#211 Inside a Right-Wing Meme Machine

December 10, 2017

SHARE

CANADALAND

This Facebook group gets more engagement than the Toronto Star and the Globe and Mail combined.

Jesse Brown

Host & Publisher

Kevin Sexton

Producer

After working in media, PR and politics, Jeff Ballingall understands the political power of Facebook. His non-profit Facebook page gets more engagement than the Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star combined.

Spanning vicious attacks in rap form to sentimental posts about landmarks, Ontario Proud is in a meme war against Liberal Premier Kathleen Wynne. And they’re really effective.

Ballingall joins us to talk about what he’s doing, why he’s doing it and who’s paying for it.

Read more of our coverage of Ontario Proud here.

More from this series

#1414 Repugnant Markets: Where Blood is Sold and Kidneys Swapped

“Sometimes the transplants weren't done in a sterile environment. They weren't done in a hospital. They were done in an apartment somewhere. There are some very bad black markets.” - Nobel Laureate economist Alvin Roth

August 10, 2026

BONUS: Three Interviews We Never Aired, and Why

How Canadian Missionaries are partly responsible for modern day North Korea and other stories.

August 6, 2026

#1410 A Palestinian Activist on What’s Wrong With the Pro-Palestine Movement

I am now the Zionist sellout, horrendous traitor. People are sending me death threats, people wanting to kill me because I don't conform to some Western-concocted notion of what being pro-Palestine is. - Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib

August 3, 2026

1406

#1406 Fastened to a Dying Animal: How to Survive the Collapse of the U.S. Empire

"It is increasingly clear that a future tied to the U.S. is ultimately a future fastened to a dying animal." - Stephen Marche

July 27, 2026

#1402 The Canadaland Guide to Kevin O’Leary

“ Kevin looked at him and said, ‘Your tears add no value to this deal.’ It was just a great fucking moment.” -Stuart Coxe, Dragons’ Den Producer

July 20, 2026

#1398 Cash for Eggs — Canada’s Fertility Industry Secret

“In the corner in the room there was a screen and there I could see the numbers going up. Then I figured that this is the amount of eggs that they're retrieving and it felt like a scoreboard in the operating room.” - Sana Al-Badri (IVF egg donor)

July 13, 2026

#1394 Canada’s Goal to Save Footballers’ Lives

It was an awful time. And to also be told, “You were unethical by using this facilitation letter." It was, it was like I was in some kind of nightmare. -Investigative Reporter Laura Robinson

July 6, 2026

BONUS: State of the Podcast

The Theresa Kielburger lawsuit, Jesse’s union negotiating tactics, a new JSP.

July 2, 2026

All Podcasts

CANADALAND