Liberals stumble over Egale survey

I have a new story up on the main page of Xtra.ca, which looks at the various surveys sent out the the parties by interest groups over the course of the election. And while I did try to get comment from the Liberals as to what happened here, they didn't give me a final answer (despite some back-and-forth between Egale and the party). Nevertheless, I do feel some concern that this will be taken as an attack against them, considering the Ottawa paper, at least, has endorsed the local NDP candidate, though keeping the coverage fair and unbiased has been my intention the whole time.

ISP surveillance a priority under Harper majority

I have a new story on the national page of Xtra.ca today, which is another policy-related story in the midst of an election campaign obsessed with polls. (Shocking, I know). There was one aspect of the piece that never made it to fruition, being some of the additional concerns raised by University of Ottawa professor Michael Geist about these provisions, especially as they related to costs to ISPs (which would be passed onto consumers), however Geist was unavailable (at a conference in Vancouver), but I was at my word limit anyway, and the story turned out fairly well in any event.

Was Françoise Boivin outed?

I have an analysis piece on the main page of Xtra.ca, which looks at an incident on the campaign from a week ago. It was a difficult piece to write for many reasons - Boivin's campaign didn't want to talk, it was difficult to get any of the allegations out there, and to parse the messages being delivered. It was also interesting being the only journalist writing about the story from this angle - every other outlet simply said that the allegations were that she hired her partner - usually no gender specified - and Boivin denied it, end of story. What it all will mean in the end we have yet to see, but it was one of those experiences of being on the periphery of a story and finding an angle that other outlets have passed by.

Siksay Says Goodbye to Parliament + Thoughts From the Campaign Trail + What this Election Means to the Queer Community

I have three pieces in the April issue of Outlooks - an interview with Bill Siksay as he retires from his political career, a panel with the party leaders for a change, and an editorial about what is at stake if the Conservatives form another government. The interview was drawn from the same long interview I did with Siksay for Xtra (I went into said interview intending different different questions for each outlet, but there was a bit of bleed between them). The panel was a bit of fun since I don't normally get to talk to the leaders, and true to form, Harper's team didn't respond. Good thing we planned for that in the layout. As for the editorial, it was pretty difficult to write, and I knew I was going to get a lot of pushback from the community (many members of whom have a great deal of loyalty to the NDP), but there were points that needed to be made.

The interview is on page 14 of the print edition, the panel on page 15, and the editorial on page 22 (and as you can see, both the panel and editorial are available online).

Conservative prison plan highlights parties' crime agendas

I have a new feature story up on the national page of Xtra.ca which looks at the prison policies in the various party platforms, most especially the "drug-free prisons" promise of the Conservatives. It was nice to be able to put out a substantive policy piece during an election dominated by polling stories, and I was also happy to work again with Justin Piché, who is a great and knowledgeable source on these issues.

Green Party has most comprehensive plan for gays

My third piece up today on Xtra.ca is my analysis of the Green Party platform, which I wrote up a few days ago but finally made it onto the site today. As with all of my platform analyses now online, it certainly gives me a bit more of a grounding on how the various parties are speaking to the queer community (or not, as the case may be).

Siksay's parting wish: fight the crime agenda

My second piece on Xtra.ca today is the first of my two "exit interviews" with departing NDP MP Bill Siksay (the second, taken from the same interview, will be in the upcoming issue of Outlooks). This interview was focused more on policy issues, and helps to close off some of what we've been discussing for the past few years, and especially trans issues. I had so much material to work with, it was hard to pare down to just 800 words, but I think I got the core of it here.

Liberal Hedy Fry vows to sponsor trans bill in next Parliament

The first of three stories I have on the national page of Xtra.ca is a story about how trans issues are playing out in the campaign. Interestingly, during the editing process the part about Hedy Fry's commitment became the lede rather than the lower grafs, while the grassroots trans groups organising went from the lede to the supporting. It certainly works, but it was interesting to see the choice.

AIDS drugs now an election issue + Feds fund gay refugee resettlement

I have two pieces in the current print edition of Xtra's Ottawa edition, both of them truncated reprints - my piece on groups making an issue of the defeat of the CAMR bill (this was a very truncated version), as well as a shortened version of my story on the government giving resettlement funds to help queer refugees.

What elections mean for Sparks Street pubs - Brixton's Edition

I have the second part of my look at political pubs now online on OpenFile, which looks at the way in which the 2004 election was the event that changed the NDP Wednesday night hangout, and how Brixton's became that hangout. I'm happy that these stories have finally seen the light of day after a number of delays, and how we managed to get the timing to work out better than initially anticipated.

NDP platform gives queer shoutout

The first of two stories I have today, I have an analysis piece of the NDP platform on the national page of Xtra.ca. This was the final platform analysis I conducted (but not the final one to go up - that will likely be tomorrow), but it was also one that I had to approach a bit differently. Because this platform has the queer elements within it, I had to look at different criticisms of the platform, which went to issues of economics and jurisdictional issues, which are very serious in their own right and lay out a balancing act for voters in the queer community to consider.

Conservative platform promises draconian drug laws

I have a new piece up on the national page of Xtra.ca, this time being my analysis of the Conservative Party election platform. While this was the third I wrote, it was the second to go live, but my analyses of both the Green and NDP platforms should be up in the next couple of days. This one was a bit tougher to write something for, considering how most of it was focused on economic concerns, which isn't the demographic I'm writing for. I did manage to find a few critiques in there, and the crime bill issues will become a full story on its own in the coming days.

What elections mean for Sparks Street pubs

I have a new story up for a new venue - OpenFile. This is the first of two stories about pubs as political hangouts, and the road to these stories was a bit harried. When other outlets did their own stories on the same hangouts around the same time as these stories were originally written, my editor at OpenFile and I held back, and rejigged the pieces to fit the election that ended up happening. There was to have been a third piece as well, but we couldn't make it work in the long run, but I'm happy with these two pieces. (And we'll look forward to the second piece by Monday).

Supporters vow to make AIDS drugs an election issue

I have a new story up on the national page of Xtra.ca, which looks at how Canada's Access to Medicines Regime (CAMR) will play out in the election. Seeing as this has been an issue I've been following as long as I've been on the Hill, it was good to see how this continues through the election.

Liberal platform long on family, short on queer issues

I have a new story up on the national page of Xtra.ca, which takes a look at the recently launched Liberal Party election platform from the queer/social justice perspective of issues covered at Xtra. This was my first time in an actual lock-up for a story, which was kind of fun (especially because they remembered to feed us decently), and I got to talk to some of the document's authors as part of the research and answering questions on what was therein. While the platform itself was the focus of the piece, the colour of the launch itself was in the blog post made yesterday around the event.

Prime Minister sings Gaga's Born This Way

I have a brief story up on the national page of Xtra.ca, which was election-related, which allowed me to draw upon some of my history of covering these issues on the Hill. And while I'm certainly not the biggest Lady Gaga fan, this particular incident did raise some eyebrows in the queer communities, so it did make for some relevant coverage.