I have a copypasta that I've been using to suggest that my fellow Canucks open a Mastodon account, along with suggestions with good CanCon follows.
I'd like to hear anyone's suggestions for further Canadian news or just prolific posters that I might have missed.
It does open with a listing of Canadian Mastodon instances, which I think is secondary. It only matters for a Canadian focused Live feed, which does help with discovery. Still, if there is a Canadian instance I missed I'll add.
I know there is some irony in talking about Canadian Mastodon on Canadian Lemmy without promoting Canadian Lemmy, but I think Mastodon is better for just following news sources. Lemmy is more for discussion and has a little bit more of a barrier to entry.
Edit: Updated 2025-03-07 based on feedback.
Consider making an account on a Canadian Mastodon instance. Mastodon is a decentralized open-source social media platform similar to X/Twitter. There are several Canadian based general interest "instances" where you can make an account: Mstdn.ca, TheCanadian.Social, CoSocial.ca or SocialBC.ca.
There is no one company fine-tuning an algorithm to entertain you, sell you crypto, and radicalise you, so you'll need to do some work on setting up your feed. Check out Fedi.Directory, Interesting Accounts to Follow on Mastodon and the Fediverse and Fedi.Tips- An Unofficial Guide to Mastodon and the Fediverse.
For some Canadian themed news sources, I recommend the following Mastodon follows:
Following #Hashtags is also a good way to stay in the loop on a topic. For now, I'd suggest #Canada and #CdnPoli .
There are also Canadian instances and other Federated services, but Mastodon is probably a good gateway. If you would like to explore the Canadian Fediverse further, join the discussion over at Lemmy.ca or Sh.itJust.Works (kind of like Reddit) or check out the scenery at Pixelfed.ca (kind of like Instagram).
Even if it isn't your primary social media, at least you'll have a backstop of news and a way to connect without the algorithms manipulating what to show you. Hope to see you out there.
There are two things that I find soothing in the recent debacle wrt basic Canadian sovereignty.
First, executive authority resides in the PM, and the PM is selected by and must face question period in the House of Commons. The vaunted US system of checks and balances is useless when the other branches are compromised.
Second, the fundamental problem in the US isn't structural, it's that around a third of the electorate is okay with the rank corruption and self-dealing from the top. They cheer on the acts of a Presidential monarch. It doesn't matter how your democracy is structured, when around a third of your electorate no longer values democratic traditions you are in a dangerous place.
In Canada though, we've seen a fairly strong repudiation of Maple MAGA and the Qonvoy movement. It's a little weird, I've seen Qonvoyers missing the point, thinking everyone is on side with them somehow, because Canadian flags? But the ratio of pro-Qonvoy pro-Canada sentiment (where there isn't an obvious and rampant bot problem) seems to skew pretty far away from the Qonvoyers. I think we face the same dangers the US is facing, but it looks like we have a little more runway.
As to point 2, do not rely on Xitter for your news. It has turned into an algorithmically twisted bot-manipulated hellscape of discord and echo chambers. Speaking to the choir here on Lemmy.ca Canada community, but encourage Canadians to make an account on a Canadian Mastodon or Lemmy instance. I recommend dipping their toe into the Fediverse with Mastodon, and just following some Canadian news sources.