Rachel Browne

And just in a couple of months, she's able to capture the attention of a lot of people who are stuck to their phones at home during the pandemic, on Telegram and other places.

This is Rachel Browne, a Canadian investigative journalist who wrote about Romana and her movement for The Walrus magazine and later made a podcast about it all for CBC.

And it's from there that she sees that she's probably able to get more support, get more financial contributions perhaps by tapping into this movement instead of going through the more traditional legitimate political channels.

Romana Didulo was, she claimed, a divine being sent to Earth who had defeated a Chinese army that had apparently been occupying Canada and proclaimed herself queen, a benevolent dictator who had the full support, she claimed, of both Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.

I like the tranquility out here.

It is not for everybody.

Rachel Browne has made a few visits to town now.

So Richmount, Saskatchewan is about four hours away from the capital of Saskatchewan, one of our prairie provinces.

Now, as the annual appeal gets underway again, Team Hope's encouraging schools, families, and community groups to get involved and help make a difference this Christmas.

And joining me on the line is Rachel Browne, the communications and marketing manager with Team Hope.

Good morning to you, Rachel.

Good morning, Alan.

Brilliant.

Plenty of options and, uh, hopefully lots of shoeboxes, uh, even more than the 4,247 sent last year from Clare, uh, can be achieved.

My thanks to you, Rachel Browne, communications and marketing manager with Team Hope.