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Richard Warnica

@rwarnica.bsky.social
1.2K followers 615 following 331 posts

Senior Writer and occasional feature editor at the Toronto Star.

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Richard Warnica @rwarnica.bsky.social · 13h
I wrote a long feature on Leitch almost 10 years ago at the Post. (Fun fact: this story came out on my wedding day) nationalpost.com/news/is-she-...
nationalpost.com
Is she for real? When Kellie Leitch pushes her Trump-light message, who’s listening?
How a billionaire grifter can become the champion of America's working class, and a Canadian political insider can build a campaign against 'insiders' and 'elites'
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Richard Warnica @rwarnica.bsky.social · 14h
One of the main things I’ve been hearing since this piece came out is that readers think Brad Bradford = Pierre Poilievre. I get it, especially the ambition. But overall I don’t think it’s a great comparison.
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Jared Wesley @jaredwesley.ca · 21h
More confirmation and details of the deep ties between Alberta separatists and Trump Republicans. They are part of the same far-right populist movement. And the Americans are deeply involved in promoting disunity in Canada. www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...
theglobeandmail.com
The elephant in the room
Alberta separatists have gone to D.C. offering fresh water and oil in exchange for American support – and Republican operatives have provided tactical assistance inside the province
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Carrie Tait @carrietait.bsky.social · 20h
Howdy! Alberta separatists + American Republicans. Read all about it. --> www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic... By Nathan VanderKlippe, Grant Robertson, and friend.
theglobeandmail.com
The elephant in the room
Alberta separatists have gone to D.C. offering fresh water and oil in exchange for American support – and Republican operatives have provided tactical assistance inside the province
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Alex Boyd @alexboyd.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
This story, about the links between the top Alberta independence social media account and a well known separatist leader that I did with @jeffyates.bsky.social, has been pretty well read today. There have also been some common questions, so I'm going to add my 2 cents! www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
cbc.ca
It’s the biggest Alberta separatist account on the internet. It shares DNA with a movement leader | CBC News
The account Rise of Alberta is anonymous and drives four times as much engagement as the next most popular account.
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Richard Warnica @rwarnica.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I had breakfast with Brad Bradford and asked him what I think is the defining question of his campaign: Why do so many people from all ends of the political spectrum seem to dislike him so much as a person? www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...
thestar.com
Richard Warnica: Does Brad Bradford believe in anything other than himself?
Bradford's relentless pursuit of success may also be his downfall.
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Denise Balkissoon @balkissoon.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Okay @rwarnica.bsky.social, I'm glad I'm not the only one that was like "Chris... Alexander? Is annoying me? Least?"
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Toronto Star @thestar.com · 23/09/2026
Opinion: Who scored the weightiest blows of the night? Star columnists Emma Teitel, Denise Balkissoon, @reggcohn.bsky.social and @rwarnica.bsky.social offer their takes here:
thestar.com
Who landed punches in Round 2? What our columnists saw in last night’s Toronto mayoral debate
How our panel of pundits saw ups and downs of last night’s debate hosted by the Star and Toronto Region Board of Trade.
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Richard Warnica @rwarnica.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Sitting behind Goldsbie as he live tweets a Toronto political debate like it’s 2014
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Richard Warnica @rwarnica.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
City politics! Isabel Bader Theatre for the board of trade debate. I’ll be filing on winners/losers for the Star.
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Alyshah Hasham @alyshah.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Someone there is that doesn't love a wall (in Rosedale). Fascinating deep dive into the battle over a brick wall, with neighbour pitted against neighbour, from Mahdis Habibinia: www.thestar.com/news/gta/how...
thestar.com
How a red brick wall in Rosedale sparked a nasty neighbourhood feud — and a million-dollar legal battle
A brick wall dispute in Toronto’s North Rosedale has led to $1.05 million worth of defamation lawsuits against several neighbours and a local councillor.
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Richard Warnica @rwarnica.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
forgot the sheer volume of coffee you consume while covering local politics
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Bethany Lindsay @bethanylindsay.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
My plan was to tally how many "crisis pregnancy centres" had lost charity status or beefed up disclosure of their anti-abortion stances since tighter restrictions were announced in 2024. Instead I discovered the Liberals had quietly abandoned this promise. theijf.org/article/otta...
theijf.org
Ottawa promised to crack down on anti-abortion ‘crisis pregnancy centres.’ Carney’s Liberals have abandoned that goal
Abortion rights activist who lobbied for changes says surprise news is ‘such a shame’
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Richard Warnica @rwarnica.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Sam Anderson on Dillard (Gift link) www.nytimes.com/2026/09/20/m...
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Matt Kavanagh @mattkavanagh.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Excellent article that does a really nice job of explaining the prion disease that has taken over Canadian conservatives.
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National Newswatch @nationalnewswatch.com · 04/09/2026
Canada’s conservatives have a problem with reality, www.thestar.com/opinion/star... Find out more at nationalnewswatch.com
thestar.com
Richard Warnica: Canada’s conservatives have a problem with reality
Kerry-Lynn Findlay's fall in B.C. is a symptom of a larger problem.
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Richard Warnica @rwarnica.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
I wrote about the collapse of the BC Conservatives and the defining problem of the Canadian right, that a significant and growing part of their activist base is increasingly detached from the real world.
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Matt Pearce @mattdpearce.com · 02/09/2026
Years of sweat and advocacy.
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Emma McIntosh @emmamci.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
An update on this from @alexboyd.bsky.social and me: Further ties have emerged between the separatist Republican Party of Alberta and the top levels of the B.C. Conservative Party, deepening a political relationship that has raised eyebrows in the west. Story: www.thestar.com/news/canada/...
thestar.com
This B.C. party’s deepening ties to Alberta’s separatist movement raise eyebrows in the west
Jake Bregolisse is the second B.C. Conservative hire with links to the separatist Republican Party of Alberta, deepening controversial western ties.
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My IRL friends call me Chris @christyceeck.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
My favourite bit was, "this chaotic status quo is not an aberration but a new paradigm, a ruinously stupid new reality chiselled forever into stone in comic sans."
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Richard Warnica @rwarnica.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
The @thestar.com editorial board on Trump’s trade war www.thestar.com/opinion/edit...
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Richard Warnica @rwarnica.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Every time my daughter (9) orders a Shirley Temple I ask her if she wants a Shelley Tromple - a made up Soviet-era Eastern European rip off that uses beet juice instead of grenadine and is served with a pickled herring - instead and I laugh and I laugh and she doesn’t find it funny at all.
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Jonny Wakefield @jonnywakefield.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
A Calgary police officer who broke a 12-year-old autistic boy’s skull won’t be prosecuted. Alberta’s police watchdog believed the officer may have committed a crime, but the Crown refused to take up the case calgaryherald.com/news/calgary...
calgaryherald.com
Calgary police officer who broke autistic boy's skull won't face criminal charges
Alberta's police watchdog agency said no charges will be laid against a Calgary officer who broke an autistic boy's skull.
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Shawn Micallef @shawnmicallef.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
New month long artist/curator residency in Norway for Canadians. Check it out, share with some of your art folks. Organized by Prefix Institute of Contemporary Art (which, full disclosure, I'm on the board of).
akimbo.ca
Prefix ICA Announces the Residency at The Place
The Place, Kvalnes, Lofoten Islands, Norway. Photo: Elise Misao Hunchuck. Courtesy Maaretta Jaukkuri Foundation Prefix Institute of Contemporary Art is pleased to announce the Residency at The Place…
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The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 19/08/2026
Julia Curlee was the first CIA officer to transition openly and keep working at the agency. The Trump White House needed her—until her identity became public. She recounts her time in service in The Atlantic’s October issue: theatln.tc/siKCHgiR
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Richard Warnica @rwarnica.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
In the Skin of a Lion extended universe
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Jared Wesley @jaredwesley.ca · 14/08/2026
At last night's Alberta Prosperity Project townhall, a keynote speaker spouted a racist remark that drew warm applause from the audience. I won't repeat the vile comment here. You can find video elsewhere. But it is very troubling, if entirely unsurprising. +
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Amarnath Amarasingam @amaramarasingam.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
New Angus Reid polling on Alberta separatism. These numbers do not make me feel comfortable. angusreid.org/alberta-refe...
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The Breakdown AB @thebreakdownab.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Remember when the separatists got all upset that it was implied they were racist? Tonight at Mitch Sylvestre's new constitution release they were clear who rights belonged to... "Not some flip flop towel headed police officer who doesn't even speak Canadian". #abpoli
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Jimmy Thomson @jameswsthomson.com · 07/08/2026
This is the most literal of the "come work with me!" posts — this job would work directly with me to help elevate the writing and packaging of our reporting, and to develop the talent within @nationalobserver.com. Reach out if you have questions and please share!
thenationalobserver.bamboohr.com
Associate Editor
Join Our Team as Associate Editor at Canada’s National Observer  Reports to: Jimmy Thomson, Editor-in-Chief Compensation range: $80,000 - $90,000 annually depending on experience Location: Remote Ter...
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Andrea Woo @andreawoo.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
“Severe drought and more frequent heat waves are hemispheric in scale, and the evacuated B.C. towns of Summerland and Peachland are just the latest to experience the conditions that produce fast-expanding infernos...” www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...
theglobeandmail.com
Okanagan fires offer a glimpse of a worsening wildfire crisis
Experts say Canadian wildfires are part of a much larger problem connected to the burning of fossil fuels
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Jason Markusoff @markusoff.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
I’m hosting CBC’s Front Burner for the next two weeks. They were nice enough to start my fill-in stint on a topic I’m rather familiar with: Alberta separatism. My chat with the great @rwarnica.bsky.social: podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/f...
podcasts.apple.com
Where's the fight to keep Canada together?
Podcast Episode · Front Burner · August 4 · 32m
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Matt Elliott @graphicmatt.com · 30/07/2026
Councillor Anthony Perruzza says he still loves to pay cash. As evidence, he pulls some money out of his pocket. "I got my money here. Not much of it today, because I went out last night and I got soaked by some folks — but I love to pay cash."
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Sam Da Bear @samdabear09.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Your last work was insightful (Mitch Silvestre) and the first in-depth look at the separatist movement in Alberta. But your Stampede files read like you conned your editor into paying for an all-expense-paid trip to the Calgary Stampede. Epic disappointment.
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Richard Warnica @rwarnica.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Thomas Lukaszuk is pretending he hasn't taken a side in the independence referendum, Pierre Poilievre is pretending he has, and Naheed Nenshi is stuck in the mud. On Alberta's disorganized, unserious and sometimes self-interested federalists www.thestar.com/opinion/star...
thestar.com
Richard Warnica: If Pierre Poilievre is any indication, Alberta’s federalists are facing a serious problem
If Pierre Poilievre is any indication, Alberta’s federalists are facing a serious problem in which they cannot condemn the movement they oppose.
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Brian F. Kelcey @stateofthecity.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
I was a Queen's Park media hack for a Tory govt. I was apparently thought to be a good one by colleagues and media both. So I can't help but see it as unfair to fire this woman b/c she was only doing what a generation of Tory flaks have been encouraged to do: aka opposite of actual media relations.
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Tricia Lockwood @tricialockwood.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
larger implications aside it’s always funny when an LRB piece breaks containment because it’s like a crowd shows up with machetes on your porch and you are. an old Man whittling whistles or making cups out of willow bark
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Richard Warnica @rwarnica.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
I spent an afternoon in a parking lot off 16th avenue with a man who told me that if Alberta doesn't separate he will be happy to drift off and die. He is a leading fundraiser for independence. He also has a hidden history. www.thestar.com/opinion/star...
thestar.com
Richard Warnica: He’s one of the leading fundraisers for the Alberta independence movement. He also has a hidden past
Robert Deer has pledged his life to Alberta independence, but also has a past many would find surprising.
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Richard Warnica @rwarnica.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
I came away from my most recent Calgary trip convinced that almost everyone is losing the referendum process -- sovereigntists, federalists, First Nations, immigrants -- but that Danielle Smith is probably going to win. And I think that suits her just fine. www.thestar.com/opinion/star...
thestar.com
Richard Warnica: I went back to Alberta to see who is winning the independence debate. It isn’t who you think
In Alberta, the independence movement is a significant force. But at the Calgary Stampede, few prominent Albertans wanted to talk about it.
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Keith @keixote.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
www.thestar.com/news/gta/the...
thestar.com
The Billy Bishop airport fight 2.0: How Doug Ford’s jets vision rapidly soared — then crashed
A vision for an expanded airport, with jets landing every two and a half minutes, had barrelled down the runway, then came to a screeching halt.
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Shawn Micallef @shawnmicallef.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
Come for the threats to Canadian unity, stay for Doug Ford trying to take off his belt.
Ford himself only half answered my question before yanking open his belt and trying to heave it through the loops of his slacks. Several awkward beats passed before it became clear he wasn't trying to take off his pants; he was just trying to give the buckle — a custom Ford Nation number
- to Smith.
(I don't want to Calgary-splain to the premier but the traditional way to present such a gift would be to bring a spare.)
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Richard Warnica @rwarnica.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
As a sidebar to this piece, I spent an afternoon with Bob Deer, who plans to spend every day between now and October 19 handing out Alberta independence signs in a parking lot off 16th Avenue in N.E. Calgary. www.thestar.com/opinion/star...
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Ben Spurr @benspurr.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Big news: Federal government grounds Billy Bishop airport expansion www.thestar.com/politics/fed...
thestar.com
Federal government grounds Billy Bishop airport expansion
The just-concluded public survey suggested strong public opposition to the project, according to a federal government official.
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My IRL friends call me Chris @christyceeck.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
The Star (or the "Red Star" as it was dismissed at a presser with Premiers Smith & Ford) is covering the upcoming referendum. It sent @rwarnica.bsky.social back to Alberta again. Love Warnica's writing. Genuinely howled at one sentence. #Gift 🎁 #ableg #abpoli www.thestar.com/gift-redeem?...
There are prominent figures in Alberta both speaking out and campaigning against independence, including Alberta NDP leader Naheed Nenshi, former Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, Calgary Liberal MP Corey Hogan, and Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas. I spoke to all four when I was in Calgary. All four told me they’re worried about essentially the same thing: the enthusiasm gap.

“It’s do or die for the separatist side,” said Kenney. “They’ll crawl over broken glass to vote in October.” He doesn’t detect the same urgency in the federalist camp.
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Toronto Star @thestar.com · 24/07/2026
What Richard found on this trip to his hometown was an odd kind of Stampede Omerta. He found that many of the people who count in Alberta seem to act as if Smith’s referendum on whether to hold a referendum on leaving Canada either doesn’t exist or doesn’t matter. Read more:
thestar.com
Richard Warnica: I went back to Alberta to see who is winning the independence debate. It isn’t who you think
In Alberta, the independence movement is a significant force. But at the Calgary Stampede, few prominent Albertans wanted to talk about it.
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Toronto Star @thestar.com · 24/07/2026
It was the first Monday of the Calgary Stampede. Ford had just made an announcement with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith about a theoretical pipeline that could someday take oil direct from Hardisty to Sarnia.
thestar.com
Richard Warnica: I went back to Alberta to see who is winning the independence debate. It isn’t who you think
In Alberta, the independence movement is a significant force. But at the Calgary Stampede, few prominent Albertans wanted to talk about it.
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Toronto Star @thestar.com · 24/07/2026
Opinion: The Star's Richard Warnica was not sure what he was expecting when he asked Doug Ford to comment on his own comments about Alberta separatism at a press conference in Calgary earlier this month, but Richard says he certainly wasn’t expecting Ford to undo his belt.
thestar.com
Richard Warnica: I went back to Alberta to see who is winning the independence debate. It isn’t who you think
In Alberta, the independence movement is a significant force. But at the Calgary Stampede, few prominent Albertans wanted to talk about it.
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Robson Fletcher @robsonfletcher.com · 24/07/2026
Incredible details from @rwarnica.bsky.social about the treatment he received in Calgary after daring to ask Ontario Doug Ford about his past comments on Alberta separatism at a press conference during Stampede. 🔗: www.thestar.com/opinion/star...
Afterward, in the Q&A, I asked what I thought was a fairly innocuous and obvious question. In October, thanks entirely to Smith, Albertans will be voting on their province’s future in this country. Ford had, quite rightly, denounced the referendum when it was announced in May, saying Smith was probably only doing it to appease her base.

I wanted to ask Ford about those comments and whether he had raised the issue with Smith in Calgary. But before I could finish my question, I was interrupted by a collective hiss from the meat-wall of political staffers and guests seated to my right.

“This is a pipeline announcement!” one angry voice howled.

“The Red Star!” another raged.At the press conference in Calgary, some of the Alberta politicians in the room seemed genuinely upset that I’d asked Ford about his own public comments about Smith and independence at a press conference with Smith three months from a referendum on independence. One of them even loomed over me as I walked out and warned me to make sure I included Ford’s full remarks about Justin Trudeau’s government treating Alberta “like garbage” in my story.

(When I asked who he was he replied: “don’t worry about it,” like an enforcer for the world’s saddest mob. It was Joseph Schow, the Alberta minister of jobs, economy, trade and immigration.)
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Anna Mehler Paperny @mehlerpaperny.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
This @rwarnica.bsky.social piece is worth it for "the meat-wall of political staffers and guests" alone. www.thestar.com/opinion/star...
thestar.com
Richard Warnica: I went back to Alberta to see who is winning the independence debate. It isn’t who you think
In Alberta, the independence movement is a significant force. But at the Calgary Stampede, few prominent Albertans wanted to talk about it.
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Heather Campbell @thatheatherc.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Yup, @rwarnica.bsky.social nailed it. www.thestar.com/opinion/star...
thestar.com
Richard Warnica: I went back to Alberta to see who is winning the independence debate. It isn’t who you think
In Alberta, the independence movement is a significant force. But at the Calgary Stampede, few prominent Albertans wanted to talk about it.
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