Conservative MP Michael Cooper addressed the House of Commons on Friday to call out Liberal MP Mark Gerretsen’s recent false and defamatory accusations regarding The Counter Signal’s Kat Kanada.

“The Liberal member for Kingston and the Islands and pathetic twitter troll has admitted guilt in spreading disinformation,” Cooper said.

 “This disinformation was part of a dirty and deliberate attempt to smear the reputation of a fellow Canadian to change the channel of the absolute rotten corruption that defines 9-years of the Liberal government.”

On Thursday, the Liberal’s Deputy House Leader, Gerretsen, issued an apology to The Counter Signal’s Katrina Panova, known online as Kat Kanada, after he falsely stated she was funded by Russia to engage with him.

Gerretsen issued the apology as part of a settlement deal with Kat. He also donated $1,000 to a food bank. 

Cooper continued: “Only when legal action was taken and the member was exposed for spreading this vile disinformation did he fall to his knees and apologize. Everyone knows the apology is fake.” 

Kat Kanada responds

Following Gerretsen’s initial defamatory accusations against Panova, which included a call to haul her before Parliament to address her (falsely) alleged Russia-based funding, countless social media users and at least one media outlet echoed his false claims.

Panova responded to Gerretsen’s apology on Thursday, telling him that she fled the USSR to live in a country where those in power could not wield their office as a weapon against journalists. 

“I think Mark honestly doesn’t understand why that is important, but don’t worry, we explained it to him,” she said.

The story further developed when Pierre Poilievre commented on the Gerretsen matter in an 𝕏 post.