News From Me: "Substack Defender Program Backs Independent Canadian Journalist Against Defamation Lawsuit"

Independent journalism, free expression, and why today’s announcement matters more than ever.

Tomorrow morning, the following media release is going out announcing that Substack’s Defender program has officially taken on my legal defence in the defamation lawsuit filed against me last year by former Finance Minister Kevin Doherty. Before that announcement will be shared widely, I wanted to share the full release here first with all of you — the people who’ve been reading, supporting, and standing by me through every twist of my journey.

This development has been both a professional turning point and a deeply personal relief. For years, I’ve fought publicly and privately to keep writing independently about Saskatchewan politics — sometimes at enormous cost, making my own mistakes, often with moments of doubt about whether I could or should keep going.

That Substack has stepped forward in this way is more than financial help; it’s a statement that independent journalism here matters, and that what happens in Saskatchewan reverberates far beyond it.

Thank you for reading, subscribing, and reminding me — often silently, just by showing up — that this work has meaning. If you believe, as I do, that Saskatchewan deserves strong, fearless reporting, please consider forwarding this post to friends or colleagues who share those values. And if you haven’t already renewed or joined as a paid subscriber for 2026, doing so now makes an enormous difference.

Below is the full media release.

As always, thank you, thank you, and thank you again for your ongoing support and readership -T

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 8, 2026

Substack Defender Program Backs Independent Canadian Journalist Against Defamation Lawsuit.

[Regina, Saskatchewan] – The Substack Defender program has agreed to back Canadian journalist and Substack publisher, Tammy Robert, in defending against a defamation lawsuit arising from her reporting on the government and powerful interests in her home province of Saskatchewan.

Substack’s Defender program was created to help independent writers on the platform to resist attempts to silence them through defamation and related claims. Substack is extending that support to Robert as she faces escalating legal pressure for her public interest reporting and accountability efforts.

“Substack believes in the power of the free press, and we are committed to defending it,” said Adam Inglis, General Counsel at Substack. “The Substack Defender program provides access to robust legal support for independent journalists and creators, like Tammy, facing challenges to their work. This helps level the playing field for writers who might otherwise be silenced by expensive or intimidating litigation. Since its launch in 2020, Defender has expanded to cover qualified publishers in the US, Canada, and the UK, and has supported dozens of creators facing alleged defamation, trademark infringement, and copyright-infringement claims, among other cases.”

At the same time, Robert and her legal team are sounding the alarm over Saskatchewan’s new defamation law, Bill 31, The Defamation Act, 2025, which creates unprecedented powers to order takedowns and de‑indexing of online content, including orders directed at third‑party platforms, backed by the threat of fines and even jail.

While the law should protect persons against malicious, reckless, and unfounded allegations, Bill 31 omits basic safeguards to protect free speech, such as anti‑SLAPP protections and a serious‑harm threshold. This is despite the Saskatchewan Law Reform Commission, whose work forms the foundation of Bill 31, explicitly recommending those basic safeguards be included in the bill to prevent the potential abuse of defamation law by powerful plaintiffs. Substack has previously cautioned against similar regulations that compel online platforms to block, label, or collect identification before people can view certain content.

“For ten years, I’ve fought for my right to speak the truth about power in Saskatchewan, and I will continue to fight, because this province is too important to allow it to die in the dark,” said Robert. “Bill 31 is not about protecting reputations; it is about giving the wealthy and politically connected an even more powerful weapon to erase uncomfortable facts and intimidate anyone who dares to document them.”

Robert’s legal counsel, Regina lawyer Tavengwa Runyowa, condemned both the legal threats and the broader climate that a Bill 31 without sufficient guardrails is creating.

“Defamation law is designed to protect people against malicious, false, and reckless allegations. However, it is not a weapon for suppressing those who challenge the powerful in good faith, especially when they do so in the public interest” said Runyowa, counsel to Robert. “The imposition of the aggressive new powers in Bill 31 without any corresponding anti‑SLAPP protections is an invitation for the powerful to weaponize the law against independent journalists and the ordinary citizens who dare to challenge them.

“Ms. Robert may have used strident language that caused Mr. Doherty some discomfort. Nevertheless, defamation law is not about stifling content that the subject may find offensive. It is about addressing the dissemination of irresponsible statements for which there is no legal defence. Ms. Robert’s case falls on the exonerative side of this balance. Runyowa Law will defend her vigorously. We will challenge any attempt to use the law as a tool of censorship rather than justice. We must not allow any legitimate objectives that inspired Bill 31 to become the Trojan horses through which nefarious censorship infects legitimate public discourse” he continued. “Fortunately, independent journalists have an ally in the Substack Defender Program. Bullies will think twice when they face a fair fight”.

Substack Defender’s support underscores international concern about the implications of Bill 31 for global platforms and local writers alike, particularly its attempt to compel third‑party intermediaries such as Substack, search engines, and social networks to help erase lawful speech published by Saskatchewan residents.

“Saskatchewan may be small, but it is a canary in the coal mine,” said Robert. “If this kind of unconstitutional stifling of free speech is allowed to stand here, the infection of unbridled censorship will spread. At a minimum, adding anti-SLAPP protections to Bill 31 is the antibiotic prescription we need to prevent this now. Otherwise, this state‑sanctioned suppression of journalism, but particularly investigative and independent journalism, will become a drug-resistant infection we cannot reverse.”

Substack Media Contact: Piper Stretz

Email: press@substackinc.com

Tammy Robert’s Media Contact: Tavengwa Runyowa

Phone: +1 (306) 209 9974 | Email: law@runyowa.com