Sharp Wits & Busy Pens takes a ‘sober-minded look’ at history of press gallery on Parliament Hill
OTTAWA—When Bloomberg Hill reporter Josh Wingrove volunteered to co-edit a coffee table book on the 150-year history of the Parliamentary Press Gallery, he had no idea what he’d signed up for. And he knows hard work. Probably best known when he was at The Globe and Mail as the only print reporter who video-recorded, with his cellphone, the […]
Heckling is good, legacy media may be doomed: what we learned from Travers Debates
Heckling is one of the oldest ways to get a cheap thrill and has done for public discourse what pantyhose have for backseat romance. But without a good heckle the Chamber would be pretty dreary. As well, democracy in Canada is still thriving despite struggles of the legacy, or traditional, news media. Those were the winning teams’ arguments […]
Trudeau’s love-in with media can’t last, whoever the media are
TORONTO—A good relationship with the media is an important achievement for a politician. However, this job is becoming more difficult as it becomes harder to identify who the media are. The former Conservative government made a mistake by entering into a collision course with the Ottawa press gallery and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will also make a mistake […]
Why are Canadians in Iraq wearing the Kurdish flag?
OTTAWA—Last Thursday, CTV News broadcast a story from the front lines in Kurdistan. The hook for this feature was Chief of Defence Staff General Jonathan Vance’s surprise visit to liaise with members of Canada’s special operations forces. There are about 200 special-forces members being deployed as trainers to assist in preparing the Kurdish peshmerga militia […]
Politics this morning: Auditor General reports, World Press Freedom Day, and Duffy’s return
It’s Tuesday, May 3. Here’s what’s expected to make news today: Today is the 18th annual World Press Freedom day. The UN General Assembly declared the international day as an opportunity to “celebrate the fundamental principles of press freedom; assess the state of press freedom throughout the world; defend the media from attacks on their […]
Liberals pushed mining accountability internationally in opposition, should lead on it now
The New York Times recently published a story on Canadian mining firms’ abroad and focused on the Guatemalan village of Lote Oche, where Margarita Caal Caal along with 10 other women have launched a negligence suit in Canada against Hudbay Minerals Inc. after she and 10 other women claimed that in 2007 “truckloads of soldiers, police officers […]
Hill skin cancer clinic saved Grit MP Casey’s life, it might save yours
Next week, Liberal MP Bill Casey is hosting the kind of skin cancer clinic that saved his life a decade ago. He recalled how in 2006 he attended a skin cancer clinic organized on the Hill by Dona Cadman, a Conservative MP between 2008 and 2011 and wife of the late Independent MP Chuck Cadman […]
Political journalists Cochrane, Smith, Petrou take on new roles
A trio of political journalists are taking on new challenges in Ottawa, keeping Twitter abuzz with well-wishes. CBC Newfoundland and Labrador reporter David Cochrane announced last week he is making the jump to Ottawa, where he will fill a position left vacant by the departure of James Fitz-Morris, who took a posting as the communications […]
Commons Uncorked: Canadian whisky making global appearances
In his famed Whisky Bible, leading English whisky writer Jim Murray awarded a Canadian malt whisky, Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye, 97.5 marks out of 100, earning it the title of World Whisky of the Year. As a sommelier, I know a lot about wine and I campaign for Canadian wine whenever I can (chardonnay, […]
Be it resolved that the Travers Debates is a must-attend event on the political social calendar
When it comes to witnessing a great debate, there is nowhere in Ottawa quite like the House of Commons—freedom of speech at its very best. However, like with most things, there are exceptions to every rule. For one night each year politicos gather to throw rules of civility and decorum out the window and instead […]
