The Maple
Canadian online news publication
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Maple is an independent, left-wing Canadian online news publication launched in 2021.[1][2] 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.[3]
| |
| Type | News website |
|---|---|
News editor | Alex Cosh |
Opinion editor | Davide Mastracci |
| Founded | 2021 |
| Website | www |
History
Coverage
The Maple has extensively covered right-wing media in Canada, as well as the Gaza war.[5][6]
The managing editor for The Maple's opinion section is Davide Mastracci, previously an associate opinion editor at HuffPost Canada.[7] Mastracci has written about the Israel lobby in Canada, and has been sceptical of reports about rising antisemitism. He has advocated for freedom of speech on the Gaza war protests.[8]
Canadian IDF soldiers
In 2025, The Maple published a list of 85 Canadian citizens who served in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).[9] The Maple subsequently published Find IDF Soldiers, a database of Canadians in the IDF, compiled using publicly available information.[10][11] The website does not accuse the people listed of committing war crimes or breaking Canadian law, and states it does not encourage harassment.[8]
The publication of Find IDF Soldiers was condemned by Paul Hirschson, Israel's consul-general in Montreal.[8] Several members of the list campaigned for the website to be shut down.[12]
In late 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.[13][14]
On April 22, 2026, a group of Canadian pro-Palestinian organizations, including Palestinian and Jewish Unity, Ontario Palestinian Rights Association, Canadian Foreign Policy Institute, and Just Peace Advocates, submitted a complain to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), accusing 11 Jewish schools of "promoting the Israeli military and potentially aiding and abetting illegal military recruiting."[15] The complaint utilized information from The Maple's GTA to IDF database.[15] In a statement, the organizations wrote, "This type of activity is plainly in contravention of the CRA's rules for registered charities that states plainly, "increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of Canada's armed forces is charitable, but supporting the armed forces of another country is not.""[16][17] The statement also cited Canada's Foreign Enlistment Act, writing that "recruiting or inducing any person or body of persons to enlist or accept any commission in a foreign military is illegal".[16]
