Out in the Cold, Part 1: Surveillance, smearing and shutdown of a harm-reduction shelter

Part 1 of an 11-month investigation: The dismantling of Halifax-based Out of the Cold Community Association followed the Nova Scotia government's coordinated criminalization of the organization and its staff – including the country's earliest documented use of the SCAN Act to surveil a nonprofit.

Palantir's access to Canadian military data may include facial recognition of civilian social media

The Toronto Star is reporting on a $3.7 million contract providing Palantir access to Canadian military data – "a big piece of Canadian sovereignty data-exposure,” as one expert said. This may enable Palantir to leverage ongoing social media monitoring, including facial recognition.

Alberta's only expert witness against consumption sites was an American economist in Italy. Here's how that went.

As provinces like Manitoba resume harm reduction as usual, the Alberta government's coup against supervised consumption appears to be crumbling underfoot with no medical or public health experts coming to bat. Can an American economist in Italy save the government's case against consumption sites?

The Sarlacc

Sixteen years ago, Raheleh Tarani’s brother was killed by Iranian authorities during a protest. Her May 9, 2024 assaults and arrest at UofC by Calgary police brought back flashbacks – this time, frenzied concern for the safety of her sons attending that protest on Canadian soil.

For Immediate Release: Calgary Police, City of Calgary and University of Calgary sued by demonstrators for excessive force, breach of rights in 2024

Drug Data Decoded writer/editor joins eight other plaintiffs in a lawsuit seeking damages and vindication that Charter rights were violated during the brutal police operation to remove a peaceful demonstration at the University of Calgary on May 9, 2024.

Alberta government may be surveilling nonprofits province-wide using SCAN Act

The Ministry of Public Safety, working to prevent the release of files related to surveillance of nonprofit organizations by government police, has admitted that it holds 300 pages of records related to investigations of nonprofits across the province.

Unprecedented, "coordinated hit" by Alberta government used snitch law to spy on Turning Point Society

The Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods Act allows any citizen to trigger an investigation of a neighbour for drugs on the property. Since its adoption across Canada two decades ago, the snitch legislation has never been used to attack a nonprofit agency – until now.

Alberta is pressuring provinces on involuntary treatment – but some are pushing back

A conservative provincial government is writing off Alberta's Compassion Intervention Act as a violation of disability rights, favouring community-based treatment over residential rehab. However, a trip out west last June shows its evolving interest in privatized inpatient facilities.

Centre of Recovery Excellence attempts to conceal Research Review Council

The Research Review Council formed in early 2025 with government authors of a recent fraudulent study on supervised consumption services. But, when asked for records of the council's authorized projects, the Centre of Recovery Excellence inexplicably denies its existence.

BREAKING: Alberta government to announce Calgary and Lethbridge supervised consumption site closures

Nine days after it announced a fraudulent study published by its staff, the Alberta government is moving quickly to dismantle what remains of supervised consumption services in the province.

“A shared vision”: Public money funnelled through conference sponsorships may line pockets of UCP policy pushers

From 2021 to 2025, the Alberta government gave at least $745,000 in conference sponsorships to Last Door Recovery Society. The deliverables were redacted but appear linked to conflicts of interest among authors of a recent government study attempting to justify supervised consumption site closures.

Centre of Recovery Excellence manipulating health information of people who use drugs to undermine their safety

The Alberta government's Crown corporation has published its first study using personal health numbers of people accessing supervised consumption sites. While its findings fail to hold up, it offers a case study of how conflicts of interest and privacy oversight are at a crisis point in Alberta.