| Predecessor: | Independent Immigration Aid Association |
| Headquarters: | Calgary, Alberta |
| Leader Title: | Editor-in-chief |
| Leader Name: | Candice Malcolm |
The True North Centre for Public Policy is a right wing [1] [2] [3] media outlet that simultaneously describes itself as a "media company", an "advocacy organization" and as a "registered charity with the government of Canada."[4] [5] It operates a digital media arm known simply as True North.[6] [7]
In 1994, the Independent Immigration Aid Association was started with the goal of helping immigrants from the United Kingdom settle in British Columbia.[8] According to Daniel Brown, a former director of the charity, a new board of directors took control of the charity in 2017 and renamed it the True North Centre for Public Policy. Control was handed off to three people:
Nejatian's wife, Candice Malcolm, describes herself as the "founder and Editor-In-Chief" of True North.[9] [10]
When the immigration-focused charity was transformed into a media and research organization, the change was scrutinized in the Canadian legal field.[11] True North's filings with Canada Revenue Agency state that the organization runs "ongoing programs" that provide "support and assistance to UK immigrants to the Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island and the rest of British Columbia", that it has "new programs" dedicated to "research on immigration and integration", and that 100% of True North's programs put emphasis on "immigrant aid". However, the last available return filed with CRA was in 2017, and no new filings from the charity have been published since 2018.
In 2023, True North's website published a video featuring presenter Harrison Faulkner, in which Faulkner claimed that the Canadian government was hiding the true cause of the 2023 Canadian wildfires. Faulkner's claim that arson arrests showed arson was the real cause of the fires was debunked, mainly because he pointed to news articles that were published years before the 2023 fires started.
During the 2019 federal election in Canada, True North was initially denied press access to the leaders' debate on the grounds that it was not a news outlet but an advocacy organization.[12] True North argued that the decision to bar them was "unfair and arbitrary."[13]
True North contested this decision to bar them, and brought the Leader's Debates Commission to court.[12] The federal judge, Justice Russell Zinn, ruled in favour of True North, and forced the government to allow them to attend the debate and ask questions as journalists.
In 2019, Canadian columnist Lindsay Shepherd joined True North as an investigative journalist.[14]
In July 2021, Canadian conservative writer and political columnist Sue Ann Levy announced she was joining True North.[15]