CALGARY — An NDP-linked news outlet is laying off staff due to the ongoing financial fallout from the ongoing defamation lawsuit brought by former United Conservative Party nomination candidate Caylan Ford.Press Progress, the news division of the Broadbent Institute, was confirmed to be making cuts on Tuesday, when Emma Arkell, the organization’s labour reporter, announced on social media platform Bluesky that this week would be her last in the position..“I received notice over a week ago that the labour reporter position is being terminated and I’m being laid off,” Arkell said.“Press Progress has been put in a pretty dire financial situation because of a major lawsuit, so while this wasn’t exactly a total surprise for me, I didn’t think it would come to this so soon.”.Luke LeBrun, Press Progress’ editor, confirmed Arkell was being let go, saying he would be “pleased to give a reference check extolling how talented and competent my former colleague and co-union steward Emma Arkell is.”.In a statement to the Western Standard, the Broadbent Institute said it "has made the difficult decision to reduce two full-time staff positions in light of recent financial challenges. The consequence is more accurately due to budget pressures."Both the Institute and Press Progress are named as defendants in Ford’s $7.65-million defamation lawsuit along with the CBC, the Toronto Star, and several other defendants.The Ford case stems from reporting published by Press Progress and other media outlets during Alberta’s 2019 provincial election, which saw Ford, then the UCP nomination candidate for Calgary-Mountain View, accused of holding racist and “white supremacist” views based on private Facebook Messenger conversations that were leaked to the media, with political strategist Karim Jivraj being identified as the main source..Opening statements heard in Caylan Ford defamation trial against CBC, Press Progress, Toronto Star, others.Ford alleges the messages were taken out of context and that a coordinated campaign ended her political career overnight, caused lasting damage to both her personal and professional reputation, turning her into a pariah.The lawsuit initially included 14 defendants, but Ford has so far reached settlements with six of them.Non-profit group Progress Alberta paid Ford $250,000, while the other five defendants settled out of court for undisclosed amounts.The Broadbent Institute has denied that the article published by Press Progress and titled, "UCP candidate complained white supremacist terrorists are treated unfairly, leaked messages show," was defamatory or that Ford's statements in the story had been "edited, altered, taken out of context or changed in any way.".EXCLUSIVE: Press Progress editor admits he didn’t verify full messages in Caylan Ford saga.During the trial in April, LeBrun admitted to the court that he had never asked Jivraj — his key source for the Ford story — for the full text of the messages between Jivraj and Ford in order to put everything into context, instead relying on excerpts of the conversation.Currently, trial testimony in the Ford case has concluded, with oral arguments scheduled to begin on October 7 and expected to last three days before a ruling is expected to be reached.
