The Macdonald-Laurier Institute (MLI): Relevant Reporting

Advisory, October 9th, 2025

We have noticed an increasing number of quotes in media attributed to the Macdonald-Laurier Institute or MLI. It is important the media understand MLI’s work in the context of what are seeing happen globally, locally in Canada, and to the south in the United States in terms of human rights and public participation in democracy.

Please find below relevant reporting:

“In December 2024, MLI hired Mia Hughes as a senior fellow focused on pediatric gender medicine….  Hughes is also the director of Genspect Canada, a political advocacy group that is opposed to gender-affirming care for trans youth…. [Genspect] has been classified as an LGBTQ2S+ hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center since 2023…. Meanwhile, police-reported hate crimes targeting people for their gender identity continue to rise. According to the most recent data available which was released by Statistics Canada in 2023, these crimes have more than grown by 151 percent since 2020.”

– “This Canadian think tank is claiming ‘victory’ over anti-trans legislation: The Macdonald-Laurier Institute routinely publishes material targeting trans rights – By Denio Lourenco, Xtra Magazine, August 13, 2025: https://xtramagazine.com/power/politics/macdonald-laurier-institute-think-tank-policy-trans-275781

“The Atlas Network partnered with an Ottawa-based thinktank – the Macdonald-Laurier Institute (MLI) – which enlisted pro-industry Indigenous representatives in its campaign to provide “a shield against opponents”. Atlas, which has deep ties to conservative politicians and oil and gas producers, claimed success in reports in 2018 and 2020, arguing its partner was able to discourage the Canadian government from supporting a United Nations declaration that would ensure greater involvement by Indigenous communities….. MLI is one of roughly a dozen Atlas Network partner organizations in Canada.”

– “How a conservative US network undermined Indigenous energy rights in Canada, Geoff Dembicki, The Guardian, 18 Jul 2022: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jul/18/conservative-us-network-undermined-indigenous-energy-rights-in-canada

“What’s happened in Germany — public rhetoric vilifying activists, which the media then picks up and amplifies and, ultimately, the criminalization of those activists — is a pattern we’ve seen play out in multiple countries. New research from Drilled and DeSmog reveals that strategy is spreading easily across borders thanks in no small part to the Atlas Network….

This pattern also took place in Canada as a reaction to the Idle No More protests in 2012… A series of papers put out by Atlas member think tank the MacDonald Laurier Institute in 2013 and 2014 paint First Nations activists as potentially violent, cautioning of the havoc these “warrior societies” could wreak on Canada.”

– “Meet the Shadowy Network Vilifying Climate Protestors: The Atlas Network is behind the effort to brand climate activists as extremists and pass anti-protest legislation.” – DeSmog, Sep 12, 2023: https://www.desmog.com/2023/09/12/atlas-network-vilifying-climate-protestors/

Important statistics on Canadian climate and energy views:

We challenge the notion that public participation in impact assessment is what stalls economic progress and any suggestion that Canadians are opposed to climate action. Far to the contrary, oil and gas projects frequently do not work because they did not have a business case to begin with and were simply oversold. Proposed oil and gas projects do not have an economic future according to the most reliable evidence on coming declines in oil and gas demand. Further:

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For more information contact: Media@sierraclub.ca

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