Mark Bourrie (born ) is a Canadian lawyer, author, and journalist. He has worked as a contract lecturer at

Concordia University Concordia University () is a Public university, public English-language research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College (Montreal), Loyola College and Sir George Williams Universit ...

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public university, public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to se ...

and the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a Official bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ot ...

. In 2020, his biography of

Pierre-Esprit Radisson Pierre-Esprit Radisson (1636/1640–1710) was a French coureur des bois and explorer in New France. He is often linked to his brother-in-law Médard des Groseilliers. The decision of Radisson and Groseilliers to enter the English service led to ...

, ''Bush Runner: The Adventures of Pierre-Esprit Radisson'', won the

RBC Taylor Prize The RBC Taylor Prize (2000–2020), formerly known as the Charles Taylor Prize, was a Canadian literary award, presented by the Charles Taylor Foundation to the best Canadian work of literary non-fiction. It was named for Charles P. B. Taylo ...

for literary non-fiction.

Education

Bourrie graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in History from the

University of Waterloo The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a Public university, public research university located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is on of land adjacent to uptown Waterloo and Waterloo Park. The university also op ...

. He also holds a diploma in public policy and administration from the

University of Guelph The University of Guelph (abbreviated U of G) is a comprehensive Public university, public research university in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1964 after the amalgamation of Ontario Agricultural College (1874), the MacDonald I ...

, a master's degree in journalism from

, a doctorate in Canadian media history from the

, and a law degree in from the University of Ottawa. He is a member of the Ontario bar. Bourrie's PhD thesis was on Canada's World War II press censorship system and was published by Douglas & McIntyre as "The Fog of War".

Career

He worked for two decades as a

freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

journalist and feature writer, primarily for ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'' from 1981 to 1989 and the ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

'' from 1989 to 1999 and sporadically since then, and maintained a blog. He was Parliamentary correspondent for the ''Law Times'' from 1994 until 2006. He also wrote for the InterPress Service, the United Nations-sponsored news and feature service. By the late 1990s, he had branched out from newspaper freelance work to book and magazine writing. He won a 1999

National Magazine Award The National Magazine Awards, also known as the Ellie Awards, honor print and digital publications that consistently demonstrate superior execution of editorial objectives, innovative techniques, noteworthy enterprise and imaginative design. Or ...

gold award for his ''Ottawa City Magazine'' article, "The System That Killed Santa" and the Ontario Community Newspaper Association's award for 2007 Columnist of the Year for his work in the ''Ottawa City Journal''. From 2006 to 2009, Bourrie was a lecturer at

teaching journalism and media studies. Bourrie became a contract lecturer in Carleton University's history department and the University of Ottawa's Canadian studies department. He was also a member of Canada's

Parliamentary Press Gallery In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. T ...

and an expert and author on propaganda and censorship. In a 2012 article, Bourrie stated that the Chinese government-owned

Xinhua News Agency Xinhua News Agency (English pronunciation: ),J. C. Wells: Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, 3rd ed., for both British and American English or New China News Agency, is the official state news agency of the People's Republic of China. It is a ...

asked him to collect information on the

Dalai Lama The Dalai Lama (, ; ) is the head of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. The term is part of the full title "Holiness Knowing Everything Vajradhara Dalai Lama" (圣识一切瓦齐尔达喇达赖喇嘛) given by Altan Khan, the first Shu ...

by exploiting his journalistic access to the

Parliament of Canada The Parliament of Canada () is the Canadian federalism, federal legislature of Canada. The Monarchy of Canada, Crown, along with two chambers: the Senate of Canada, Senate and the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons, form the Bicameral ...

. Bourrie stated that he was asked to write for Xinhua in 2009 and sought advice from the

Canadian Security Intelligence Service The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS, ; , ''SCRS'') is a Intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service and security agency of the Government of Canada, federal government of Canada. It is responsible for gathering, processing, a ...

(CSIS), but was ignored. Bourrie stated that the request for information about the Dalai Lama caused him to refuse to continue to write articles for Xinhua. In 2021, Bourrie was the lawyer retained by ''Ottawa Life Magazine'' to defend against a defamation lawsuit filed by then

Ottawa Police Service The Ottawa Police Service (OPS; French: ''Service de police d'Ottawa'') is the municipal police service of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, as well as most of the north east Ontario side of the National Capital Region. As of 2022, this police service ...

chief

Peter Sloly Peter John Michael Sloly (born 5 August 1966) is a Canadian former police officer who served as the chief of police for the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) from 2019 to 2022. Before joining the OPS, Sloly was a member of the Toronto Police Service ...

. Sloly alleged that an article published by the magazine falsely and maliciously painted him as mismanaging misogyny problems within the force.

Personal life

Bourrie is originally from the

North Simcoe Simcoe County is a List of census divisions of Ontario#Counties, county and Census divisions of Canada, census division located in the Central Ontario, central region of Ontario, Canada. The county is located north of the Greater Toronto Area, an ...

area of

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. He is married to Marion Van de Wetering, a federal government lawyer. Bourrie is a trilobite collector. Several of his trilobites are displayed at the

Royal Ontario Museum The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is a museum of art, world culture and natural history in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is one of the largest museums in North America and the largest in Canada. It attracts more than one million visitors every year ...

's new Dawn of Life Gallery.

Books

Bourrie has written several non-fiction books. ''

'' described ''Bush Runner: The Adventures of Pierre-Esprit Radisson'', his biography of French fur trader and adventurer Pierre Radisson, as "a significant contribution to the history of 17th-century North America". The book won the

for non-fiction in 2020, the last time the prize was awarded. In a review of his 2024 book ''Crosses in the Sky:

Jean de Brebeuf Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * Jean ...

and the Destruction of Huronia'' published in ''

'', historian Charlotte Gray wrote: "Bourrie has done more than any other Canadian historian writing for a general audience to disinter the root causes of degenerating settler-Indigenous relations and disrupted Indigenous societies in the 400 years since Brébeuf’s death. And he has done it with attention-grabbing panache. Crosses in the Sky is reliable history and would make a stirring movie." In 2025, the publication of Bourrie's ''Ripper: The Making of Pierre Poilievre'', a biography of

Conservative Party of Canada The Conservative Party of Canada (CPC; , ), sometimes referred to as the Tories, is a Government of Canada, federal List of political parties in Canada, political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main Right-wing ...

leader

Pierre Poilievre Pierre Marcel Poilievre (born June 3, 1979) is a Canadian politician who has been the Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, Conservative Party since 2022. He was the Member of Parliament (Canad ...

coincided with the

2025 Canadian federal election The 2025 Canadian federal election was held on April 28, 2025, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons to the 45th Canadian Parliament. Governor General Mary Simon issued the writs of election on March 23, 2025, afte ...

, receiving favourable reviews. The book was rushed into publication, several months ahead of schedule, due to the early election call. The book reached No. 2 on the

and

Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it fall ...

bestseller lists. '' Tyee'' writer Michael Harris wrote: "This book is a phenomenal effort, carefully researched and nicely written. Ripper should be widely read by everyone who cares about the value of casting an informed vote on April 28."

Bibliography

*''Chicago of the North.'' Annan and Sons, 1993. *''Ninety Fathoms Down: Canadian Stories of the Great Lakes.'' Toronto: Dundurn, 1995. *''Canada's Parliament Buildings.'' Toronto: Dundurn, 1996. *''By Reason of Insanity: The David Michael Krueger Story.'' Toronto: Dundurn, 1997. *''Flim Flam: Canada's Greatest Frauds, Scams, and Con Artists.'' Toronto: Dundurn, 1998. *''Parliament.'' Toronto: Key Porter, 1999. (preface to

Malak Karsh Malak Karsh, MPA. (March 1, 1915 – November 8, 2001) was a Canadian photographer known for his photographs of Canada and the Ottawa region. Career Born in Mardin, Ottoman Empire, a few months before the Armenian genocide, he emigrated to Can ...

's photo essay on

Parliament Hill Parliament Hill (), colloquially known as The Hill, is an area of Crown land on the southern bank of the Ottawa River that houses the Parliament of Canada in downtown Ottawa, Ontario. It accommodates a suite of Gothic revival buildings whose ...

) *''Hemp: A Short History of the Most Misunderstood Plant and Its Uses and Abuses.'' Toronto: Key Porter, 2001. *''True Canadian Stories of the Great Lakes.'' Toronto: Key Porter/Prospero, 2005. *''Many a Midnight Ship: True Stories of Great Lakes Shipwrecks.'' Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press/Toronto: Key Porter, 2005. *''The Fog of War: Censorship of Canada's Media in World War II.'' Vancouver, Douglas & McIntyre, 2011. *''Fighting Words: Canada's Best War Reporting.'' Toronto: Dundurn, 2012 *''Kill the Messengers: Stephen Harper's Assault on Your Right to Know.'' Toronto: HarperCollins Canada, 2015 *''ISIS. Jocul Mortii.'' cORINT, 2016 *''Peter Woodcock: Canada's Youngest Serial Killer.'' R.J. Parker, 2016 *''The Killing Game: Martyrdom, Murder and the Lure of ISIS.'' Toronto: HarperCollins Canada 2016 *''Bush Runner: The Adventures of Pierre-Esprit Radisson.'' Windsor: Biblioasis, 2019 *''Big Men Fear Me.'' Biblioasis, 2022 *''Fundamental Law for Journalists.'' Irwin Law, 2023 *''Crosses in the Sky: Jean de Brebeuf and the Destruction of Huronia.'' Biblioasis, 2024 *''Ripper: The Making of Pierre Poilievre.'' Biblioasis, 2025

References

External links

FairPress
Bourrie's media analysis blog {{DEFAULTSORT:Bourrie, Mark Living people Canadian male journalists Canadian male non-fiction writers Canadian maritime historians Canadian male bloggers Writers from Toronto Writers from Ottawa Writers from Simcoe County Journalists from Ottawa Journalists from Toronto University of Waterloo alumni Carleton University alumni University of Guelph alumni University of Ottawa alumni Year of birth missing (living people)