Françoise Boivin takes Gatineau

I have a piece - well, half of one - in the current print edition of Xtra Ottawa, which melds this election night piece from my colleague Noreen Fagan, and tacks on my earlier piece about Françoise Boivin and her apparent "outing" and accusations of hiring misdeeds onto the end. While this works on a superficial level, I was disappointed that the questions raised about Boivin were pretty much chopped out, which I felt made the piece far more supportive of Boivin than perhaps should have been - though this does not surprise me, considering the endorsement that Xtra Ottawa gave to another local NDP candidate.

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.

Dewar AIDS Bill Passes House + One gay sentence added + Refugee System Failing Gay Ugandans

I have not one, not two, but three stories reprinted in the current print edition of Xtra's Ottawa edition. The first is my piece on Bill C-393 passing the House of Commons, the second on the addition of a single sentence on gay rights to the revised immigration guide (which was a really fast turnaround time between filing it and it appearing in the print edition), and the third piece is on Nicole LaViolette's appearance before the Commons international human rights subcommittee. Nice to see so many pieces in print!

Trans bill heads to Senate + AIDS drug bill clears major hurdle

The February issue of Xtra's Ottawa edition is now out, and I have two reprinted stories in it. The first is the story about Bill C-389 passing third reading in the House of Commons, and the other is the story about Bill C-393 passing its major procedural hurdle of being transferred to Paul Dewar's sponsorship. While the first story is largely reprinted intact, the second has shortened a bit more, but that's certainly not unusual in this day and age of the print edition.

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.

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.

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).

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.

Immigration reform: will the Liberals oppose 'safe country' clause?

I have one reprinted article in the current Ottawa print edition of Xtra. Funnily enough, just as it hit the streets, we got our answer on the issue, which will be posted on Xtra.ca later today.

Vaccine meeting spooks Tory cabinet ministers + Jail costs 'staggering'

I have two pieces reprinted in the current issue of Capital Xtra. The first is a reprint of my story on the third day of hearings for the CHVI study at the Commons health committee, and the second my latest piece on the costs of the Conservative "tough-on-crime" agenda.

Queer refugees left out of reform

I have a reprinted article in the new print issue of Capital Xtra, which is my story on the proposed changes to refugee legislation. It's also a mostly intact version of the story, which is always nice to see.

Gays cut from citizenship guide + Dyke Tory to keep up anthem battle

I have two reprints in the new issue of Capital Xtra - pared down versions of the stories on the citizenship guide and about Senator Nancy Ruth's battle to restore the national anthem. This is also the first issue of Capital Xtra's new look, which I'm quite a fan of so far.

Is this fiscal austerity?

Just a quick note to say that an edited version of my story on the unspoken costs of the Conservatives' tough-on-crime bills is in the current print edition of Capital Xtra under a new title, which has a link to the full piece on the website at the bottom. It's nice to see it get a print appearance a few weeks later.

Border battle 'spiteful, intolerant': MP

Just a quick note to say that my website piece from last week about the MP responses to the CBSA issue has been incorporated into a summary piece in the current issue of Capital Xtra. And hey, it's the quotes I got that made the headline, so that's pretty cool - for what it's worth.

Feds consider striking hate speech clause

I have a piece in the current issue Capital Xtra, which is a full-page article on the Section 13 debate in Canada. It's a complex issue, and I will say right off that I am forever indebted to Professor Richard Moon from the University of Windsor, who took forty minutes out of his day in order to give me the complete background on the issue and walked me through his report on the issue.

Now, that said, there were were a couple of issues with the editing that I wanted to address. First of all, I would never use the phrase "bowels of Parliament," especially in reference to a committee, as I know the meeting rooms are all above ground. But that's just me. But the bigger issue is that a point I was hoping to make was dropped in the final version, which was a point about the tension that exists in the Canadian legislative cycle between Parliament and the courts. Given that Parliament has often handed off certain tough decisions to the courts to make so that they wouldn't have to face the wrath of the voters, I wanted this fact highlighted - especially in the context that there are now two streams at play here - one with the appeal of the Tribunal decision in the Federal Court, the other the justice committee study in Parliament. It's also what Keith Martin was speaking to when he said that he hopes Parliament has the courage to address the topic. I'm sorry this bit was lost in the final piece.

Gaybourhood candidates prepare for election

I was surprised to see that I had a piece on the Ottawa page of Xtra.ca today, considering that it was supposed to be for the upcoming issue. Nevertheless, it's now online, and it involves the preparations made by the various candidates in Ottawa Centre for a possible election. This follows on the work I've been doing in trying to get more involved coverage of the local riding nomination races, to ensure that readers can engage with politics on the ground level like this.

It was good connecting with the various candidates. I've come into contact with Dewar before, and this time I was able to have a face-to-face with Bradley, which was nice considering we've previously only spoken by phone before. This was the first time I've spoken with Hunter as well, but I have little doubt that I'll be seeing more of her in the not-too-distant future.

Finding a way out of the HIV criminalization loop

The second part of my HIV criminalisation story is now in print and online, and again I'm quite pleased with the results. By having the story split into two parts, I was able to go back and grab a couple of more quick quotes and interviews - in this case, the two MPs and ACO. Those additional viewpoints greatly enhanced the piece in my opinion, so I'm especially glad that I had that opportunity to bring them in.

That said, the editing of this piece did change things a bit. The last four paragraphs were all from the editor, which I feel changed the tone a little, but I realise this is part of the activist tone that a PTP paper likes to adopt, despite my best intentions otherwise. Still, it was a really engaging and important piece to write, and I'm glad I got the opportunity to work on it over the summer.

Getting to know the Liberal nomination candidates for Ottawa Centre

Of the new pieces I have online today, the big one is the two interviews that I did with the Liberal candidates for the Ottawa Centre nomination race. I enjoyed speaking to both candidates, and this continues what I think more local political coverage should focus on - the grassroots involvement, right down to who the nominees are and what they stand for. The questions for these interviews were chosen in large part by my editors, and they will again be used when we interview the Conservative nomination candidates in the next few weeks.

That said, one of the candidates, Scott Bradley, said something fairly profound, I thought.

"When people put $10 on the line, they themselves are passionate," Bradley says. "They have an investment in you, the candidate, and you can't let them down, you have to keep working hard. They're looking for that personal connection to politics as well, and when you can provide it to them, they're going to respond favourably and positively, and come out and support you."

This is precisely the kind of thing that I've been talking about - creating a personal connection to politics for people. That's the way that we should be engaging them, and it's something that I plan to continue carrying out.

My only regret with this piece was the way that slow editorial decisions meant that it wasn't up online in time for people to buy memberships before the cut-off date, as that was part of the process I've been trying to advocate for - getting involved in parties at the riding level. Nevertheless, the ball is rolling for future articles of this type.

Weighing in on nominations helps to shape federal party policy

Today I have a piece on the Capital Xtra website, which I'm pretty passionate about. (That it was supposed to have gone up on last Monday is another matter). A few years ago, during the last Ottawa Centre Liberal nomination race, my then-flatmate volunteered on a campaign, and I got to witness what this kind of grassroots democracy in action looks like. It inspired me to think more about this institution we call Parliamentary Democracy, and just what it is that most Canadians don't see - the ground-level participation that gets them involved in politics, and counters the disconnect and apathy that currently plagues politics in this country. When these nominations came around again, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to try and get more people to see these nominations as the way to get involved.

I've interviewed both of the Liberal candidates, and those interviews should go up any time. (They were supposed to have been up before Wednesday to give people the chance to purchase memberships before the Monday cut-off, but these things are apparently out of my hands). As the nomination races continue, I'm looking forward to covering them more.

Canada's record of criminalization creep

I have a piece in the new issue of Capital Xtra which is the first of a two-part series which examines the "criminalisation creep" of HIV in Canada. The Xtra chain has been engaging in an advocacy campaign about HIV criminalisation for a while, but until now, there has been no long-form examination of the history of the creep - which is what part one focuses on - nor has there been a solid examination of the solutions or alternatives, which is what part two will focus on when it comes out in three weeks' time.

That said, this was an article that kicked my ass. It was long and gruelling, and trying to find a criminal law professor who could speak to the issues at this time of year was almost impossible. However, after a long trail of phone calls and emails that went from one professor to the next, I eventually found someone at Osgoode Hall who, while he couldn't help me, forwarded me a law journal article on the very subject I was looking at, as well as the contact information for its author. That is what put this piece over the top from a good piece to a great one (in my humble opinion). It was originally going to be one huge piece, but my editor decided to break it up into two parts, which allows me time to add a few more pieces to the second half that there simply wasn't room for before. I'm incredibly happy with the work in this piece, and I look forward to the release of the second part.