Committee drops probe into assisted-dying-law leak, Conservative MP ‘disappointed’
Liberal MPs on the Procedure and House Affairs Committee voted last week to end its study of a possible breach of privilege as a result of details on the government’s assisted-dying bill being leaked to media prior to its tabling last year. Conservative MP Blake Richards (Banff-Airdrie, Alta.) said in a pre-prepared press release handed out at […]
Pipeline pandering and broken promises
OTTAWA—I don’t know about all y’all, but I’m wondering when the social licence shows up. “Social licence” is a term, never too carefully defined, for broad social acceptance of some big change. It came into vogue in the late years of Stephen Harper’s government to explain why he couldn’t get oil pipelines built even though […]
After 40 years, ‘it’s time’ to step away from full-time journalism: CBC’s Milewski
PARLIAMENT HILL—From ducking rebel gunfire in El Salvador to explaining the functioning of some newfangled thing called a computer mouse, senior CBC national correspondent Terry Milewski has covered a lot during his more than 40 years in journalism. He’s set to officially retire on Sept. 30 and said “it’s time” for him to leave the hard pace of […]
How to work with the Canadian press
So you’re new to Canada and want to get your country’s message out to Canadians. How do you do it? The following is a guide to understanding and working with Canadian journalists, with a focus on those on Parliament Hill. Ownership Canada has a free press, though the owners’ and advertisers’ interests are always in […]
Alexandre Trudeau at Ottawa International Writers Fest, Métropolitain this week
Alexandre Trudeau—brother of the current prime minister and son of a past one—will be at the Métropolitain Brasserie in Ottawa for a lunch presentation on Tuesday, Sept. 13, as a part an event put on by the Ottawa International Writers Festival. Mr. Trudeau has written a book being released that day called Barbarian Lost: Travels in […]
News media’s rush to be first can have real consequences
News is not just about getting the story; it’s also about getting the story first. However, as journalist and author Madeline Drohan writes in the current issue of the Literary Review of Canada, in this digital age, media accuracy and balance are suffering. That can have major ramifications on all of us. “Most traditional media […]
Conservative party should worry it’s attracting more than its share of haters
MONTREAL—While scores of Canadians were spending the summer smugly lamenting the ugly tone of the American presidential campaign, Canada’s Conservative party was allowing calls for the assassination of Justin Trudeau to be posted on its Facebook page. Don’t abandon this column to see for yourself. After The Walrus documented the posts, the party cleaned up […]
Little Liberals everywhere as two MPs have babies
There seems to be somewhat of a Liberal baby boom happening, with at least two Liberal MPs (that we know of) bringing new people into the world in recent days. Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith became a father for the first time last week as his wife Amy Symington gave birth to Mackinlay Erskine Symington-Smith. The […]
Final Hip show attracts high-profile attendees; ex-journo, NDP hopeful heads to Twitter
While his cabinet colleagues were milling around university dorms in Sudbury, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (Papineau, Que.) spent Saturday night hundreds of kilometres away, enjoying likely the last concert of arguably Canada’s greatest rock band. The Tragically Hip closed out its Man Machine Poem tour on Saturday night in front of a raucous hometown crowd in Kingston. The […]
Bill Rodgers remembered: ‘It was 1978 and to six-year-old me, he was a star.’
It was show and tell day. As my friends clutched their favourite Barbie dolls and Tonka trucks, I held a business card in my hand, adorned with the colourful Channel 9 logo. Dad had just been hired as a reporter at CFTO-CTV in Toronto, transitioning from radio to what would become a 21-year career in television […]
