Go Ad Free

Political scientist and documentarian Professor Frances Widdowson and historian Jerry Amernic are speaking out after being targeted by a deceptive CBC-APTN media sting.

The operation lured critics of the residential school “genocide” narrative into participating in a taxpayer-funded “gotcha” production apparently aimed at smearing dissenting voices.

My interrogation of "Mr. Smarmy" (Igor Vamos) - a set-up by a made up company called "Forge Media", which pretended that I would be doing an interview for a "docuseries". This outfit is evidently connected in some way to @CBC. pic.twitter.com/4xwbT03kfd

— Frances Widdowson (@FrancesWiddows1) May 11, 2026

After Widdowson released footage exposing the operation, several more public figures, including politicians, have now come forward claiming they too were targeted.

“I found out recently that I was deceived by social activists in an elaborate scheme dating back to January,” stated author and mother Lindsay Shepherd on X.

According to Shepherd, the production group, operating under a fake name and with fake identities, interviewed her about her historically sound children's book about Sir John A. Macdonald, called A Day with Sir John A, back in February.

North Island–Powell River Conservative MP Aaron Gunn was also targeted, and warned on X, “Wait until people find out how this CBC show tried (unsuccessfully) to manipulate and deceive a sitting Member of Parliament on its crusade to further attack Canada's history and smear the reputation of Canada's first Prime Minister.”

Gunn has since explained that the CBC-APTN production attempted to lure him into participating in what was presented as a production project titled Counting Coup, allegedly framed with the same “reclaiming the legacy of Sir John A. Macdonald” goal that Shepherd was given.

Wait until people find out how this CBC show tried (unsuccessfully) to manipulate and deceive a sitting Member of Parliament on its crusade to further attack Canada's history and smear the reputation of Canada's first Prime Minister. https://t.co/xHlbvRJdTh

— Aaron Gunn (@AaronGunn) May 12, 2026

The issue is one Gunn has publicly spoken about before, including concerns over the removal of a John A. MacDonald statue and the broader rewriting of Canada’s history. Gunn has also challenged the false but widely repeated narrative that Canada’s residential school system was genocidal.

Dallas Brodie, leader of the OneBC Party and MLA for Vancouver-Quilchena, said she was also approached by the production.

Brodie wrote on X: “Forge Media also approached me about doing an interview. They said they were subcontracted by the CBC." She explained that she and her team “smelled a rat right away” and began asking additional questions about the production company.

Forge Media also approached me about doing an interview. They said they were subcontracted by the CBC. We smelled a rat right away. So we asked some follow-up questions about what other documentaries they had done and when they failed to answer sufficiently we refused the… https://t.co/IRagqvoyKY

— Dallas Brodie (@Dallas_Brodie) May 13, 2026

According to Brodie, when the producers “failed to answer sufficiently, we refused the interview.” Drawing from her own experience working at CBC Toronto on The Fifth Estate and Marketplace, Brodie said she knew “this was not the normal procedure for arranging interview subjects.”

Last year, Brodie’s breakaway political party released Making a Killing, a documentary examining Canada’s reconciliation industry and questioning claims surrounding the Kamloops "215 unmarked graves" narrative.

Journalist Jonathan Kay also revealed he had been contacted by the same production team, posting online that “the ‘forge media’ people who did the bungled reality-show stunt with @FrancesWiddows1 earlier this month also tried to hook me in.”

The “forge media” people who did the bungled reality-show stunt with @FrancesWiddows1 earlier this month also tried to hook me in https://t.co/Z4Yyo9Y9g0 pic.twitter.com/xvBiNHq1aJ

— Jonathan Kay (@jonkay) May 10, 2026

According to Widdowson, up to five current and former RCMP officers may also have been targeted. Widdowson says one former officer, who does not yet wish to go public, was lured into being filmed for an operation that appeared designed to humiliate law enforcement members who challenged dominant political narratives.

In a statement sent to Shepherd, CBC director Katherine Wolfgang confirmed that the “project is in early production for CBC Entertainment and APTN. No details pertaining to exhibition are confirmed at this time.”

BREAKING: CBC News works to distance itself from CBC Entertainment’s deceptive production targeting critics of the residential school “genocide” narrative.

Its reporter still falsely claims unmarked graves were found at the Kamloops residential school while failing to mention… pic.twitter.com/dhqt2NvM8w

— Drea Humphrey (@DreaHumphrey) May 14, 2026

Meanwhile, CBC News, which operates under the same broadcaster as CBC Entertainment, has attempted to distance itself from the controversy. CBC head of public affairs Chuck Thompson stated that “CBC News and APTN News have no involvement in this production,” while also noting that “satirical prank shows are a long-established television format used by broadcasters.”

In today’s report, I speak with Widdowson and Amernic for more on this disturbing story, as well as with criminal defence lawyer Jim Heller about whether any legal lines may have been crossed.