Humans of the House Nominated for RTDNA Award

August 2, 2024

Humans of the House Podcast

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Humans of the House Nominated for RTDNA Award

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The Samara Centre for Democracy’s podcast Humans of the House is a national finalist in the best podcast category of the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) 2024 Awards.

Congratulations to our fellow nominees, The Banned Teacher (CBC Ottawa), and Love, Janessa (CBC Podcasts & BBC World Service). Winners will be announced in November, 2024.

The RTDNA Canada Awards honour the best journalists, programs, platforms, stations, and news gathering organizations in audio, digital, and video.

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We often hear that democracy is in decline—but there are also spaces of innovation.

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When we vote in a federal election, we select from a list of candidates, in most cases with a political party beside each name. But how exactly do these names get there?

How do the candidates get on the ballot in the first place?

For this report, we analyzed 56,136 Reddit comments made on r/Canada between March 24, 2025 at 00:00 ET and March 27, 2025 at 23:59 ET, made on 278 different r/Canada submissions. This period encompasses the first four days of the 2025 federal election period.

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See a problem in Canada you want to fix? Can an e-petition help?

Research Director Beatrice Wayne shares solutions from SAMbot Alberta to combat online abuse, fake engagement, and inauthentic activity.

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The Samara Centre for Democracy is frequently asked to provide commentary and analysis on a range of topics related to civic engagement and political participation. We regularly appear in print, broadcast and digital news networks across the country.

Samara Centre in the Media

SAMbot has received national media coverage and been presented at meetings across governmental, policy, technology, human rights and academic spaces.

SAMbot In The Media

Humans of the House dominates the podcast charts - this time on Goodpods.

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The Pointer interviewed Research Director Beatrice Wayne on the importance of strengthening communication between candidates and voters.

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In the 2023 Alberta election, we observed a significant amount of what may be inauthentic or fake, artificially generated engagement on Twitter. This included a very small number of users producing a disproportionate amount of abuse and a high number of potential bot accounts.

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Party leaders Rachel Notley and Danielle Smith’s Twitter accounts had the most engagement of all tracked accounts.

Abuse across partisan lines, LGBTQ+ issues, and first-time candidates

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A number of Canadian politicians have resigned from their posts, citing online abuse as a reason. But there is little data to quantify the amount and nature of that abuse.

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The Samara Centre for Democracy's French-language podcast, Les Personnages de la Chambre, has been nominated for Best Podcast in the Consumer category at the 2024 Canadian Online Publishing Awards (COPA).

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On January 6, 2025, Governor General Mary Simon granted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s request to prorogue Parliament until March 24, 2025.

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In a period of democratic backsliding, the work of the Samara Centre for Democracy is more urgent and relevant than ever before.

2024 Highlights

In 2024, the Samara Centre team published timely analyses on technology's impact on democracy, political engagement, and civic participation in Canada, sharing insights across mainstream, policy, and peer-reviewed outlets.

2024 Publications

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Humans of the House in the Media

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CEO Sabreena Delhon receives King Charles III Coronation Medal

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Born in Happy Hill, Grenada, the Honourable Jean Augustine became the first Black Canadian woman to be elected to the House of Commons.

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Samara Centre for Democracy 2023 Highlights

Nous connaissons les politiciens et politiciennes tels qu’ils se présentent à nous dans l’exercice de leurs fonctions. Mais ce n’est que lorsque leur mandat touche à sa fin qu’ils et elles peuvent réellement s’exprimer sur leur expérience. Animé par Chloë Hill, Les Personnages de la Chambre est un nouveau balado qui présente six anciens et anciennes député.e.s de la Chambre des communes du Canada qui décrivent, dans leur propre voix, la réalité de cette profession.

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SAMbot Charlottetown Election

SAMbot tracked online abuse during Yellowknife's municipal election. Read our report to learn more about our findings.

SAMbot Yellowknife Election

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SAMbot Winnipeg Election

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SAMbot Toronto Election

SAMbot Brampton Election

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SAMbot Surrey Election

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Throughout the fall of 2022, the Samara Centre for Democracy deployed SAMbot in eight municipal elections across Canada to measure abusive content received by candidates and political parties on Twitter.

SAMbot Methodology: Municipal Elections

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The Promise and Perils of Digital: A Panel Discussion

We’ve come to the final chapter of an MP’s civic journey. What is it like to leave office?

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Humans of the House Episode 5: I'm Going to Say the F Word

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Humans of the House Episode 3: The Best/Worst Place I Ever Worked

So, you won an election and are officially a Member of Parliament. Now what?

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Would you ever run for political office? For many of us, “politician” is the last job title we’d ever consider.

Humans of the House Episode 1: You Wanna Run?

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Humans of the House: Trailer

We explain how ending free Twitter API access is a huge blow to research efforts.

Bring back the Bots: How Twitter’s latest change threatens our democracy

A selection of highlights and publications from the Samara Centre in 2022.

A Look Back on 2022

Our Executive Director, Sabreena Delhon spoke on a panel discussion about race and policy-making in Canada.

Words Left Unsaid: Racial Inequality and Policy-Making in Canada

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Samara Centre for Democracy Advises on Hybrid Proceedings Before the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs

SAMbot tracked toxic tweets in the 2022 Federal election by monitoring the Twitter accounts of incumbent candidates and party leaders.

SAMbot 2021 Federal Election Report

Pandemic school closures not only damages achievement and well-being for students; it also compromises civic learning and engagement.

New publication — Policy Options article examines how pandemic school closures have compromised the resilience of our democracy

SAMbot tracked toxic tweets in the 2022 Ontario election by monitoring the public Twitter accounts candidates and official parties.

SAMbot 2022 Ontario Election Report

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Learning Loss as Civic Loss: Addressing the Generational Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Youth Democratic Engagement

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