The Maple

The Maple
TypeNews website
News editor
Alex Cosh
Opinion editor
Davide Mastracci
Founded2021; 5 years ago (2021)
Websitewww.readthemaple.com

The Maple is an independent, left-wing Canadian online news publication launched in 2021. The Maple was included in a list of independent Canadian news publications by The Griffins' Nest, a high school newspaper in Vancouver, in December 2021.

History

In 2017, The Maple began as nonprofit North99, a social media-led campaign that sought to provide a platform for working class issues in Canada.

North99 transitioned to The Maple in 2021. In March 2023, The Maple merged with progressive publication Passage.

Political alignment

The Maple is a left-wing publication. It has been characterised as anti-Zionist by The Atlantic, and by The Media Line as being "known for left-leaning investigative reporting".

News editor Alex Cosh said The Maple's core audience consists of people who seek "radically critical perspectives, not just on the Conservative and Liberal Parties, but also on the New Democratic Party (NDP) and other institutional organizations that purport to speak to left-wing and progressive values."

The managing editor for The Maple's opinion section is Davide Mastracci, who was previously an associate opinion editor at HuffPost Canada. Mastracci has previously written for Canada's National Observer, Vice News, Al Jazeera America and The Electronic Intifada. Mastracci has written about the Israel lobby in Canada, and has been sceptical of reports about rising antisemitism during the Gaza war. He has advocated for freedom of speech on the Gaza war protests. He is critical of Israel and has characterised its actions as a "planned genocide in Gaza".

Coverage

The Maple has extensively covered right-wing media in Canada, as well as the Gaza war.

In March 2023, The Maple reported that Harjit Sajjan had been briefed to lobby Qatari ministers for a light-armored vehicle deal during the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. The story was subsequently picked up by The Globe and Mail.

In 2026, The Maple published a list of Canadian journalists who had taken sponsored trips to Israel paid for by the pro-Israel nonprofit the Exigent Foundation.

Canadian IDF soldiers

In 2025, The Maple published a list of 85 Canadian citizens who served in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The Maple subsequently published Find IDF Soldiers, a database of Canadians in the IDF, compiled using publicly available information. The website does not accuse the people listed of committing war crimes or breaking Canadian law, and states it does not encourage harassment.

The publication of Find IDF Soldiers was condemned by Paul Hirschson, Israel's consul-general in Montreal. Several members of the list campaigned for the website to be shut down. In June 2025, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) announced an investigation into "matters related to the Israel-Hamas armed conflict", with a possibility of exposing "a perpetrator of core international crimes — such as genocide, war crimes, or crimes against humanity."

In early 2026, The Maple published "GTA [Greater Toronto Area] to IDF", a database of "GTA institutions associated with Canadians who served in Israel's military". The Israel Law Center subsequently advocated for online payment provider Stripe to revoke access to The Maple's website.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Moscrop, David (6 June 2023). "Left-Wing Media Is Expanding Its Reach in Canada". Jacobin. Retrieved 20 May 2026. Recently, two left-wing publications — Passage and the Maple — merged to increase their reach.
  2. 1 2 3 Greenberg, Courtney (26 February 2025). "85 Canadian Jews who served in Israeli military listed on publication's website". National Post.
  3. ↑ Stub, Zev (13 March 2026). "'Every light is flashing': After shootings at synagogues, Canada's Jews fear what's next". The Times of Israel. ISSN 0040-7909. Retrieved 21 October 2026. Last year, Davide Mastracci, managing editor of left-wing news site The Maple...
  4. 1 2 Sources characterizing The Maple as left-wing:
  5. 1 2 3 4 Williamson-Fraser, Sheridan (22 May 2024). "Home Alone - The Review of Journalism". Retrieved 20 May 2026.
  6. ↑ Oct 8, Tara Al-Alami; Read, 2024 10 Min. "Felling the corporate media beast". briarpatchmagazine.com. Retrieved 20 May 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ↑ "The Nest's List of Independent News Media". The Griffins' Nest. Retrieved 20 May 2026.
  8. ↑ Brown, Jesse (24 March 2026). "Canada's Polite Pogrom". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on 31 March 2026. Retrieved 21 October 2026. An anti-Zionist website called The Maple published lists of the names of Canadian Jews who have served in the IDF...
  9. ↑ "'GTA to IDF' Database Draws Fire for Mapping Toronto Jewish Schools, Synagogues, Camps". The Media Line. 11 December 2025. Retrieved 21 October 2026. The new site, "GTA to IDF," is published by The Maple, a Canadian digital news outlet known for left-leaning investigative reporting...
  10. 1 2 3 4 Dayan, Linda (10 March 2025). "'We know what Jew lists mean': Canadian IDF database sparks alarm in Jewish community". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 17 May 2026. Retrieved 20 May 2026.
  11. ↑ "Davide Mastracci | HuffPost". www.huffpost.com. Archived from the original on 23 August 2022. Retrieved 20 May 2026.
  12. ↑ "Davide Mastracci". Canada's National Observer. Retrieved 11 October 2026.
  13. ↑ "Davide Mastracci". VICE. Retrieved 11 October 2026.
  14. ↑ Mastracci, Davide (5 June 2015). "The bds movement is not hate speech | Al Jazeera America". BDS Norway. Retrieved 11 October 2026.
  15. ↑ "Davide Mastracci". The Electronic Intifada. 11 October 2026. Retrieved 11 October 2026.
  16. 1 2 3 Karmel, Ariela (20 July 2025). "'I'm afraid to go home': Canadian IDF soldiers fear fallout from war crimes probe". The Times of Israel. ISSN 0040-7909. Retrieved 21 October 2026.
  17. ↑ "Canada ignores its own warnings on Israel (w/ Alex Cosh of The Maple)". CJPME - English. Retrieved 20 May 2026.
  18. ↑ Mitrovica, Andrew. "The Canadian arms embargo on Israel that was not". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 20 May 2026.
  19. ↑ Cosh, Alex (29 March 2023). "Minister Lobbied Qatar For Light-Armoured Vehicle Deal At World Cup". The Maple. Retrieved 10 October 2026.
  20. ↑ Griffiths, James (31 March 2023). "Global Affairs told Sajjan to press Qatar for arms deal during World Cup". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 10 October 2026.
  21. ↑ "A List Of Journalists Who've Taken Sponsored Israel Trips". The Maple. 26 January 2026. Retrieved 26 August 2026.
  22. ↑ Rothman, Jonathan (10 March 2025). "Canadian veterans of the IDF profiled by an anti-Israel website are considering a class-action lawsuit". The Canadian Jewish News. Retrieved 20 May 2026.
  23. ↑ Star, North (21 January 2026). "Canadians with IDF ties react to their country's 'witch hunt' against former Israeli soldiers". The Canadian Jewish News. Retrieved 20 May 2026.
  24. ↑ Rothman, Jonathan (4 February 2026). "Israeli legal group urges online payment platforms to suspend access to a website that publishes data on Canadians in the IDF". The Canadian Jewish News. Retrieved 20 May 2026.
  25. ↑ Global, ynet; Global, ynet (25 January 2026). "Israeli NGO Shurat HaDin urges Canada to shut down site accused of creating 'target list' of Jewish institutions". Ynetglobal. Retrieved 20 May 2026.