Below is an open letter that has also been published elsewhere by our colleagues.
Former Conservative MP Chris Alexander’s allegation that David Pugliese has been a Russian and Soviet intelligence asset is ludicrous.
Those of us who know David Pugliese know him to be an upstanding citizen and an excellent journalist, and many of us aspire to be like him.
Most of us know already this is a thankless job, but persevere nonetheless because we understand the bedrock of democracy is a strong, independent, and often adversarial fourth estate.
David Pugliese knows this, and it is evident in practically everything he writes.
This has led him to shine a light on all that the government doesn’t want you to know. In his capacity as one of Canada’s very few defense reporters, David Pugliese has told us about defective airplanes, sexual assault swept under the rug, project delays and cost overruns on new ships, among many others.
He is also one of the few mainstream journalists to tackle the national embarrassment that is the Victims of Communism monument, as well as the broader, related, and no less embarrassing issue of Canada’s protection of alleged war criminals and Nazi collaborators. Where far too many other journalists have shied away from these matters, David Pugliese has persevered, explaining the complicated and relating the un-relatable.
But doing so has earned him enemies. He has dealt with threats and often anonymous attacks on his character.
Chris Alexander crossed a line. He made a damning allegation under the cover of parliamentary immunity.
That others present—including parliamentarians as well as at least one self-described investigative journalist—failed to scrutinize Alexander’s preposterous assertion, is itself a damning indictment of the capabilities and intelligence of the national security committee as much as those tasked with assessing and analyzing it.
It should come as no surprise that those journalists who see in David Pugliese the qualities they wish to emulate would also be the first to recognize just how far-fetched Chris Alexander’s statements truly are.
More than anything else, in attacking the credibility of one of Canada’s best journalists, in doing so without presenting evidence publicly, and from behind a cloak of immunity, Chris Alexander has attacked our profession and our professional credibility.
To do so as cavalierly and as casually as he did, without the courage to stand by his statement in the public realm, is not merely cowardice of the highest order, but further represents a clear and present danger to our democracy in general, and David Pugliese specifically.
This cannot stand.
Chris Alexander can either apologize to David Pugliese publicly, fully retracting his statement, or he can make the same statement publicly, and show us all his alleged proof.
Signed:
Taylor C. Noakes - Independent Journalist
Alex Cosh - Managing Editor of News, The Maple
Jeremy Appel - Independent Journalist and Author
Duncan Kinney - Editor, The Progress Report
Moss Robeson - Independent Journalist
Mark Ames
Christopher Curtis - Editor in Chief, The Rover
Daniel Boeckner - Canadian Musician/Podcaster
David J. Climenhaga - Alberta Politics
Mark Bourrie MJ PhD JD - lawyer, author and journalist
Nora Loreto - Sandy and Nora Talk Politics / The Daily News Podcast
Andre Goulet - Director, Harbinger Media Network/Community Director, Unrigged
Mo Amir - Host, This is VANCOLOUR, CHEK Media
Emma Paling - Independent journalist, former senior editor of The Breach
Elise Moser - Writer, editor
Daniel Moser - Editor, Alberta Jewish News
David Moscrop - Freelance opinion writer
Shree Paradkar - Columnist, Toronto Star
Toula Drimonis - Independent Journalist
Martin Lukacs - The Breach
Luke Savage - Columnist, Jacobin
Davide Mastracci - Opinion editor, The Maple
Eric Wickham - Journalist and podcast producer
Kevin Taghabon, CUPE National Staff, co-founder: The Hoser Media, co-founder: The Grind
David Gordon Koch - Journalist, NB Media Co-op
Susan O’Donnell - Board member, NB Media Co-op
Steven Staples - Founder, The Rideau Institute
Anne Lagacé Dowson - Independent Journalist
Justin Brake, Editor-in-Chief, The Independent
Romy Garrido - Publisher, PressProgress
Andrea Houston - Managing Editor, Ricochet Media
Andrew Berkshire - President, Game Over Network
Nathan Kalman-Lamb - Editorial Collective, NB Media Co-op
Tracy Glynn - Coordinating Editor, NB Media Co-op
Lev Golinkin - Author and Journalist
Paris Marx - Podcast Host and Author
Erin Steuter - Professor of Sociology, Mount Allison University
Ethan Cox - Senior Editor, Ricochet Media
Sarah Kardash - Board member, NB Media Co-op
Stephen Magusiak - Reporter, PressProgress
Scott Martin - Independent Journalist, The Catch
Erica Ifill - Columnist, Hill Times
Saba Eitizaz - Podcast Host, Toronto Star
Cy Gonick - Publisher, Canadian Dimension
Rachel Gilmore - Independent Journalist
Seth Klein - Columnist
Sarah Rieger - Journalist
Arshy Mann - Journalist
Christy Somos - Journalist/Producer
Brennan Doherty - Journalist
David Gray-Donald - Publisher & Editorial Director, The Grind
Phillip Dwight Morgan - Arts and Culture Editor, The Grind
Avi Lewis - Filmmaker
Scott Neigh - Board Member and Editor, The Media Co-op
Desmond Cole - Journalist
Linda McQuaig - Author & Journalist
Jigmet Angmo - Manager, NB Media Co-op
Danielle Paradis - Journalist
Cyrus Lewis - Commissioning editor, Jacobin
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