ANALYSIS: Unpacking the latest refugee reform bill

I have a major analysis story on the national page of Xtra.ca, where I take apart the new refugee reform bill, and I also take a closer look at the rhetoric that Jason Kenney uses to justify the bill - and poke a bunch of holes in it. It was a pretty major undertaking, but I got to speak to a lot of experts in the field and got a really good picture of the bill, though I did have some of this from the last time these issues were debated. The story did lose a couple of things in the editing process - notably the comparisons to the Australian system that Kenney likes to cite, and some of the context around the Roma community, which many of the measures in the bill target, but I'm quite happy with the chance to write such a lengthy and in-depth analysis.

Refugee groups respond to Jason Kenney's letter to Xtra

I have a new story up on Xtra.ca today, which is a response to a letter that Jason Kenney wrote to Xtra in response to a previous story of mine. This probably should have gone up a bit sooner than it did, but I was giving Kenney's office every opportunity to respond to my request for information while I dealt with other things - namely a forthcoming analysis piece on the immigration bill that was handed down last week. But eventually patience runs out, and the story went out without the requested information, noting that Kenney's office didn't respond. Such is life.

Access to Medicines bill to return to Commons

My third and final story of the day on the national page of Xtra.ca is a brief piece about the return of legislation to reform CAMR to the House. After having covered its various iterations in the last Parliament (with bills both in the Commons and the Senate), I get to gear up once again for its latest incarnation, with a whole new group of players at the centre of it. This will be one of those pieces where I will definitely be drawing on my vast experience with the file, which I look forward to following.

Hate speech bill heads to Commons committee

My second piece on the national page of Xtra.ca today is a story about Bill C-304 passing Second Reading in the Commons. The issue of free speech and Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act is something I've been following for Xtra for the past few years, as this kind of issue occasionally rears its head, and in this parliament it's moving forward after a lot of discussions that went nowhere. It's interesting to hear the arguments on both sides, and it'll be extremely interesting to cover when it gets to committee.

Pierre Claude Nolin and medical marijuana

The first of three pieces I have on the national page of Xtra.ca today, this was an interesting little profile piece I did without the benefit of an interview. As Senator Nolin has decided he's in enough trouble as it is and wasn't giving interviews, I nevertheless thought it important that we at least highlight the fact that he's resisting his own government's bill, that he's showing the independence for which senators are afforded, and making a substantial contribution to the debate on the bill that comes from his decades of experience in studying these kinds of laws.

Russian opposition leader ducks questions on gay rights

I have a new story up on the Ottawa page of Xtra.ca, which comes from a press conference here on the Hill earlier in the week where Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov was here in town. Unfortunately I wasn't able to follow up on the question I asked with a more straightforward question on the situation in St. Petersburg, but it was still pretty telling the way in which he rambled around the question I asked.

Chow loses motion to change flight rules

I have a new story on the national page of Xtra.ca, which follows the developing story around those air security regulations that affect the trans community. Over two early morning committee meetings, the story came together, and it was great to have a chance to chat with the two trans activists after the meeting today in order to put the issues into some perspective.

Conservative ministers champion crime bill in Senate

I have a second story on the national page of Xtra.ca today, which is a brief recap of the testimony made by ministers Rob Nicholson and Vic Toews at the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee last night. While the other reporters in the room left after the ministers left, I stuck around to watch the senators question the department officials who remained, and thanks to the continued questions from Senator Fraser, learned that the language of the bill casts a much wider net around drug trafficking than the minister seemed to indicate, which was a very interesting tidbit that made it into the story.

Critics assail government over creation of religious office

I have a new story on the national page of Xtra.ca today, which is my look at the new Office of Religious Freedom while talking to experts on international human rights and Canadian foreign policy. It was really fascinating to see how much convergence there was in the criticisms from three different professors in the field, and how their criticisms were about the message the creation of office itself sends, rather than any of the yet-unknown particulars of the office itself at this point (and one could certainly criticise the selection of groups they have been consulting with to date). The original version did have an added section about the death of multilateralism in Canadian foreign policy, but the point was made in some of the comments.