Politics on TV

My headshot appears in this week's Maclean's iPad edition, advertising my Politics on TV blog on Macleans.ca. Not bad!

Capital Diary mention

My name cropped up in the Capital Diary column in this week's issue of Maclean's. In a paragraph about NDP MP Megan Leslie wearing a yellow sou'wester rain hat for a day on the Hill as part of a Stephen Lewis Foundation dare, the following was written:

It undoubtedly impressed Capital Xtra! columnist Dale Smith. He attacks Leslie regularly for her wardrobe choices on the gay paper's website. He calls it the Megan Leslie outfit watch.

And thus begins my infamy...

To be fair, I'm not attacking her for her wardrobe choices - I'm critiquing the choices themselves. As well, I learned at the feet of Trinny & Susannah and their "cruel to be kind" approach to teaching style, so that's where I'm coming from.

A "unique prism"

In the foyer of the House of Commons today, after a blitz of scrums and interview for the piece I was working on (which should be on Xtra.ca tomorrow - check back for me to post it here), one of the CBC reporters started chatting with me, asking which story I was on. When I told him, he said that my beat (being largely the GLBT angle) is a "unique prism" on these issues, and it's important that I'm covering them. That was pretty awesome to hear. Plus, having another journalist email me later and giving me props on the questions I asked for one of the scrums was also pretty cool.

The Maclean's Parliamentarian of the Year Awards

Last night, I attended the Maclean's Parliamentarian of the Year awards, and over the course of the evening, spent time talking to Liberal MP Rob Oliphant, who I frequently interview for my various projects. We were photographed by Maclean's Mitchel Raphael, as part of their coverage of the event.

MediaStyle Interview

On my way out of the Centre Block yesterday, my friend Ian Capstick from MediaStyle pulled me aside to interview me about blogging from the Hill. Here's the video. Check out the link to also see his interview with Macleans.ca's Kady O'Malley.

Accreditation

We interrupt this blog for a bit of news on the personal front. Really, just a quick note to say that as of today, I now have my actual Parliamentary Press Gallery accreditation as a freelancer. No more assignment letters and day passes for this reporter! For those of you following my Hill Queeries blog, this means that I'll be up on the Hill for Question Period pretty much daily now (well, maybe not Fridays). It also means better access to MPs for stories that I'm working on, and hopefully access to more stories to be working on.