Canadaland podcast host apologizes in court to mother of WE Charity co-founders

Theresa Kielburger is pictured in an undated handout photo supplied by Tony V. Hauser. A settlement has been reached in a defamation lawsuit filed by Kielburger against the Canadaland podcast and its host, Jesse Brown. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout-Tony V. Hauser (Mandatory Credit)

TORONTO — The host of the Canadaland podcast apologized to the mother of Marc and Craig Kielburger in court Tuesday as part of a settlement in a defamation lawsuit that centred on an episode from five years ago.

Jesse Brown told a Toronto courtroom that Canadaland “wholly retracts” comments regarding Theresa Kielburger’s alleged handling of donations made to the WE Organization in the 1990s, before the organization was registered as a charity.

Brown said the allegation that Kielburger deposited hundreds of thousands of dollars to a family bank account was “unfounded,” and apologized for the harm caused by its inclusion in the 2021 episode titled “The Children’s Crusade.”

“We were wrong to have published it,” he said, adding that Canadaland has agreed to pay Kielburger “substantial damages” in settling the suit.

The case never went to trial, but a judge in 2024 rejected a bid to have it thrown out under legislation meant to protect people from lawsuits intended to silence critics or public debate.

At the time, Ontario Superior Court Justice Edward Morgan found there was reason to believe the defamation claim against Brown and Canadaland had “substantial merit,” though he dismissed it in relation to a reporter who was a guest on the episode.

In his ruling, Morgan found there was no reason to believe Brown and Canadaland had “any valid defence.”

The episode left out crucial information in a way that undermined its objectivity, Morgan wrote, noting Brown and Canadaland did not reach out to Kielburger to give her the chance to refute the allegation.

Brown also showed a “callous disregard” for Kielburger’s reputation and feelings in an affidavit filed in the case, the judge found.

In an emailed statement to The Canadian Press, Kielburger said she has spent her life trying to do good for her family and community, and to have that called into question “in such a callous manner as Mr. Brown did” was “inexcusable.”

Kielburger, who is 82, said she wasn’t the only one affected: the comments also devastated “countless” children who raised funds for the WE Charity, which is part of the WE Organization co-founded by her sons.

“It has been a horrible chapter of my life which I am glad it is over,” she said.

The apology “had to be public,” said Kielburger, a retired teacher.

“Jesse Brown broadcast his lies to his audience and beyond. He said what he said in public, without ever calling me for comment in advance. The apology belongs in public too.”

Reached by email after Tuesday’s hearing, Brown said the political controversy that engulfed the WE Charity in 2020 “was never about anything Theresa Kielburger did.”

“Theresa Kielburger had nothing to apologize for, and that’s why I apologized to her today,” he wrote.

Under the settlement, the apology must be permanently posted on the Canadaland website and across every social media and podcast platform where the episode appears, according to a news release issued by the WE Charity. An audio retraction must also be added to the podcast episode, it said.

The settlement, which was approved during a brief court hearing Tuesday, also includes the payment of $775,000 in damages. That’s in addition to the more than $100,000 in costs Canadaland was ordered to pay in 2024, the news release said.

William McDowell, one of the lawyers representing Kielburger, said the settlement sum is larger than most awarded by the courts in recent years.

Overall, the outcome of the case signals that “standards of conduct or journalistic standards are required not just in the legacy media but also in things like podcasts,” McDowell said in an interview.

Ontario Superior Court Justice William Chalmers, who signed off on the settlement, called it “reasonable and in the best interest of Theresa Kielburger.”

The episode at the heart of the lawsuit was part of a series called The White Saviors, which hit the air in August and September 2021.

The first episode referenced a 1996 article about the WE Organization, then called Free the Children, according to a court document.

The piece, which ran in the now-defunct magazine Saturday Night, said $150,000 pledged by the Ontario Federation of Labour had been deposited in the family’s bank account, the document said.

Kielburger was interviewed before the article was published, saying she did not handle money for Free the Children, nor did she or her family have access to it, the document said. These comments weren’t included in the story, however, it said.

After the article was published, both the family’s accountant and the union’s president wrote to Saturday Night to refute the allegation and explain where the money was deposited, the document said.

A defamation suit was filed with Kielburger’s son Craig as the plaintiff, and the case ended with a settlement of more than $300,000 without going to trial.

The Canadaland episode revisited the issue, also omitting the information from the accountant and the OFL, according to the 2024 ruling. This time, Kielburger was not contacted for comment, it said.

“For Canadaland to have left this important point out of its story undermines any factual objectivity that the broadcast may claim,” Morgan wrote in his ruling.

The evidence on the record supported a reasonable understanding that Canadaland and Brown were suggesting the 1996 allegation was true and that Kielburger had misappropriated donations, the judge said.

The WE Charity came under national scrutiny in 2020 amid controversy over the Liberal government’s plans to have the organization run a multimillion-dollar student-volunteer program.

The charity then announced it would shut down its Canadian operations, with the Kielburger brothers set to step down after the transition to a new board of governors.

Paola Loriggio, The Canadian Press

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 9, 2026.