Not me waking up to messages that @JesseBrown has grossly mischaracterized what #SecretCanada is about on this week's episode of Short Cuts.🫠

https://twitter.com/JesseBrown/status/1765724505752702990

The goal of #SecretCanada was to replicate the fed's "completed" ATI website for the entire country. There are about 170 institutions in the federal database. We have gone to every province, territory and mid-to-large municipality...

My favourite Secret Canada story of the series. Last fall, @tom_cardoso and I put out a call: if you have stories about Canada's broken freedom of information regime, we want to hear from you. The loudest, largest group to reply: FURIOUS HISTORIANS theglobeandmail.com/canada/article… In Canada, unlike in other democracies such as the US, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, France, Sweden, etc. — government records that aren't voluntarily released are closed to the public FOREVER by default, until someone asks for it through an FOI.

SECRET CANADA: Think about all that's happening in Alberta right now. Plans to withdraw from the CPP. The Calgary daycare E. coli crisis. Etc. Now consider: the province is actively trying to make it harder to obtain government records. theglobeandmail.com/canada/article… The Alberta government is doubling down on a decision to withhold basic data about records it has previously released under its FOI law – a move that could have far-reaching consequences for transparency and accountability within the province. theglobeandmail.com/canada/article…

In 2021, my investigative-team colleague @tom_cardoso and I got tired of moaning about Canada's broken freedom of information regime. We decided to turn our reporting skills on the system itself. We had higher ambitions than a traditional story: SecretCanada.com There is a story. There are going to be lots of them in the #SecretCanada series, but first I want to talk about this website the @globeandmail has created, which is unlike anything that exists in the world.

POWER GAP: Female doctors in Ontario made less on average than their male counterparts in 35 medical specialties tracked by the Ministry of Health, a Globe and Mail analysis of physician billings has shown. From me and @hichenwang theglobeandmail.com/canada/article… This was true even in specialties such as obstetrics and gynecology, where the majority of practising doctors were women.

There have been at least three formal reviews involving Bell Media newsrooms, in response to complaints over incidents that included alleged bullying by managers, sexual harassment, and the use of the N-word during an inclusive-leadership training session. theglobeandmail.com/canada/article… The company’s response to these cases — and a prevailing perception that the reviews did not result in change — has fuelled apprehension among staff about the network’s recently announced 3rd-party review, triggered after backlash to the dismissal of CTV anchor Lisa LaFlamme.

I just want to🚩that this issue of doctors not working directly for hospitals — in 🇨🇦, they're typically independent contractors who have privileges to work in hospitals but who bill the government directly for services — has now come up THREE times in recent stories I've done: First, it was raised as one of the primary reasons that our health care system is so broken. Canadian health care is not integrated, which leads to massive waste and poor care. That doctors are paid one way and hospitals another is one example. theglobeandmail.com/canada/article…

A female medical resident who reported an accusation of sexual misconduct against a male supervisor –& then filed a lawsuit against the hospital & her university for failing to investigate that complaint– is now being sued by the supervisor for defamation. theglobeandmail.com/canada/article… This is a story that highlights the risks that people face in raising accusations of wrongdoing in the workplace, but it also gets at the complicated employment relationship between hospitals, universities, physicians and medical residents.

This story began as an effort to understand how a few thousand unexpected sick patients could overwhelm hospitals in a province the size of Ontario, with its 14+ million people. I had always heard Canadian healthcare was broken. I had no idea how broken. theglobeandmail.com/canada/article… The way one physician explained it really 🤯: Canadian "healthcare" is actually an insurance program. “What we have is a scheme that guarantees payment to physicians from public funds. That has nothing to do with having a public health-care system” said Dr. Dan Roberts.

POWER GAP: Canada has all the laws it needs to protect against gender discrimination in the workplace — but those laws are nearly impossible to enforce. As a result women are being forced to sign NDAs to get out of bad situations. theglobeandmail.com/canada/article… The same kind of agreements that silenced Harvey Weinstein’s accusers & enabled his behaviour to continue for years are being used in Canada to resolve all manner of gender discrimination complaints: pay, promotion, pregnancy, bullying & sexual harassment theglobeandmail.com/canada/article…