Liberal MP Mark Gerretsen has issued a public apology to independent journalist Kat Kanada for falsely accusing her of being influenced by the Russian government.
In a now-deleted post to X, Gerretsen said that he blocked The Counter Signal’s journalist Katrina Panova, better known as Kat Kanada, while also claiming that a foreign government was paying her to engage with the Kingston MP.
The allegation from Gerretsen came just days after the American right-wing media group Tenet media had been accused of succumbing to a Russian propaganda campaign in which the media group received millions of dollars from the Kremlin.
“I finally blocked someone on here. I draw the line at a foreign government paying you to engage with me. Parliament needs to study this. And this person needs to be brought before committee to answer questions,” said Gerretsen.
Gerretsen did not provide any evidence for Kanada’s connection to Russia and after his initial post, stating that he merely found Kanada’s content divisive and offensive. Gerretsen pointed out that Kanada had been filmed associating with Tenet Media influencer Lauren Southern and clarified that he was not alleging Kanada was directly being paid by the Russians.
Shortly after, Counter Signal lawyers served Gerretsen with a statement of claim accusing the Liberal MP of defaming Kanada.
A week later, Gerretsen struck an agreement and issued an apology to Kanada on X, stating that he had gotten heated by Kanada’s comments and should not have made the claim.
“I would like to sincerely apologize to @KatKanada_TM for my previous post in which I alleged that she is funded by the Russian government,” said Gerretsen.
“Canada is a democracy, and in the context of debate over political issues or current affairs, things can sometimes get more heated than they should. I should not have made this statement regarding Kat.”
As part of the agreement, Gerretsen will be donating $1,000 to the Loaves and Fishes Community Food Bank in Nanaimo, BC, a charity that Kanada selected.
While Gerretsen disabled the comments function under his tweet, however, the sole reply is a comment reiterating the claim that Kanada is funded by the Russian government.
Gerretsen is well known in the House of Commons for provoking conservatives with inflammatory statements while labeling his political opponents as “alt-right.”
Upon former Conservative leadership contestant Roman Baber claiming the Conservative nomination for the Toronto riding York Centre, Gerretsen accused the former Ontario MLA of being “alt-right.”
Gerretsen frequently accuses Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre of pandering to the alt-right or belonging to the alt-right himself.