Welcome to Russiatown, David Pugliese

Correction: A former CTV employee has informed me that Stephen Bandera no longer works there. The original version of this article referred to his employment in the present tense. This has been changed to the past tense.

Cancer is a good thing there
Boys and girls drop dead in the streets
Come let's go to that parade for them
After we hang that boy
Russiatown - The Cowmen

David Pugliese is possibly the most important journalist working in Canada. His work focused on the Canadian military and the Canadian government has exposed so many critical issues in our system. Even further, his work is published in a well-funded legacy outlet, the Ottawa Citizen. He has been crucial in exposing sexual assault issues in the military. He exposed the Canadian support of the far-right Azov Battalion in Ukraine. His work has also repeatedly covered the disastrous Victims of Communism memorial and its ties to fascists.

Put simply, his reporting has been indispensable.

Which is why it's not particularly shocking (but still very concerning) to hear that there is an effort to undermine his reporting. Chris Alexander, former Conservative MP and immigration minister under Stephen Harper, declared he had very real evidence (approx. 20:09) that Pugliese is a Russian asset to the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security.

Alexander never cites any names for those who verified his documents, just the general concept of experts. Indeed, Alexander said that Pugliese was a KGB agent, to a Conservative MP James Bezan that called "Russians at War" a "Russian propaganda film." NDP MP Peter Julian called the testimony "explosive," while Bezan just swallowed it whole. Since it was said in a committee, Alexander benefits from Parliamentary immunity. As a result, he can't be sued for defamation or even be compelled to verify his supposed evidence for what was said in a Parliamentary committee.

Let's go through what's been revealed since his testimony. In a story on the claims, Global News consulted those with access to KGB files. "The heads of the two archives of KGB documents in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv told Global News they did not have any such materials." Moreover, they report that several experts accept the papers to be legitimate, but the only suggestion from them is that the Soviet Union "looked at him."

Alexander benefits from Parliamentary immunity. As a result, he can't be sued for defamation or even be compelled to verify his supposed evidence for what was said in a Parliamentary committee.

There are other holes in Alexander's claims as reported by other outlets. The Canadian Press reports factual inaccuracies. One document from 1984 states that Pugliese was a journalist in Ottawa, "but Pugliese said he did not live in Ottawa that year."

In a statement responding to the allegations, Pugliese said "Mr. Alexander's fabricated claims are not only ridiculous but dangerous to the safety of my family, particularly my children." Alexander meanwhile, did not respond to the National Post when reached for comment. Then, when reached for comment for a Canadian Press piece, he simply said he stands by his comments. How convenient that he hasn't repeated his claims in a public setting.

The question of political motive is clear. Moss Robeson, a journalist that covers far-right Ukrainian movements, highlights Alexander's history of praising these groups. There are many details that are included in the crucial article, but there is one instructive example. At one point in 2014, Alexander was surrounded by Ukro-fascist imagery and organizations on a TV interview while trying to worm out of any association with them.

With all these facts laid out, it's clear that Alexander's allegations are shaky and unfounded at best, and an intentional smear of powerful journalism at worst. In this scenario, however, there is absolutely no grace to be given for such a brazen attack on press freedom. By Alexander's own proposed logic, he has knowledge of a prominent journalist being an agent of a foreign power. If that were the case, he would, naturally, repeat his claims in a context where he can defend them in court. But that's if you take him at his word. His true intent is to smear a journalist... and that's exactly what he's done.

In other words: He's pure chickenshit.

With all these facts laid out, it's clear that Alexander's allegations are shaky and unfounded at best, and an intentional smear of powerful journalism at worst.

Thankfully, those who matter in the journalism field have rightfully stood with Pugliese against these claims. His employer, Postmedia, has defended him. Editor-in-Chief of the Ottawa Citizen Nicole Feriancek rejected the accusation without an inch of concession. "At no point have we ever doubted David’s work or integrity, nor have we ever been approached by any intelligence entity concerning David or his work." The Canadian Association of Journalists, meanwhile, "wholeheartedly denounces the ridiculous accusations."

But there are those that lept at the opportunity to dismiss Pugliese as a Russian agent. Max Fawcett of the National Observer tweeted two instances of Pugliese's reporting with a simply "Posted without comment" before deleting it in shame. Anecdotally, right after the comments were made, two accounts on Bluesky took to a week-old post of mine on the Victims of Communism memorial to decry Pugliese as a Russian agent. They were very normal about it.

The obsession of those who believe these claims betray the intent of Russiagate thinking. By this logic: There is no flaw in our society. It's all the fault of Russia. Anyone who speaks ill of Canada is working for Putin. Putin is communist. The Soviet Union never died. You are a treasonous criminal for thinking anything else. Don't utter truths about this country that could damage its reputation.

This is not to say that Russia, or any other geopolitical power, does not attempt to influence politics. But the focus on Russia instead of the US, Israel, Ukraine, the UK or any other allied power is pure propaganda. For example, the grandson of Ukrainian fascist Stepan Bandera (who continues to defend him) quite literally worked for CTV News. No parliamentary hearings about that.

It doesn't matter. Russia is the enemy. Anyone bothersome to the current power structure that can even remotely be tied to this impenetrable evil will be labelled a traitor. There is no evidence that Pugliese is, or ever was, an asset of Russia or the Soviet Union. But there's plenty of evidence that his reporting has bothered high-ranking Canadian officials.

It's very unlikely that this will stop Pugliese from doing journalism. Thankfully, he has too much integrity for that. But Alexander has achieved his goal by tapping into McCarthyism round two. No matter how flimsy and baseless Alexander's claims are, those who want to ignore Canadian flaws as reported by Pugliese, or anyone connected to him, now have an excuse to dismiss them. Dishonest actors now have free pass to send Pugliese and his reporting to Russiatown; A cartoonishly evil place that only the most gullible and ignorant people truly believe exists. Unfortunately, thanks to rising jingoism and reactionary sentiment, those people are growing in numbers.