The ISED Canada Retaliation Files: The Fight for Truth – Part 9: Dismantling Fabricated Narratives

In this penultimate installment, we systematically dismantle the core factual inaccuracies embedded in ISED’s 6.1(1) application. We address the misleading claim that our requests aimed to “map infrastructure,” clarify our research focus on the emotional labour of public service work, and deconstruct the self-contradictory logic that accuses us of both conducting an “audit” and simultaneously ignoring “accountability.”

We walk through how our inquiry into the psychological impact of access requests was a direct response to ISED’s own language — specifically, the Acting Director’s invocation of the term duress on May 13, 2025. That moment triggered a sincere and legitimate follow-up request grounded in academic research on mental health in high-intensity information roles.

We also challenge the weaponization of phrases like “havoc” and “abuse,” showing that these are rhetorical flourishes used to reframe rigorous investigative work as misconduct. In doing so, we invite viewers to reflect on what happens when a department no longer respects the basic obligations of public transparency — and instead reclassifies scrutiny as sabotage.

This isn’t malice. This is method. And the record speaks for itself.