Canadaland, Jesse Brown to Pay $885,000 and Issue Public Apology in Kielburger v. Canadaland Inc. Over False Claim That Was Foundational to Its Reporting on WE Charity and the Kielburger Family

Settlement resolves defamation suit over a false claim republished in The White Saviors podcast, in one of the largest publicly-disclosed defamation settlements against a Canadian media outlet in recent years.

TORONTO, June 9, 2026 /CNW/ - Canadaland Inc. and its founder Jesse Brown will pay a total of $885,000 in damages and costs to Theresa Kielburger, an 82-year-old retired Toronto schoolteacher and the mother of WE Charity co-founders Marc Kielburger and Craig Kielburger, to settle her defamation lawsuit.

The lawsuit centred on Canadaland's key claim in The White Saviors podcast series: that Mrs. Kielburger had taken hundreds of thousands of dollars in charitable donations and deposited them into a family bank account. It was a foundational allegation on which Canadaland built its broader thesis that the Kielburger family had personally and improperly benefited from WE Charity. That claim is now formally retracted.

The court found that Mr. Brown was in possession of the very documents that disproved it and never mentioned them. He never contacted Mrs. Kielburger before publication.

"Theresa Kielburger has spent her life helping people. She raised the sons who built one of Canada's most recognized children's charities," stated Peter Downard, counsel for Mrs. Kielburger. "The settlement provides her with the vindication she deserves."

"Mr. Brown recklessly attacked Mrs. Kielburger, who has always been a real force for good in the world," added co-counsel William McDowell. I am glad that we were able to achieve this public vindication for her."

Settlement Terms

Under the settlement terms, Mr. Brown appeared in open court and read a full retraction and apology aloud. The full apology must be posted prominently and permanently on the Canadaland website and across every social media and podcast platform where the episode appears. An audio retraction must also be inserted into the original podcast episode, replacing existing versions on all platforms.

The settlement payment of $775,000, combined with the $110,000 already ordered following Mr. Brown's failed anti-SLAPP motion, brings the total paid by Canadaland and Mr. Brown to $885,000.

Canadaland retraction

The central allegation of the lawsuit was the claim broadcast by Mr. Brown in the August 2021 The White Saviors podcast that Theresa Kielburger had personally deposited hundreds of thousands of dollars in charitable donations into her family's personal bank account. In Mr. Brown's apology read in court, he stated plainly: "This was unfounded. We were wrong to have published it."

The false claim was not new. It had first been published in 1996 by Saturday Night magazine. Craig Kielburger sued; Saturday Night settled in 1999 for $319,000. Twenty-five years later, Canadaland republished the same claim as the cornerstone of an entire podcast series. The Kielburger family is now twice on the public record as having been falsely accused of the same misconduct. In both cases, the publishers responsible paid substantial damages.

Canadaland never contacted Mrs. Kielburger before broadcast. Asked in court why no comment was sought, Mr. Brown said he "did not seek comment from the plaintiff for the same reason why I didn't seek comment from my own mother." Mr. Brown was also in possession of letters from the charity's accountant and the Ontario Federation of Labour that explicitly disproved the allegation, and neither was mentioned in the podcast.

Court Findings

In May 2024, Justice E.M. Morgan of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice rejected Canadaland's anti-SLAPP motion (an attempt to have the case dismissed before trial) and ordered Canadaland to pay $110,000 in costs.

In his reasons, Justice Morgan found "[T]here is no reason to believe that Brown and Canadaland have any valid defence." The court also found that "the cynicism of Brown's explanation not only accentuates the defamatory sting of his words, but could be considered high handed and oppressive," that it suggested "the Plaintiff's feelings are worth nothing," and that the defamation was "more a personal attack on the plaintiff's character" than legitimate journalism.

Canadaland brands itself as Canada's media accountability outlet, whose stated purpose is to hold other journalists to higher standards. The court's findings describe an outlet that republished a known false claim, ignored documents in its own possession that disproved it, and never asked its subject to respond. These are the very failures Canadaland claims to exist to call out in others.

The full apology

Mr. Brown read the following statement in open court. It is posted permanently across all Canadaland platforms:

"On August 20, 2021, Canadaland published The Children's Crusade, the first episode of a podcast series entitled The White Saviors. In that episode we stated that Theresa Kielburger had placed hundreds of thousands of dollars of donations to a children's charity in a family bank account. This was unfounded. We were wrong to have published it. Canadaland wholly retracts its statement about Ms. Kielburger. We apologize unreservedly to her for the harm caused by our publication of it. Canadaland has agreed to pay substantial damages to Ms. Kielburger."

Background materials: Justice Morgan's reasons in Kielburger v. Canadaland Inc., 2024 ONSC 2622;

About WE Charity

WE Charity is a Canadian international development and youth empowerment organization co-founded in 1995 by Craig and Marc Kielburger. At its peak, WE Day events engaged more than two million young people annually in acts of service across Canada, the United States, and internationally.

SOURCE WE Charity

Media contact: Jackie Pilon, WE Charity PR, [email protected]