Conservative crime agenda moves forward

I have a new story on the national page of Xtra.ca today, which is actually something I wrote a couple of weeks ago, but wasn't slated to go up until today. It's an issue I've been following for a while, and I was happy to get a chance to talk to Senator Cowan for this piece. And no doubt I'll be following the developments once the House comes back.

Canada steps up for gay people at UN

I have a new piece up on the national page of Xtra.ca today, which is the latest development in the ongoing story of the votes at the UN on the resolution around summary, extrajudicial and arbitrary executions. This was largely a reaction piece from the Canadian perspective, and I was glad to be able to put Senator Nancy Ruth's statement in the Senate into wider circulation, but what didn't make it into the final version were Bob Rae's comments in reaction to the vote, so I'll include those below:

Great news. This is an important step in the growing movement around the world to provide for full equality and real security for the LGBTQ community. It's a campaign that will take time and persistence, but it will prevail.

How Parliament Failed CAMR + Thoughts From the Hill - December/January Edition

The December/January issue of Outlooks magazine is now out, and I have two pieces in it. The first is an editorial based on my experience following the two bills and various debates on trying to reform the Canada's Access to Medicines Regime (CAMR) legislation, and some of the frustrating aspects of watching the drama play out and everything that could go wrong with it happening, while MPs of all stripes were content to accuse one another of sabotaging things. I can't say that I'm happy with one of the captions, which seemed to belittle a group despite a point I was trying to make, but this is the way it goes sometimes. The second piece was, of course, my monthly panel, and it was an interesting question to ask, and as per usual, I got some pretty interesting responses.

The CAMR editorial is on page 19, while the panel is on page 22.

Siksay to retire from federal politics

I have a new story up on the national page of Xtra.ca, which was my sit-down interview with NDP MP Bill Siksay on his decision not to run again in the next election. We had a lengthy conversation, and a couple of things didn't make it into the final piece, which were largely around his peace activism and what this decision means for his personal life, given that he'll actually be home with his partner rather than on the road five or six days a week. And while the formal interview was fifteen minutes, we had a good hour-long conversation in the end. Siksay has been a great MP to cover, and I'll miss him when he does leave after the next election (whenever that may be).

Toronto AIDS drug protest gets attention in Ottawa

I have a new story up on the national page of Xtra.ca today, which is the Ottawa response to a Toronto event that happened earlier in the day. It was a pretty last-minute affair, but it does build on the series of stories I've been doing about the attempts to reform CAMR, and this is one more piece for the bigger picture. It was also nice to get a bit of an Ottawa angle to an otherwise Toronto story (and to see that it wasn't simply tacked onto a Toronto story but treated separately).

C-389 passes but faces further delays

I have a new piece up on the national page of Xtra.ca, which covers the latest development in Bill C-389, which I've been covering for its entire lifespan. While there was a lot of celebration among the interviewees after the vote itself, I made sure to put in in the context of the bigger picture, that this vote was a delay that could end up killing the bill in the event of a spring election. My experience covering the life of the bill also meant that I had the memory of who changed their votes on it, so I think that helped give my story a little more than others will have.

A couple of things didn't make it into the story, which was mostly Marlene Jennings saying that there was only one MP from her party that came to her with concerns about the bill, which she talked out with him. The other was James Moore telling reporters that when he voted for it, it was a "free vote," but not explaining further.

Party politics skews G20 hearings

I have a new piece up on the national page of Xtra.ca, which is our take on the Commons hearings about the G20 in Toronto last summer. It was a bit tricky to write, seeing as the one interviewee is now an employee at Xtra. I was careful to make the point that he wasn't at the time of the G20 in the original version, but that was edited out. In fact, a fair bit got edited out - the quotes by NDP public safety critic Don Davies included, but the main points - including Alexandra Mendes' rather powerful ending quote - were kept in. (And yes, I got another photo in this piece. My new iPhone 4 is turning out to be quite a great work-related investment).

Should Canada have demanded more from UN execution proscription?

I have a new piece up on the national page of Xtra.ca today, which was the final piece I filed from last week. This was a follow-up to my previous story on the UN resolution vote, where it turned out there were some added complications in terms of a final vote, and then some confusion on the part of one of the MPs I was interviewing in order to ensure that he got his position correct. Suffice to say, it all worked out, and here we are.

Will Bill C-389 leave sex behind?

I have a new piece up on the national page of Xtra.ca which looks at a potential unintended consequence of Bill C-389, and a discussion on women's rights versus trans rights. The timing of the issue of including sex in Section 318(4) of the Charter is particularly relevant considering that we're coming up on the anniversary of the December 6th Montreal Massacre (though the line mentioning that was cut from the final version), but that actually hadn't been in mind when I started this story.

The other piece that was chopped from the end was where Senator Nancy Ruth expressed some optimism with the outcome of the bill, which I'll include here:

“Those cabinet minister that I’ve spoken with – the women cabinet minsters at least – are saying ‘what? How can this be? Extraordinary! We have to do something about this!’” she says.

“It may help, if his bill passes, make the government make the decision to put sex in as a category.”

MPs react to stay in prostitution ruling

My second story up on the national page of Xtra.ca today is a reaction piece on the latest development of a story I've been covering for a while, being the Ontario court challenges to the country's prostitution laws. And I would like to give a shout out to Liberal justice critic Marlene Jennings for getting back to me by email before she headed off to Montreal today, seeing as she wouldn't have been able to come out to the Foyer after Question Period. It's greatly appreciated.

Liberals against human smuggling bill

The first of my new pieces on the national page of Xtra.ca today was the story I wrote yesterday about the Liberals coming out to oppose Bill C-49. It was a lot of running around and getting quotes from the "caucus outs" (which I don't normally attend but was suggested that I show up to this one), from the Foyer after Question Period, and calls made to Vancouver. And sadly, the quote from the Rainbow Refugee Committee in Vancouver didn't make it into the final version, but I'll include it here:

Sharalyn Jordan of the Rainbow Refugee Committee is happy that the opposition has committed to killing C-49.

“We’re delighted that MPs from all of the opposition parties have seen the injustice of punishing refugees and come down on the side of upholding Canada’s commitment to refugee protection,” Jordan says.

“It’s important for queer refugees in particular, because it’s often unsafe for queer asylum seekers to seek protection in neighbouring countries, and so they have to come to Canada to seek protection. For that reason, it’s critical that queer Canadians can use their voice to protect the right to asylum and the right to refugee protection here in Canada.”

Is Canada reneging on its international AIDS commitment?

I have a new piece up on the national page of Xtra.ca, which was the first of two pieces that I filed today (the second going online tomorrow). For this one, my process was a little backward from what it usually is, and it was also a done in a rush considering how busy of a day it was all told. Because of the busy day, I ended up in a coffee shop to grab some lunch between press conferences and Question Period, where I tapped out half of the piece on my iPhone in an email to myself, where I could plug in the quotes when I got home and could transcribe them. It all worked, I filed both stories, and I think I presented an interesting narrative in this piece.

UN removes 'sexual orientation' from execution proscription

My second piece up today on Xtra.ca is a reaction piece from Canadian MPs on this particular UN vote. It's pretty straight forward, but I will mention that Bob Rae has been really on the ball on this particular issue for a while now, and we've had a couple of conversations on the topic in the past couple of weeks, and if we have another, I may end up being forced into reading his new book.

Why does mainstream media cover Charles McVety?

The first of my two stories up on Xtra.ca today, I have an analysis piece of some of the coverage in the mainstream media about Bill C-389, or more precisely, why it is that evangelist Charles McVety can get coverage for an issue when the issue itself won't rate a mention. It was a pretty frustrating piece to write, considering that I couldn't get any assignment editors to talk to me (and some of them, as seen in the piece, were actually pretty rude about it), but I managed to come up with an angle that worked, and already I've had plenty of great feedback, so I'm I'm pleased with the way it turned out.

Another Solution For AIDS Drugs? + Thoughts From the Hill - November Edition

The November issue of Outlooks is now out, and I have two pieces therein. The first is a slightly different take on the CAMR issue, looking at some of the alternative plans that two Liberal MPs are proposing instead of Bill C-391, while I still get someone to challenge that point of view. It was also my chance to have a sit-down conversation with Glen Pearson, who is a gem of an MP. The panel, meanwhile, was an issue that I've covered a fair bit for Xtra, but it was nice to get a somewhat different take from a different cast of characters than I would for an Xtra story.

The CAMR piece is on pages 18 and 19, and the panel is on page 22.

Human smuggling bill no help to queer refugees

I have a new piece up today on the national page of Xtra.ca today, which is about the government's bill which purports to deal with human smuggling (but in fact does not). This builds a lot on the reporting I did over the past year on the previous refugee bill (Bill C-11 for those of you keeping score), and I'm a little embarrassed that I wasn't on this story sooner. But I did get some unique perspectives on the issue, and the stakeholders were very happy to talk about it.

Ignatieff distances Liberals from legalizing sex work + Garneau guts AIDS bill + Trans bill passes another hurdle

I have three reprinted stories in the current print edition of Xtra Ottawa - the story about Michael Ignatieff's comments around the Ontario Superior Court decision on sex work, a brief version of the first story about C-393 being gutted in committee, and the majority of my story on Bill C-389 passing the justice committee.

New McCarthyism ahead, warns Independent Jewish Voices

I have a new story up on the national page of Xtra.ca today, which was pretty difficult to write. Aside from there being tonnes of material, between three press events and another interview, plus the video in the piece, it was difficult weeding through to get to the heart of the story - the issue of free speech - without getting bogged down in what sounds like conspiracy theories or the aforementioned charges of anti-Semitism. Not an easy line to tread. In the end, however, the piece got filed, my editor was happy, and it seems to have worked out.

Scott Brison on his time in public works

I have a nice Friday story on the national page of Xtra.ca, where I talk to Scott Brison about his time as Public Works minister. Why? Given the continual stream of revelations about possible malfeasance in the Public Works department under the previous two Conservative ministers, I figured why not talk to someone who had the job and is familiar with the challenges, and see what lessons can be drawn. And because Brison was Canada's first openly gay cabinet minister during his time at Public Works, it made for a great interest piece for Xtra as well. Plus, I took the photo on my new iPhone 4, and it turned out quite well.

Queer Ugandans ask Parliament for refugee assistance

I have a new piece up on the main page of Xtra.ca, which was the second story I wrote yesterday. It was pretty last-minute, where I almost missed that this group was testifying before the Commons International Human Rights subcommittee, but I'm glad I was able to make it and hear what they had to say, because this is something that is certainly not seeing play in the mainstream media.

NDP tabling suicide prevention bill

I have a new story on the national page of Xtra.ca today, which was a bit of a surprise for me. I had intended to simply go to this press conference as a quick hit for the blog, but during the press conference, things came up that meant that this could turn into a full-fledged story.

I also made a point of asking about where this bill is going to lie on the Order of Precedence, which is a bit of a sticking point with me. I see all kinds of Private Members' Bills tabled constantly with great fanfare that are never intended to go anywhere, so I'm making it a bit of a mission to point this out (and I have in some high-profile scrums a couple of times), so that perhaps We The Media will be more aware of this phenomenon. (For what it's worth, anyway).

Trans bill sails through committee

I have a new piece up on the national page of Xtra.ca today, which looks at the swift passage of Bill C-389 in the Commons justice committee. This bill, which I've been following all the way through, has had fairly swift progress to date - in fact, that's practically been the story. This was also one that I was updating on Twitter as developments happened, and they happened so fast that I was having a hard time juggling that, plus grabbing my interviews once the committee broke. But good fun nevertheless.

Garneau guts AIDS bill at Commons committee

I have a new piece up on the national page of Xtra.ca today, which is the next chapter in the saga of the various attempts to reform CAMR legislation that I've been following for a while now. I hadn't been expecting the drama that went down when I went to the committee hearing (it was for a clause-by-clause consideration after all, which can be dull and technical), but good thing I was there. And as with covering committees, they can be the best place to grab interviews because everyone you need to talk to is already in the room.

Update: I have reaction from Marc Garneau added to the piece as of Wednesday morning.

NDP's access to medicines bill faces challenges

I have a new story up on the national page of Xtra.ca today, which follows up the latest developments in the Canada's Access to Medicines Regime (CAMR) debate that I've been following for the past year-and-a-half (at least). With the bill due to finish at the committee on Monday, which will be another busy day of following it, but in the meantime, I have a post on my Hill Queeries blog about the campaign to help save the bill over the weekend here.

Canadian HIV Vaccine Initiative report silent on allegations of political interference

I have a new story up today on the national page of Xtra.ca, which follows up on some stories I wrote back in the spring. I was particularly interested in what the report didn't say, especially after I was alerted to it from a brief news story that similarly didn't mention any of the previous allegations. So I delved into it a little more, which was interesting, and I learned a lot more about the committee system, and there may yet be a follow-up coming soon on some of the aspects.

Ignatieff wants to find "balance" on Canada's sex work laws

I have a new short piece up on the national page of Xtra.ca flowing from the "Open Mike" event in Ottawa last night. My question for him in the scrum was on the suggestion of my editor, but that there would be questions on CAMR during the town hall portion of the evening was a bit of a surprise for me, so I was glad to see that it came up, given that I've been following that story (and will be doing more coverage next week).

I have more on the "Open Mike" event on my Hill Queeries blog here.

Where are all the lesbians in federal politics?

I have a new feature-length piece on the national page of Xtra.ca (and will hopefully soon appear in at least one of the print editions). This was a fascinating article to write, and I spoke to a lot of really interesting people - but it was also extremely painful to write because I had to condense so much material into a short space, and then my editor had to condense it a bit more. Most of the losses between by draft and the final version are some of the additional commentary by Catherine Meade (who is a pretty awesome interview), and some of what Anita Vandenbeld had to say (also someone great to talk to, especially about democratic institutions). Suffice to say, it's a great fascinating topic to explore, and hopefully I can come back to it in a more expanded form at some point in the future.

The Armageddon Factor Author Warns Against Complacency + Thoughts from the Hill - October Edition

I have two new pieces in the current issue of Outlooks magazine (which, you may note, now distributes on the 15th of the month rather than the first). The larger piece is an interview with Marci McDonald, author of The Armageddon Factor, which I was extremely happy to do. I think she was pleased that I actually had read the book, which is not the case for every interviewer, and we had a really great and lengthy conversation - both on the record, and once the recorder shut off. I'm just sorry that I didn't have more room than that sole page.

The Thoughts From the Hill panel was actually destined for the September issue and got bumped, and unfortunately timing considerations meant we couldn't get a response from the Senator for that month, but I can assure you that she's on fire for the November panel.

The interview is on page 27 of the issue, and the panel on page 25.

Hooker Battle Heats Up + Gays to get citizenship guide nod

 I have two reprints in the current print issue of Xtra Ottawa - more or less. Parts of my story on the federal political reaction to the Ontario Superior Court decision on prostitution laws was integrated into a larger piece on the issue, while my story on gay rights and same-sex marriage being restored to the citizenship guide was cut down to a brief.

Conservative MP and critics squabble over prostitution

I have a new piece up on the national page of Xtra.ca today, which follows up on the story I wrote two weeks ago about the debate over sex laws in this country. I was glad that MP Joy Smith's assistant contacted me to arrange an interview to further the conversation, which I was able to take to the various critics to better explore the issues, and to show that the issue isn't as black and white as many would see. I'm also hoping that I was able to show that Smith is genuinely concerned, and she feels this is the way to go, even though her critics don't believe it's a workable solution. Given the recent court decision on the issue, I'm likely to stay on this story for the foreseeable future.

Gay rights to be included in new Canadian citizenship guide

I have a new piece up on the national page of Xtra.ca today, which is a development of a couple of stories I've covered over the past year involving the new Canadian citizenship guide, and how the previous iteration effaced the presence of gays and lesbians in this country. It was a fairly quick piece to write, and many thanks to Justin Trudeau and his staff, who were very responsive to my interview request, and had him call me while he was en route to Montreal for an event in his riding. It's always greatly appreciated.

A Visit to Ottawa

I have a piece in Autumnplay 2010, which is a bit of a travelogue for people visiting Ottawa. This is my first piece for the Pink Play magazines, and it's in good part thanks to a friend of mine, Scott Dagostino, who was the guest editor of this issue. While I was encouraged to be honest in my assessment of Ottawa, it seems my brutal cynicism about some of the scene was a bit much for the publisher, who had me tone down a couple of sections.

You can download the full issue in .pdf format here, and the story is on pages 29-32.

Groups rally on the Hill to encourage passage of AIDS drugs bill

I have a new piece on the national page of Xtra.ca today, which is about a rally on Parliament Hill yesterday calling for the reform of Canada's Access to Medicines Regime. I've been following the CAMR issue for a couple of years now in its various incarnations in the Commons and the Senate, and with it coming up for another round of debate in the Commons, so I'll very likely be writing much more about this in the very near future.

Cause of Iraq War resisters is close to the heart of gay rights crusader

The second of my two pieces today on the national page of Xtra.ca is an update of the Iraq War resisters cause in Canada, on the eve of a vote in the House of Commons on a Private Members' Bill on the issue. The piece went up a few hours before the vote, which failed, so it will likely be edited shortly. However, I did find a different hook for the story than was pretty unique, so the edits won't change the story in any meaningful way.

Also - I took a couple of photos for the piece that weren't complete shite (as is my ususal photographic result), so there's a bit of a bonus.

Canada unresponsive to kidnapping of Russian gay activist

The first of my two new stories on the national page of Xtra.ca today is about the Canadian government's lack of response to the kidnapping and detention of a Russian gay activist by authorities in that country. This was under the radar for pretty much everyone, but considering that the government went to bat for gay rights in Uganda and Malawi, I felt the inaction on Russia was telling and needed to be explored further. And I think I got some interesting responses in the end.

Conservatives 'seriously considering' appeal of Ontario sex work decision

I have a new piece on the national page of Xtra.ca today, which was part of a very busy day. The Ontario Superior Court decision came down just before Question Period, so it was a bit of an interesting logistical issue getting the details emailed to me on my phone by my editor. And then the scrums in the Foyer afterward were a bit of a challenge to catch everyone's reaction (and thanks to the Gallery staff for sending me one of the scrums in an MP3).

I'll also say that the full story was a bit of a surprise in the end, given that this was initially supposed to be part of a larger Xtra article, but in the end, it became its own piece. But having it as a stand-alone piece is always appreciated.

Update: I've updated the piece on Thursday with reaction to the government's decision to appeal the ruling.

Critics slam Conservative MP's pitch to make buying sex illegal in Canada

I have a new story on the national page of Xtra.ca today, which takes a closer look at the proposal by Conservative MP Joy Smith to adopt the "Swedish model" of prostitution laws in Canada as a means of combatting human trafficking. It was an interesting story to write because I learned a lot about the differences in the laws between Canada and Sweden, but I also got to talk with new Liberal justice critic Marlene Jennings. And Jennings promises to return phone calls in a timely manner, unlike her predecessor.

To that end, I also have a "deleted scenes" Q&A post with Jennings on the Hill Queeries blog, which includes a video shot by Jennings' sister, who was visiting Parliament that day, and includes footage of my interview with her.

The early social network

My story on the Lambda Foundation has been reprinted in the current edition of Xtra Ottawa. I'm happy that this is getting some additional exposure, seeing as how the online version didn't get play in really enough time for the event it was coinciding with, and that it did see print eventually as it was destined to originally (only in the previous month's edition).

Is there a religious left in Canadian politics?

I have a feature in the September issue of Outlooks that examines the look at religious left in Canadian politics. This came about after reading Marci McDonald's great book The Armageddon Factor, which examines the role of the religious right in Canadian politics. Knowing that most of our out gay and lesbian Parliamentarians have a strong connection with the United Church of Canada, I spoke to MPs Rob Oliphant, Bill Siksay, and Green Party leader Elizabeth May, and so far the response has been quite positive - especially from my interview subjects.

The article is on pages 24 and 25 of the issue, which is on stands now.

PS - My interview with Marci McDonald about her book will be in October's issue.

Queer literary event marks 25 years of Lambda

I have a new piece on the Ottawa page of Xtra.ca today, which is about the 25th anniversary of the Lambda Foundation, and their event tonight as part of the Capital Pride celebrations. I'm a big fan of doing these kinds of history pieces because there isn't enough queer history being written, and I like to play my part to help bring this kind of news forward to the next generation.

That being said, I'm very disappointed by how this story rolled out. It was supposed to be in the last print issue of Xtra Ottawa, and not only was it not included then, it wasn't posted on the website until today - the day of the event - because the editor decided he wanted more attention paid to a controversy he has been stoking. These kinds of decisions are out of my hands, but it does frustrate me the Lambda Foundation didn't get the exposure they had hoped for in this piece until the last minute.

Why the census matters to queers

I have a new editorial up on the Xtra.ca national page today, which is about the census issue. This is something I've been hoping to write about for a while, but between other commitments, and the fact that they had assigned someone on the west coast to write a census story (which was completely unrelated to what I wanted to write), which also was delayed, meant that I couldn't get it up until now. Suffice to say, here it is, and I even got to use some of the material I learned from my "Politics in plural societies" course I took last term for my Masters.

Lesbian war resister Skyler James optimistic about refugee hearings

I have a new piece up on the Xtra.ca website, which is another piece that was sewn up with another story from another writer. The first half of the story is all Neil McKinnon's, while the second half, under the subtitle "Conservatives issue directive branding deserters as criminals" was entirely mine.

In all honesty, I'm a little disappointed by the way this rolled out because I wrote the story as a stand-alone a week ago, and it didn't make it up onto the site until today. As well, a few bits of context were cut, such as the fact that the directive states not only that desertion is a crime in Canada, but in many other countries as well. I had hoped that this could have gone up a week ago, the day after the directive was announced, so that we could have had a more timely article about it, which would have previewed Neil's piece this week. But, then again, these things aren't in my hands, and as a freelancer, I'm forced to deal with these things as they happen.

NDP MP slams Tories over new organized crime regulations

I have a new piece up on Xtra.ca today. It was a fairly last-minute piece that was done rather quick-and-dirty style, given that I only had two other stories I was working on, but it nevertheless came together really fast and without a lot of pain - which is great when you're having a really busy day.

Update: The piece has been merged with another one written by editor Marcus McCann on the same topic under the title "Conservatives find back door for new anti-sex work provision." It's under the same link, and all of the same information appears to be in there, with most of Marcus' material in the middle of the article. It is a much fuller piece in the end (I did mention that the original version was rather quick-and-dirty), but it was a bit of a surprise.

Critics track Canadian fallout from Vienna AIDS conference

I have a new piece on the national page of Xtra.ca today about the recent announcement regarding the CHVI funds. Seeing as I covered the Commons committee hearings on the CHVI back in April, it was a nice chance to revisit the issue - especially in the way that I was able to tie criticisms back then to what emerged at this announcement. Something else I thought was pretty cool was the way in which Carolyn Bennett was thanking me really profusely for covering the story, seeing as it received virtually no mainstream coverage at all.

Can Canada's queer community sponsor more queer refugees?

I have a new piece up on Xtra.ca today, which takes a look at the capacity of queer groups across the country to assist in private sponsorship. While I filed it a couple of weeks ago, and it didn't get posted until today, the timing was great because of an editorial at the Globe and Mail on the very issue. It says that the community should step up, and my piece now shows that the issue is capacity.

It does seem that I've become somewhat of an unofficial expert in refugee policy in Canada thanks to all of the coverage I've been doing on the various aspects of the issue, and I'm glad that I was able to build on that to do a substantive piece like this one on the issue.

Elaine McCoy is one of four holding back a Conservative majority in the Senate

I have a new piece up on Xtra.ca today, which is actually long overdue, but one thing led to another, and it didn't get posted until now. Alas! This was a piece I was really happy to write, and which I lobbied a bit for, because I've become quite a fan of Senator McCoy, and wanted to find an excuse to interview her. When the opportunity arose, I was quick to take it, and I'm really happy I did.

The final piece unfortunately lost some of the conversation around issues, condensing it to get a few key points, but overall I'm glad to get her some more recognition, and really glad that I got a chance to meet her - and I'm sure we'll be speaking more in the future.

Pentagon consults with Canadian queers on repealing DADT

I have a new piece up on the national page of Xtra.ca today, which is a story that was a long time in the making. Well, actually it came together really quickly - but it took a long time to get my sources arranged. Once they fell into place, it all happened almost at once, and the story came together. While I'm generally not following the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" debate in the States, it was nice to get this particular Canadian angle to it.

Refugee reform bill passes Senate, with concerns

I have a new piece up on the Xtra.ca national page, which basically wraps up my months of coverage on the issue of reforming the refugee determination system in this country. It was really great to have the opportunity to take an issue like this, get to know more about it as I followed it through the entire process. That's not something that happens very often in the mainstream media these days, where everyone is a generalist and covers different issues from day to day.

Parliament launches all-party HIV/AIDS & TB caucus

I have a new piece up on the national page of Xtra.ca today, which is a full write-up of an event that I attended on Monday evening. The event was supposed to just be covered on the blog, but after seeing the event and hearing some of the speakers, we decided that it warranted expanding to a full article, so it was great that we were able to do that.

Also, I managed to take a couple of photos that weren't complete shite, so that's all the better for the piece.

Drug bill revived in Senate

I have a new piece up on Xtra.ca's national page today, which looks at just what has happened to that drug bill that died on the Order Paper during prorogation. Turns out it got reintroduced in the Senate - so I engaged some of the Senators who will be looking at it once again. This was a really great piece to write, where I was able to sink my teeth into it a little bit and do a bit of investigative work. I also really liked getting the chance to have a sit-down conversation with Senator Joyal, and I hope to again sometime soon.