Small Dead Animals (SDA) is a Canadian

blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...

, focusing largely on politics (Canadian, U.S., British and international) from a

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

perspective.

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

-based blogger Kate McMillan founded the blog and is the primary contributor. Small Dead Animals was voted Best Canadian Blog in the Weblog Awards for 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007. In 2008, SDA was narrowly voted Best Conservative Blog in North America over

Ace of Spades HQ Ace of Spades HQ, Ace of Spades, or AoS is a conservative and humor-driven U.S.-based political blog covering current events, legal issues, military hardware, and salacious topics in popular culture. The blog was first launched in . It has been q ...

Defamation

In 2008, human rights lawyer

Richard Warman Richard Warman is an Ottawa-based lawyer who is active in human rights law. Warman worked for the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) from July 2002 until March 2004. He is best known as the primary instigator of actions related to Internet ...

sued McMillan,

Ezra Levant Ezra Isaac Levant (born February 20, 1972) is a Canadian conservative media personality, political activist, writer, broadcaster, and former lawyer. Levant is the founder and former publisher of the conservative magazine, The'' Western Standard''. ...

, Kathy Shaidle and the ''

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper available in several cities in central and western Canada. The paper is the flagship publication of Postmedia Network and is published Mondays through Saturdays, with ...

'' over links to comments criticizing him at a Canadian internet forum, freedominion.ca. The ''National Post'' settled with Warman soon after the suit was launched and, in June 2015, Shaidle, Levant and McMillan all settled in exchange for undisclosed amounts and the issuance of public retractions and apologies. McMillan posted the following apology on her blog:

Memorable phrases

The Libranos

McMillan coined the phrase "The Libranos" (a play on "liberal" and "

Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American crime drama television series created by David Chase. The story revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster, portraying his difficulties as he tries to balance ...

") to refer to the

Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada (french: Parti libéral du Canada, region=CA) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' ...

in light of the sponsorship scandal. A year later, a photograph of two Conservative MPs with a poster-sized version of a ''

Western Standard The ''Western Standard'' is a Canadian political and social commentary media website operated by Western Standard New Media Corp. and its president Derek Fildebrandt. The Standard is based in Calgary, Alberta, where its main offices are located. ...

'' cover based on her concept sparked a national controversy when

Joe Volpe Giuseppe "Joe" Volpe (born September 21, 1947) is a Canadian politician. He represented the Ontario riding of Eglinton-Lawrence as a member of the Liberal Party in the House of Commons of Canada from 1988 until 2011, when he lost his seat t ...

likened the MPs to

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...

members.

Coverage in media

Small Dead Animals has received some press coverage from the ''

Toronto Sun The ''Toronto Sun'' is an English-language tabloid format, tabloid newspaper published daily in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The newspaper is one of several ''Sun'' tabloids published by Postmedia Network. The newspaper's offices is located at Pos ...

'', including: * Publishing a letter from a soldier's widow after he died in a training exercise and the media became intrusive during and before the funeral. * Commenting negatively on Alberta Progressive Conservative premier

Ralph Klein Ralph Philip Klein (November 1, 1942 – March 29, 2013) was a Canadian politician and journalist who served as the 12th premier of Alberta and leader of the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta from 1992 until his retirement in 20 ...

's slide to the left. * Criticizing a no-jail sentence for

Paul Coffin Paul R. Coffin (1942 – March 19, 2021) was a Canadian businessman who pleaded guilty to 15 counts of fraud in connection with the sponsorship scandal involving the Liberal Party of Canada in May 2005. As head of Communication Coffin, an adve ...

, who was involved in the sponsorship scandal. * Noting

Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion ( ; born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Noted for her powerful and technically skilled vocals, Dion is the best-selling Canadian recording artist, and the best-selling French-language artist of all time. Her ...

's choice of pronouns when discussing

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...

on Larry King Live. McMillan and some other Canadian bloggers provided commentary on the 2006 Canadian elections to the CBC and

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...

. SDA and McMillan have been mentioned on the floor of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan.

References

{{reflist, 2

External links

Small Dead Animals weblog
Canadian political websites Canadian women bloggers Conservative media in Canada