recording proving our reporting.
Canada’s National Observer has decided to publish the segment of the Zoom call that corroborates its reporting.
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Jimmy Thomson @jameswsthomson.com · 28/09/2026
When I was a kid I had these Ninja Turtle action figures that you could pull a special strip through and they'd say lines programmed into the strips. Pretty neat. Anyway, they had a bigger repertoire than he does.
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Jimmy Thomson @jameswsthomson.com · 28/09/2026
We've also pulled all three stories on this out from behind the paywall.
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Jimmy Thomson @jameswsthomson.com · 28/09/2026
Can YOU spot what's wrong with this picture?
A screenshot of a letter showing an ATIP request from 2020 was delivered on Sept 28, 2026
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Reposted by Jimmy Thomson
Luke LeBrun @lukelebrun.ca · 28/09/2026
If I’m reading this correctly, Toronto mayoral candidate Brad Bradford’s campaign is asking volunteers to give them full access to their contact lists on their *personal* cell phones? www.nationalobserver.com/2026/09/28/i...
'You don't need to freak out about this'
Introducing Bradford's supporters to the app on the Zoom call, Punia instructed them to give the app permission to access all of their contacts.

"Do not give it partial contact ability, give it full. And what I want to say to you guys here is, you don't need to freak out about this," said Punia. He reassured them that only contacts they marked as known or potential Bradford supporters would be given to the campaign.

One attendee hesitated as she had over 2,400 contacts on her phone. She was instructed to give the app access to all of them and mark them one by one according to their level of support for Bradford.
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Reposted by Jimmy Thomson
ProPublica @propublica.org · 26/09/2026
Hey, ProPublica reporter Jake Pearson here. I’m taking over the account to tell you about my new story. For months, I posed as a problem gambler on DraftKings to test the company's "responsible gaming" safeguards. Spoiler alert: They made me a VIP — and I lost $10K. Here's how it all went down. 🧵
Selfie taken by ProPublica reporter Jake Pearson, a man wearing a backwards baseball cap and an orange T-shirt.
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Reposted by Jimmy Thomson
My IRL friends call me Chris @christyceeck.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Here's the direct link to @rorywh.bsky.social's Metro Morning interview on the story he broke this week about Brad Bradford's campaign using an app that uses "AI to launder its talking points through real people", as @woodsideful.bsky.social described it. #ToPoli
cbc.ca
© CBC/Radio-Canada 2026. All rights reserved.
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Jimmy Thomson @jameswsthomson.com · 25/09/2026
Is the burn "you look like if Dilbert got into crypto"?
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Reposted by Jimmy Thomson
wtabb212.bsky.social @wtabb212.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Metro Morning with Chris Glover: Brad Bradford is using Victory App on his campaign. What is it and why does it want people's contacts lists? www.cbc.ca/listen/live-... Real link
cbc.ca
© CBC/Radio-Canada 2026. All rights reserved.
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Jimmy Thomson @jameswsthomson.com · 25/09/2026
CNO's @rorywh.bsky.social was invited on Metro Morning to talk about his impressive reporting on Brad Bradford's use of an app that rewards supporters for posting AI-generated comments. Check it out!
cbc.ca
Metro Morning with Chris Glover | Live Radio | CBC Listen
Metro Morning is the audio version of Toronto's Yonge Street: a central urban artery that cuts through the heart of the city and beyond; connecting people, neighbourhoods, communities, diverse pockets...
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Reposted by Jimmy Thomson
Seth Klein @sethdklein.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
My latest column is out today in @nationalobserver.com.web.brid.gy, in which I explain how the “new climate denialism” is holding back progress in the fight of our lives, and how PM Mark Carney has become its lead practitioner. www.nationalobserver.com/2026/09/25/o...
nationalobserver.com
Is Mark Carney a climate denier?
This new form of denialism has our political leaders assuring us they understand and accept the warnings about climate change — but they are in denial about what this scientific reality means for poli...
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Reposted by Jimmy Thomson
Luke LeBrun @lukelebrun.ca · 25/09/2026
It turns out "Daniel Robson" is also a prolific contributor to the Western Standard His first articles for WS were published February 2026, the morning after the Tumbler Ridge school shooting Since then, it's a lot of criticisms focused on crime, immigration and pro-Palestinian protesters
Daniel Robson is an independent Canadian journalist specializing in extremism, terrorism, and crime. His work Tocuses on nauonal ana communirv secuntv. as well as the legal. Institutional. and voicv dimensions of public safety. He writes on emerging threats, digital extremism, and accountability in Canada.
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Jimmy Thomson @jameswsthomson.com · 25/09/2026
Give this man the FIFA Environment Prize already
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Reposted by Jimmy Thomson
Canada's National Observer @nationalobserver.com · 25/09/2026
The RCMP's watchdog was set to release a report this week into police conduct at Fairy Creek and Wet'suwet'en. Then David Eby's sudden snap election call prevented its release.
nationalobserver.com
BC snap election stalls report on police conduct at Fairy Creek and Wet'suwet'en
Thanks to BC's snap election, Canadians won't know for at least another month whether the RCMP division that policed Fairy Creek and Wet'suwet'en protests needs reform.
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Jimmy Thomson @jameswsthomson.com · 25/09/2026
You think you're ready for this but you're not ready for this
bostonglobe.com
A Western Mass. lesbian bar required KN-95 masks. When it changed the rules, all hell broke loose. - The Boston Globe
Last Ditch Bar in Greenfield wanted to build community. They got a firestorm instead.
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Reposted by Jimmy Thomson
Mary Gillis @marygillis.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
If a human did what ChatGPT did, they'd be convicted of conspiracy to commit murder, which can carry a life sentence. It's unconscionable that Canada's legislators are letting OpenAI get away with helping to plan murders. At the very least, it shouldn't be allowed to continue to operate in Canada.
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Reposted by Jimmy Thomson
David_j_roth @davidjroth.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
It's too depressing and obnoxious to write about, but virtually all of the doomy/horny AI hyperventilating is transparently displaced anxiety about our fucked climate and political situation. Even rich idiots know it's bad and being permitted to get worse. They're trying to write their own ending.
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Reposted by Jimmy Thomson
Seth Klein @sethdklein.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
No, cyborg propaganda is not 'inevitable.' None of this is, writes @jameswsthomson.com www.nationalobserver.com/2026/09/23/o...
nationalobserver.com
No, cyborg propaganda is not 'inevitable.' None of this is.
After Rory White revealed a Toronto mayoral campaign is putting AI-written comments in its supporters' mouths, political insiders were quick to dismiss it as run-of-the-mill politicking. So why does i...
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Jimmy Thomson @jameswsthomson.com · 24/09/2026
So who's gonna go see Hey Rosetta in Toronto?
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Reposted by Jimmy Thomson
Canada's National Observer @nationalobserver.com · 24/09/2026
The new land-use plans — a mandatory step to figure out how to protect endangered caribou — have one goal above all, and it's not protecting caribou. It's doubling oil and gas production.
nationalobserver.com
Oil and gas ambitions outshone caribou protection in Alberta land-use planning: experts
Scientists, conservationists and legal experts say the plans, which were first mandated by the federal government in 2012 to protect woodland caribou, lack the modelling, recovery goals and science-ba...
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Reposted by Jimmy Thomson
Jimmy Thomson @jameswsthomson.com · 23/09/2026
Political insiders have dismissed @rorywh.bsky.social's investigation of the creepy AI propaganda app being used by the Brad Bradford campaign. They say it's "inevitable." It's not.
nationalobserver.com
No, cyborg propaganda is not 'inevitable.' None of this is.
After Rory White revealed a Toronto mayoral campaign is putting AI-written comments in its supporters' mouths, political insiders were quick to dismiss it as run-of-the-mill politicking. So why does i...
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Reposted by Jimmy Thomson
Rachel Gilmore @rachelgilmore.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
There’s an Israeli app claiming to turn a politician’s supporters into “digital fighters” by feeding them AI-generated replies for “rewards.” It was just used for the first time in Canadian politics — that we know of. I'm teaming up with @nationalobserver.com to share @rorywh.bsky.social's scoop!!
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Jimmy Thomson @jameswsthomson.com · 23/09/2026
Political insiders have dismissed @rorywh.bsky.social's investigation of the creepy AI propaganda app being used by the Brad Bradford campaign. They say it's "inevitable." It's not.
nationalobserver.com
No, cyborg propaganda is not 'inevitable.' None of this is.
After Rory White revealed a Toronto mayoral campaign is putting AI-written comments in its supporters' mouths, political insiders were quick to dismiss it as run-of-the-mill politicking. So why does i...
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Jimmy Thomson @jameswsthomson.com · 23/09/2026
Can't watch the comments on the Toronto mayoral debate YouTube stream without wondering who wrote the comments
nationalobserver.com
Toronto mayoral candidate Bradford using Israeli app that feeds supporters AI-generated comments
The Victory App, a campaign tool built by the Israeli company LogiVote, prompted users to participate in a mission to post AI-written comments supportive of Toronto mayoral candidate Brad Bradford.
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Jimmy Thomson @jameswsthomson.com · 22/09/2026
No better way to fight an existential threat than by putting the entire government into "caretaker mode" for a full month when you already have a majority
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Reposted by Jimmy Thomson
Canada's National Observer @nationalobserver.com · 22/09/2026
The election's timing — one week after the municipal elections — has frustrated municipal leaders, who had asked Eby not to overlap the two out of fear the provincial vote would overshadow local elections.
nationalobserver.com
BC's Eby calls snap election as Conservative Party flails
The provincial election will be set for Oct. 24, a week after the municipal elections.
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Jimmy Thomson @jameswsthomson.com · 22/09/2026
"What's this in your pocket sir? What's this in your pocket?" "My ID card, some Kleenex..." Better get these guys out of there before they blow their noses
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Reposted by Jimmy Thomson
ProPublica @propublica.org · 22/09/2026
Sen. Susan Collins helped steer millions in federal defense contracts to Navatek, whose CEO illegally funneled thousands of dollars to her campaign. The FBI sought to launch a probe and was eyeing Collins and other lawmakers. Then Trump gutted the unit in charge. THREAD 🧵
Martin Kao, CEO of defense contractor Navatek, poses next to Sen. Susan Collins for a photo. Collins is holding a model of a boat in her hands. Behind them is a large sign with the Navatek logo.
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Jimmy Thomson @jameswsthomson.com · 22/09/2026
Look, we all know why he's doing it, but I really look forward to seeing why he wishes we believed he's doing it.
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Reposted by Jimmy Thomson
The Beaverton @thebeaverton.com · 21/09/2026
Trump vows to punish Canada for EU alliance as soon as he finishes losing Iran war
thebeaverton.com
Trump vows to punish Canada for EU alliance as soon as he finishes losing Iran war
WASHINGTON D.C. - President Donald J. Trump has pledged to extract terrible, systematic revenge on all of Canada for daring to enter talks with the European Union, just as soon as he finishes losing the war he started in Iran.
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My IRL friends call me Chris @christyceeck.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Please help spread the word. Rory does great work, and I have the feeling this request is building on a story that matters a lot to our democracy.
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Reposted by Jimmy Thomson
Canada's National Observer @nationalobserver.com · 22/09/2026
ICYMI: our investigation shows Brad Bradford's mayoral campaign is the first known example in Canada to use the Victory App. The app generates talking points for supporters to use online, then rewards those users for posting them. Experts have begun calling it "cyborg propaganda."
nationalobserver.com
Toronto mayoral candidate Bradford using Israeli app that feeds supporters AI-generated comments
The Victory App, a campaign tool built by the Israeli company LogiVote, prompted users to participate in a mission to post AI-written comments supportive of Toronto mayoral candidate Brad Bradford.
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Reposted by Jimmy Thomson
Tabatha Southey🇨🇦 @tabathasouthey.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Brad Bradford AIstroturfing.
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Rachel Gilmore @rachelgilmore.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Wow….wild to hear Taylor say she’s glad Elon took over Twitter and that it’s better than ever. I mean, the unconstrained growth of the far right on there? Musk’s thumb seemingly on the algorithm’s scale during elections? The impact on democracy?
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Canada's National Observer @nationalobserver.com · 21/09/2026
New investigation: an Israeli app that allows political campaigns to feed supporters AI-generated arguments to use on social media has arrived in Canada. It's being used in the highest profile mayoral campaign in Canada, @rorywh.bsky.social reveals.
nationalobserver.com
Toronto mayoral candidate Bradford using Israeli app that feeds supporters AI-generated comments
The Victory App, a campaign tool built by the Israeli company LogiVote, prompted users to participate in a mission to post AI-written comments supportive of Toronto mayoral candidate Brad Bradford.
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Jimmy Thomson @jameswsthomson.com · 19/09/2026
Frances Widdowson hired a literal, actual, honest to god avowed Nazi to make her residential school denial "documentary" but sure freedom of speech
cbc.ca
Court overturns University of Lethbridge decision to cancel professor's lecture | CBC News
A Court of King's Bench judge has ruled the University of Lethbridge's decision to cancel a lecture by former Mount Royal University professor Frances Widdowson was "fundamentally and fatally flawed" ...
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Benjamin Dreyer @bcdreyer.social · 18/09/2026
So then none of the press corps shows up at all, right? ... ... ... SO THEN NONE OF THE PRESS CORPS SHOWS UP AT ALL, RIGHT?
nytimes.com
Trump Says He Has Banned CNN, MS NOW and Politico From White House (Gift Article)
The president cited reporting from the outlets that he deemed “fake news.” It was unclear how such a ban would be enforced or defended in court.
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Jimmy Thomson @jameswsthomson.com · 18/09/2026
Now you know: if you see any of these sites show up in your Google News feed, you can quickly block them.
A screenshot showing how to block spam websites in Google News.
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Jimmy Thomson @jameswsthomson.com · 18/09/2026
Just got a call from Fisheries and Oceans Canada asking if I still wanted the records I requested during the research and writing of this article, published in May of 2020. I do. I do want them.
thenarwhal.ca
‘You’re out there alone’: whistleblowers say workplace abuse hides true impacts of B.C.’s trawl fishery | The Narwhal
A months-long investigation by The Narwhal, including interviews with 11 current or former at-sea observers, reveals a culture of intimidation and harassment that has resulted in the vast and systemat...
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jon christian @jonchristian.net · 17/09/2026
NEW: We spent months investigating a little-known media startup called Brown Brothers Media, which buys legit news sites and turns them into AI-powered zombie content farms What blew my mind was its traffic -- it appears to be getting more readers than NPR or CBS News futurism.com/artificial-i...
futurism.com
How Three Brothers Built an AI Slop Empire by Buying Legitimate News Sites and Turning Them Into Zombie Content Farms That They Say Get 50 Million Page Views per Month
Brown Brothers Media is a media empire raking in millions of clicks with AI, fake writers, and plagiarism.
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Jimmy Thomson @jameswsthomson.com · 18/09/2026
Investigative journalism is hard! It's expensive! It's legally risky and almost never pays off financially! And yet somehow these business bro bottom feeding dipshit motherfuckers have found a way to make the whole situation worse.
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Jimmy Thomson @jameswsthomson.com · 17/09/2026
lol Carney paused the Digital Services Tax *because of pressure from Trump* — so the argument that Canada would be better off sticking with the US in order to not be "forced" to adopt a Digital Services Tax is... uh real dumb www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
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Nicolas Hénin @nicolashenin.net · 17/09/2026
Nice campaign by the Norwegian Consumer Council about the declining lifespan of products. Enjoy!
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Jimmy Thomson @jameswsthomson.com · 16/09/2026
I'm old enough to remember when Keean Bexte, co-founder of Juno News, did exactly this when he invented a reporter, used an AI-generated headshot, and used the hiring of that "reporter" to fundraise from his readers
cbc.ca
‘Very harmful’: website uses AI to generate northern Indigenous news ‘correspondents’ | CBC News
The website WE NEWS has three northern Indigenous 'AI correspondents.' Their profiles say they are 'a member of Yukon First Nation,' 'of Dene heritage,' and 'an Inuk raised in the North.' Experts in t...
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Jimmy Thomson @jameswsthomson.com · 16/09/2026
Rather than put myself on the organ donor registry I just mail them a small piece of my liver every month, it's more efficient that way
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Jimmy Thomson @jameswsthomson.com · 16/09/2026
Remember, a bird in hand is worth like 200 that pretend they're in hand but then keep flying away and squawking about Lake America or whatever every time they need to distract their population from the price of gas
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