Prime Minister Mark Carney promoted an article from the taxpayer-funded Montreal publication Cult MTLon Monday, less than a year after his government promised to review the outlet’s federal support over a column published following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.Carney posted a screenshot showing the headline, “Canada announces largest clean energy investment in North American history,” to his official X account..“When we master our energy, we master our destiny,” Carney wrote above the image.The August 17 article by Cult MTL editor-in-chief Lorraine Carpenter summarized the federal government’s announcement of a nearly $70-billion electricity agreement involving Ottawa, Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador.The post did not mention the publication’s previous controversy or its receipt of federal funding.Canadian Heritage records show Cult MTL received an $18,791 grant covering April 2025 through March 2026 under the Canada Periodical Fund’s Special Measures for Journalism program.The publication received $46,719 through the fund in 2020 and smaller grants in subsequent years..Its federal funding came under scrutiny in September 2025 after Cult MTL published an article titled “To Hell With Charlie Kirk” one day after Kirk was fatally shot during a public appearance.The column said there was “no excuse for political violence,” but accused Kirk of contributing to violent political divisions and concluded with the words: “You reap what you sow.”Conservative MP Rachael Thomas raised the column at the House of Commons heritage committee, questioning why taxpayer money was supporting the publication.Then-heritage minister Steven Guilbeault said his department had been unaware of the article and promised to examine the matter.“We’ll look into this specific case, and if it turns out that the organization doesn’t deserve to continue receiving funding from the federal government, the funding will be withdrawn,” Guilbeault said.No public outcome from the promised review was announced.The electricity agreement highlighted in the Cult MTL article includes $10 billion in federal financing for the expansion of the Churchill Falls generating station, development of the Gull Island hydroelectric project and related transmission infrastructure.Ottawa says the projects will generate 14,000 megawatts of power and support more than 23,000 construction jobs.
