Dean Blundell, on-air talent at CFNY-FM, holds a Canadian media distinction, eh?
PARLIAMENT HILL—In all Canadian media a distinction is held by Dean Blundell, on-air talent at CFNY-FM, Toronto’s “102.1 The Edge.” In 10 years, The Dean Blundell Show has been the subject of nine inquiries by the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council. This does not include repetitive complaints deemed unworthy of investigation since they touch on […]
Media once again blew an election call
OTTAWA—Media once again booted an election call and quickly moved on without explanation or mea culpa. Pundits and pollsters weren’t merely wrong on last week’s Alberta election, they were emphatically wrong. We will presumably keep this up until the public shames us into competence. Alberta politics defy casual interpretation. The province is calcified […]
For Ottawa, NHL hockey is big escape
PARLIAMENT HILL—For a brief moment last week politics was not with us. On every street in Ottawa, in every shop and schoolyard, the people asked, “Did you see Neil?” “Did you see him!” The subject was Chris Neil, Senators winger, a farm boy from Flesherton, Ont., leader of the club in penalty minutes, best […]
Santa Maria! That Ethics Commissioner’s Office works slowly
PARLIAMENT HILL—There is time, and then there is Ottawa time. It can be tabulated by phases of the moon. I know a branch of government, Archives Canada, that takes six weeks to make a photocopy. Delivery in three weeks is called “rush service.” I’m not making this up. Yet even in The Land Where […]
Grit ridings targeted by Tories saw unexplained increases in their number of polling stations
PARLIAMENT HILL—Liberal ridings targeted by Toronto-area Conservatives in the last election saw unexplained increases in their number of polling stations, records show. Five ridings saw dramatic gains in poll sites, including one neighbourhood in Ajax, Ont., where five different ballot stations were placed within metres of each other on the same street. Documents obtained […]
Conservative-friendly balloting helped deliver near half of Alexander’s plurality in last election
PARLIAMENT HILL—Conservative-friendly balloting at a suburban Ajax, Ont., country club gave MP Chris Alexander near half his plurality in toppling a Liberal incumbent last year, documents show. Elections Canada placed 13 polls at the Carruthers Creek Golf Club, advertised as “Durham’s foremost golf and country club.” Alexander won 10 of the 13 polls with […]
Elections Canada allowed ballot boxes in a gated community clubhouse, a suburban supermarket, a lawn bowling club
PARLIAMENT HILL—A Hill Times investigation shows Conservatives harvested thousands of votes after Elections Canada placed ballot boxes in evangelical churches, clubs and other locations that appeared to favour government supporters. Ontarians voted in a gated community clubhouse and a church whose congregation included the local returning officer, records show. Conservatives swept both polling stations […]
Breitkreuz sheds light on life of an MP
PARLIAMENT HILL—Rookie MPs, 111 of them, are into their second year on Parliament Hill. Their brows are a little more furrowed, their shoulders a little more stooped. Year Two is when the exhaustion sets in. MPs tackle issues of national gravity in convivial surroundings with engaging colleagues. Yet the job, for all its privileges […]
Press freedom inspires little passion, but much nitpicking and silliness
PARLIAMENT HILL—Freedom of information, like clean tap water, is taken for granted without a care in the world by those who consume it. “What would it take to get Canadians to give a damn about free expression,” as Ivor Shapiro, chair of Ryerson University’s school of journalism, put it in a recent J-Source commentary. […]
Early evidence suggests Scheer’s not up to the job
PARLIAMENT HILL—Above the tumult of the House a cold eye of scrutiny falls on Andrew Scheer, Boy Speaker of the 41st Parliament. Scheer is 32 and no wiser than his years. Serious people question whether he has the weight for the job. Scheer affects a profile in courage—“If you want a spineless MP…vote Liberal,” […]
