A senior member of the Liberal government has apologized for calling the editor of the Counter Signal news site a ‘Russian agent’.Deputy House Leader Mark Gerretsen, the Liberal MP for Kingston, made the apology on Twitter (”X”) Thursday for alleging Counter Signal senior editor Kat Panova — who goes by the handle KatKanada — was funded by the Russian government.In a multi-pronged post he promised to donate $1,000 to the Loves and Fishes Community food bank in Nanaimo, British Columbia where she is based.“Canada is a democracy and in the context of debate or political issues or current affairs, things can sometimes get more heated than they should. I should not have made this statement regarding Kat.”.Last week, Gerretsen accused Panova of having had “a foreign government paying (her) to engage” with him and calling her to be subpoenaed before a government committee to testify into foreign interference in elections.In response, Counter Signal and Panova set up a ‘go fund me’ page to raise $50,000 to sue the Ontario MP.It comes amid allegations from the US government that the state-owned Russian Times — otherwise known as RT — funded independent media outlets in Canada and the US to spread propaganda against the war in Ukraine.A federal indictment alleges RT employees violated the US Foreign Agents Registration Act and conspired to commit money laundering by covertly funding and directing media outlets featuring high-profile influencers through Tennessee-based Tenet Media, which was founded by a Canadian social media influencer Lauren Chen and her husband Liam Donovon in Quebec.The site promoted independent videos produced by Panova, among others.Panova was also a prominent figure of the Trucker Convoy protests in Ottawa and has been featured prominently in social media alongside Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre and Jordan Peterson, which was apparently enough to make her a target of the Liberals.In her own Twitter (“X”) post, Kat seemed to have accepted the apology and said she ‘appreciated’ the gesture and food bank donation.“I fled the USSR to live in a country where those in power could not wield their office as a weapon against journalists,” she wrote. “I think Mark honestly doesn’t understand why that is important, but don’t worry, we explained it to him.”
A senior member of the Liberal government has apologized for calling the editor of the Counter Signal news site a ‘Russian agent’.Deputy House Leader Mark Gerretsen, the Liberal MP for Kingston, made the apology on Twitter (”X”) Thursday for alleging Counter Signal senior editor Kat Panova — who goes by the handle KatKanada — was funded by the Russian government.In a multi-pronged post he promised to donate $1,000 to the Loves and Fishes Community food bank in Nanaimo, British Columbia where she is based.“Canada is a democracy and in the context of debate or political issues or current affairs, things can sometimes get more heated than they should. I should not have made this statement regarding Kat.”.Last week, Gerretsen accused Panova of having had “a foreign government paying (her) to engage” with him and calling her to be subpoenaed before a government committee to testify into foreign interference in elections.In response, Counter Signal and Panova set up a ‘go fund me’ page to raise $50,000 to sue the Ontario MP.It comes amid allegations from the US government that the state-owned Russian Times — otherwise known as RT — funded independent media outlets in Canada and the US to spread propaganda against the war in Ukraine.A federal indictment alleges RT employees violated the US Foreign Agents Registration Act and conspired to commit money laundering by covertly funding and directing media outlets featuring high-profile influencers through Tennessee-based Tenet Media, which was founded by a Canadian social media influencer Lauren Chen and her husband Liam Donovon in Quebec.The site promoted independent videos produced by Panova, among others.Panova was also a prominent figure of the Trucker Convoy protests in Ottawa and has been featured prominently in social media alongside Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre and Jordan Peterson, which was apparently enough to make her a target of the Liberals.In her own Twitter (“X”) post, Kat seemed to have accepted the apology and said she ‘appreciated’ the gesture and food bank donation.“I fled the USSR to live in a country where those in power could not wield their office as a weapon against journalists,” she wrote. “I think Mark honestly doesn’t understand why that is important, but don’t worry, we explained it to him.”
