About
This site is run by me, Emily Grant. I live in Ottawa, Ontario, and I have spent the past nine years working as a research editor and fact-checker for a Canadian news cooperative. In that role, I learned to turn dense municipal data into plain-language summaries for public boards and newsletters. I also hold a degree in political science from Carleton University. That background shapes every page on CivicMaple: I try to answer a question the way a good editor would, with a clear lead, a few useful details, and no padding.
CivicMaple started because I kept seeing search results bury simple answers under walls of content. Someone looking for a quick fact about a film, a place, or a person would have to wade through dozens of paragraphs before getting what they needed. I thought there had to be a better way. So I began writing short, practical walkthroughs that explain what a topic is and why it matters today. The site now holds 938 entries across seven sections, from People to History to Nature. Each entry is edited like a local newspaper piece: checked, trimmed, and published only when it is ready.
The site runs without ads and without tracking. That is a deliberate choice. I do not want to sell your attention, and I do not want to build a profile of you. The internet has enough of that. I would rather keep the reading experience clean and quiet. That means the site costs me money to operate, and it is not funded by anything. There is no grant, no sponsor, and no membership fee. I pay for the domain, the hosting, and the tools out of my own pocket. It is a small cost, and I accept it because I believe a quick answer is a kindness.
I also rely on reader questions. If you cannot find what you are looking for, you can write to me at emily@civicmaple.com. I read every message, and many pages on the site began as a question from someone who was tired of scrolling. That feedback loop keeps the site honest and useful. It is also why the scope stays tight: I cover what people actually ask about, whether that is a classic film like Jurassic Park, a cultural figure like Jane Birkin, or a lesser-known topic such as Jay Jay The Jet Plane. If a subject does not come up, I do not force it.
I also keep a set of trust pages that explain how I work. You can read about my method, my sources, and my corrections policy. I make mistakes, and when I do, I fix them publicly. That is part of the job. I have been fact-checking for a long time, and I know that trust is built one correction at a time.
If you want to know more about the site’s scope, the scope page lists what I cover and what I deliberately avoid. I do not write about politics, celebrity gossip, or how-to tutorials. There are plenty of other places for that. Here, you will find short, practical answers to questions about people, places, history, and culture. That is the whole point.
Thank you for reading. If you have a question, send it my way. I will do my best to answer it, one page at a time.