Insite can stay open: Supreme Court

I have a new story up on the national page of Xtra.ca, reporting on the Supreme Court of Canada decision this morning to grant an exemption that allows Insite to remain open. This was actually the first time I've done a court decision the day of at the Supreme Court (in fact, after seven years of living in the city, it was the first time I've actually been in the building - shocking, really), which was pretty cool. I've done plenty of stories on the Insite case, and it was nice to be able to cap them off in such a manner, and to get some pretty immediate political reaction from the Hill right after.

Partner of fallen cop honoured at national ceremony

I have a story on the Ottawa page of Xtra.ca today, which talks about the the death of a police officer, and his surviving partner's experiences since the accident. It was a difficult piece to write - an interview with someone whose spouse had died, and trying to be sensitive yet trying to find out more about what else was going on, such as the dispute with the family over the estate. That part of the story almost didn't make it in, as Blais was reluctant to talk about it, but emailed me a couple of days later, intent on sharing the story in order to show how other people in common law relationships are vulnerable in situations like this under the law. Already the feedback has been really positive, which I'm quite grateful for.

Trans bill reintroduced in House of Commons

My second story today on the national page of Xtra.ca is about the reintroduction of the trans bill to the House of Commons. Actually, I'm not really sure I can say it's my story anymore as most of what I wrote was cut, which was a lot of context and explanation of procedure as to why two identical bills were introduced and how the Order of Precedence works, and my editor inserted a quote with an improper attribution, got a couple of other facts wrong, and stripped away the context from one of the quotes so that it doesn't make any sense. But it's still my byline anyway.

Contentious federal bill to tackle drugs, crime

The first story I have up on the national page of Xtra.ca is my look at the introduction of the omnibus crime bill in the House of Commons this week. While this updates the issue that we have been following for a while, it also was the signal that the Liberals are looking at reopening the issue of decriminalising marijuana, but what didn't make the final article was Bob Rae's quote about how prohibition failed with alcohol and we as a society changed tactics there, and how that kind of discussion is needed with marijuana, which would have been a nice bit of context.

Libby Davies mulling NDP leadership bid

I have a new story today on the national page of Xtra.ca, in which I talk to Libby Davies about her mulling the leadership of the NDP, as well as her current role as deputy leader in the transition period with Nycole Turmel as interim leader. A couple of quotes didn't quite make it into the final edit, which were about Davies talking about the sense of responsibility she feels as deputy leader despite it being an "honorific" title, and about the activist role she plays within the party.

Topp first to declare NDP leadership candidacy

My second story of the day was my take on this morning's big story of Brian Topp making his declaration for leadership. This was was more standard, and the Boivin connection was of interest to us, given the questions that surrounded her during the campaign, and this marks the beginning of what promises to be an interesting next few months.

Queering the Liberal Party

My first story of the day was originally a feature story that I had worked on over the course of the summer, but which has been edited down into a much smaller piece. It was a lot of work in terms of talking to some really interesting people within the party about how they feel that the queer community can do its part to help in the Liberal rebuilding, and how the party can reach out to that community as part of that process. Unfortunately, in the editing process, most of that discussion and nuance was cut and it turned into more of a discussion of attracting voters. I'll likely post the original version on my new Tumblr page in a few days, but this was one case where I was really disappointed by the final outcome of the editing process.

Update: Here is the link to the full version on my Tumblr.

A look at potential NDP leadership candidates

I have an analysis piece on the Ottawa page of Xtra.ca which looks at the current slate of candidates who are mulling the NDP leadership. While this has been a fairly common story going around, I'd like to think that I did bring a couple of things to the table that others haven't mentioned, such as Paul Dewar's expending his political capital on local municipal issues, the unresolved questions around Françoise Boivin's departure from the Liberal party, and the fact that people are underestimating the appeal that Megan Leslie has with the younger members of the party, who all adore her (and tell me so on a regular basis).

Gays and lesbians in the House of Commons

I have a guest post on Samara Canada's blog as part of their series on diversity in the House of Commons, where I look at the topic of gay and lesbian MPs in the 41st Parliament. This all began a couple of months ago when a fairly active member of Ottawa's queer community wrote to Samara to ask why they didn't already talk about queer MPs in their diversity series, and when they said they didn't know enough about the topic, he suggested me to them, and I was happy to take it on. It was a nice chance to talk about some of the work I do on a regular basis to a broader audience, and to bring up some issues that are perhaps a bit more under the radar, like the urban/rural divide within the queer community, and how that even plays out in the House of Commons. It was a great experience, and I'm really thankful that Samara asked me to participate.

Lucie Pépin retires from the Senate

I have a new story up on the national page of Xtra.ca, which is an "exit interview" with retiring Liberal Senator Lucie Pépin. When I first heard that Senator Pépin was retiring, I read a brief biography of some of her accomplishments over her career and was fascinated, and felt that she was someone that Xtra readers should know a bit about, considering how much of her activism has touched the queer community one way or another. Fortunately, she was more than willing to talk, despite her office in the middle of being boxed up (we got the photo before they came in later in the day to take back the artwork), and it was a great conversation that I'm glad I was able to have, and share with my readers.