Thank you to Robert, Ben, Inori, Kenneth and Andrew for becoming Ricochet supporters! We are in the thick of our summer fundraising campaign, and meeting our goal of 500 new monthly donors before Labour Day means that we can plan even more expansive and in-depth coverage for 2026.
Help us meet the moment and become a monthly donor today.
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The Ricochet team is also happy to announce our Summer newsroom fellows, Zahra Khozema and myself (Sophia de Guzman)!
This summer, Zahra and I will be leading our own investigative projects (stay tuned), leading Ricochet Media’s summer fundraising campaigns, working on Ricochet’s new podcast In Bed With The Elephant and a myriad of other things behind the scenes. We’re excited to spend this summer engaging with all of you.
I’ve had the fortune of working at Ricochet since I graduated from university two years ago. It’s been one of the most educational and fulfilling things of my career thus far to grow this newsletter community and deliver the news to all of you every week. Being a young journalist in this moment can feel impossible, so I’d like to say thank you to all of our subscribers for tuning in to the news with me every week.
And to those of you who are monthly donors, thank you for investing in journalism at this critical time and more importantly, thank you for trusting us. Everyone on the team works hard to make sure we’ve earned it.
If you’re not yet a monthly donor and have the ability, please start today. It means more reporting in more newsletters, which sounds pretty good to me.
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Could publicly-owned grocery stores break Canada’s grocery oligopoly?
A bold proposal from New York’s Zohran Mamdani is sparking interest north of the border. Experts say a Canadian public option is not only possible — it’s long overdue
By: Jeremy Appel
In New York City, Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani shocked the world in June with his landslide primary victory over former state governor Andrew Cuomo with a campaign that notably included a very popular pledge to open a city-run grocery store in each of the city’s five boroughs.
Mamdani’s proposal was intended to deal with the phenomenon of food deserts, where grocery stores are scarce and food prices tend to be higher than usual, a concept that will be all too familiar to residents of Canada’s north and the Maritimes.
Could something along the lines of Mamdani’s proposal work in Canada to loosen the grip of its grocery oligopoly, and ensure all Canadians have access to affordable, nutritious food wherever they live?
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Katsi’tsakwas Ellen Gabriel is a Mohawk activist, artist, and elder from Kanehsatà:ke Nation, Turtle Clan. She was on the frontlines of the 1990 military siege of her community.
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Kanehsatake 35 years later: Remembering the day Canada sent in the military to violently clear Mohawk land for a golf course
The 1990 siege marked a nationwide turning point in Indigenous resistance — now there’s a new threat to the sacred Pines
By: Katsi’tsakwas Ellen Gabriel
On this day 35 years ago, a SWAT team, a paramilitary force, attacked a peaceful barricade in the Kanehsatà:ke pine forest — a barricade meant to protect the more than 200-year-old trees from being cut for the expansion of the nine-hole Oka Golf Club and condo development. The development would have seen the removal of our sacred burial ground to expand the parking lot of the country club.
For 78 days the peoples of Kanehsatà:ke and Kahnawake defended “the Pines,” a white pine forest claimed by the Mohawks of Kanesatake. We were under siege, denied food, medicine and the free passage of people by order of the Sureté du Quebec, the provincial police force, endorsed by the Quebec and Canadian governments.
Our fundamental human rights were violated daily by the SQ and the Canadian military — and we were publicly labelled as criminals for opposing a golf course expansion that was approved without our consent or consultation.
We were criminalized for upholding our traditional laws under Kaianera’kó:wa, or the Great Law of Peace, on our land. There were at least 14 women who met the SWAT team when they arrived at 5:15 a.m. on that day. We approached the police with our arms in the air to show we did not have any weapons.
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Tune in for a special message from investigative journalist Brandi Morin!
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This week, we trace the civil rights movement from Mississippi to Montreal
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Host Adrian Harewood sits down this week with the historic civil rights activist Fred Anderson.
This week’s conversation is a deeply human, insightful look at the perspective of a young Black activist through the civil rights movement of the 60’s, resisting the Vietnam War, and building the National Black Coalition of Canada.
In a moment where everyday Canadians are feeling called to action by the headlines they read every morning, this conversation is a critical opportunity to learn from historic activist lessons on perseverance and how to keep up the fight in a time of crisis.
Fred Anderson’s book: Eyes Have Seen: From Mississippi to Montreal is out everywhere now.
Listen wherever you listen to podcasts.
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If you have tips or story pitches send us an email.
We accept freelance pitches for short- and long-form journalism, with special support available for worthy investigative projects.
Inquiries should be sent to editor@ricochet.media
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Ricochet is a non-profit national media outlet with a mandate to serve the public interest. We publish investigative journalism that speaks truth to power, and incisive opinion that reflects the cultural and political diversity of our audience.
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