Paul Dewar vows to engage NDP grassroots

I have a new piece on the national page of Xtra.ca today, which was my contribution to the series of interviews with the various NDP leadership candidates. I spoke to Paul Dewar about his bid, which was an MP I'm glad I got to speak to given that I've talked a lot with Dewar over the past few years on a variety of issues, and he's one of the candidates that I do know best in the race. We had a good conversation, and the distilled version is here before you.

The Harper government's 'commitment' to gay rights

I have a new analysis piece on the national page of Xtra.ca today, which responds to the articles and op-eds that have shown up in recent days about the Harper government's commitment to gay rights, and the dichotomy between his promoting rights abroad while tinkering with same-sex divorce at home, and the left-right debate on whether or not there is a homophobic hidden agenda. I tried to play it as down-the-middle as possible, and to be fair to both sides, dismissing the talk of hidden agendas while at the same time taking a harder look at the real record rather than the appearances that have been put forward. It's generated some debate so far, so I'm hoping it will continue to stir some more in the days to come.

Government changes will hurt gay refugees

I have a new story on the main page of Xtra.ca, which looks at proposed regulatory changes to refugee policies that could have an impact on queer refugee claimants. This came up when I was writing about the government's pledge to increase the number of government-sponsored refugees they're accepting next year, so I was eager to take a look. Add to that, it was nice to get a chance to catch up with some of the groups I've dealt with before on this file.

Choosing a Liberal Party president

I have a piece on the national page of Xtra.ca today, in which I ask the five candidates for Liberal Party president how each of them thinks the party should be reaching out to the queer community. Some of the answers were surprising, some of them spawned off another discussion entirely in addition to what was said, and in all, we'll see who it is that wins the leadership at the convention this weekend.

Starting a Liberal gay caucus

I have a story today on the national page of Xtra.ca, in which I talk to the person behind the new Liberal "queer caucus" that is starting up in Toronto. This is one of two pieces that I've done in advance of the party's convention January 13 to 15, and the next piece will build off of this one in a way that wasn't expected when I started these pieces.

MP champions human rights in Colombia

I have a new story up on the national page of Xtra.ca today, which talks about Liberal MP Scott Brison and his involvement in the human rights treaty that became part of Canada's free trade agreement with Colombia, and his continuing engagement with that country. I had originally written this story for Outlooks back in the summer, but with the ownership change and the rebranding of that magazine, it never made it off the editor's desk. When it was released back to me, it made its way over to Xtra.ca, where it was published today.