The Senate is killing private members' bills – and that's a good thing

I have a new op-ed in the National Post, wherein I look at the number of private members' bills that are due to die on the Order Paper when the Senate rises any day now, and why it's not such a bad thing, as these bills have proliferated and become a genuine legislative problem in the past few years. Not to mention, it's also validating the role of the Senate when it comes to stopping bad bills before they make it into law, causing more problems down the road.

Who killed Question Period?

I have an op-ed in the National Post, which looks at the way in which Question Period has declined even more of late than it's usual terrible self, and the ways in which the fixed election date has made a bad situation even worse. I'm also very happy that this made it into the print edition of the Post, for my first time.

Beware the unintended consequences of being too family-friendly

I have an op-ed in the Ottawa Citizen which looks to make a contribution to the ongoing debate about how to make parliament a more "family friendly" institution for the MPs that inhabit it. While everyone brings up some standards, like cancelling Fridays or electronic votes, I caution that these changes will have unintended consequences that could damage the institution – and most especially collegiality – based on the history of changes that have been made to date.

2014 Parliamentarian of the Year

I worked on Maclean's Magazine's 2014 Parliamentarian of the Year Awards once again this year, both in the survey process and the final interviews with finalists. While the survey process can be daunting and time-consuming, it's always a good way to get to know MPs who aren't in the spotlight, and one of the best events of the year.

An abiding belief in the system

I have a profile piece in the October issue of Canadian Lawyer magazine, my first piece for said publication, and I profiled Senator Mike Duffy's criminal defence lawyer, Donald Bayne, as part of their monthly "Cross Examined" feature. It was a fun and interesting piece to write, and I had great interviews with Bayne and his associates. The only regret was that I wasn't able to get a quote from former premier Dalton McGuinty, who had articled under Bayne. It almost happened, but the timing didn't end up working out until it was too late.

Mandatory voting won't solve anything

I have an op-ed in today's Ottawa Citizen, which looks at the recent discussion on mandatory voting, and as I like to do so often with these kinds of pieces is, I work to debunk some of the arguments being made in support of such a proposal. In particular, the argument is that mandatory voting doesn't actually solve the problems that it proposes to, and I lay out why. It's a pleasure writing for the Citizen once again, and once again the story made it onto National Newswatch, which is always a treat.

Candiate, educate thyself

I have an op-ed in the July 31st print edition of the Ottawa Citizen, which asks that candidates running for the 2015 federal election start educating themselves as to the way that Parliament works, and what the roles of an MP really are. It was a good way to tie into a number of other pieces I've been writing lately, along with my recent reading of Tragedy in the Commons, and I hope that it provides some inspiration both to candidates, as well as voters looking to ask them questions in debates as the election approaches.

Op-Ed: A smaller Senate would be less effective

I have an op-ed in the Ottawa Citizen today, in which I respond to an editorial on Monday that proposed a form of Senate reform that seemed to have been resurrected from the 1970s. I was able to take apart those arguments and put forward some facts on the way in which the Senate actually works. As well, the piece was picked up on National Newswatch, which is always nice to see.

The 2013 Parliamentarians of the Year

I have three small pieces in the December 2nd issue of Maclean's, profiles related to this year's Parliamentarian of the Year Awards. This was the second year in a row that I was involved with the survey that led up to the awards, which involved a lot of chasing down MPs in the Foyer of the House of Commons, but this year because of prorogation, also involved hectoring by phone and office visits. Unlike last year, I was able to do some of the write-ups of the winners, and was assigned the interviews for Rising Star, Most Knowledgeable, and Best Represents Constituents. Despite the long hours of survey duty in the Foyer, it's a great way to get to know MPs that you don't have a lot of contact with otherwise, and these awards really are one of the highlights of the parliamentary calendar.

Getting In On the Ground Floor + Thoughts From the Hill - July/August Edition

The July/August edition of Outlooks Magazine is now out, which has two piece in from me. The first is an editorial geared toward queer Liberals in terms of encouraging them to get involved in their party's rebuilding process, while the second is the monthly Thoughts panel, this time on the issue of catastrophic drug coverage (which sparked me to write a more substantial piece for Xtra on the topic).

These were also my last political pieces for Outlooks for the foreseeable future. The new direction the magazine is taking under the new owners is more lifestyle oriented, and for the time being, nearly all editorial pieces are out, as are my Thoughts panels. I hope to write some politically-themed features in the coming months, but Canadian politics won't have the same prominent place in the magazine that it has in the past few years.

The editorial is on page 46, and the Thoughts panel on page 47.

It Doesn't Have to be a Binary Choice + Thoughts From the Hill - June Edition

I have two pieces in the June issue of Outlooks, the first of which is my editorial on the narrative of "uniting the left" after the last election. My case is largely to look south of the border to see what a polarised political landscape has done to the country, and how partisan devolved into tribalism, and how that is not an idea that we need to import into the Canadian scene. The other piece is my usual Thoughts From the Hill panel, where Libby Davies steps in to fill the role that Bill Siksay played since the inception of the panel. Davies will appear again in the next issue before the spot is taken over by Randall Garrison, who is the party's new GLBT critic (and also fills in my urban and west coast boxes of regional representation).

The editorial is on page 11, and the panel is on page 22 of the issue.

Democracy Lost Out

I have an editorial in the May issue of Outlooks, which is now available online and in print. This was written immediately after the election, and was a bit of a distillation of the mood of the time. While a couple of weeks have passed, it still holds and talks about a number of things that most columnists aren't talking about right now, which is a conversation I hope to continue in the coming weeks and months.

I had also written a profile of Lee Easton, an openly gay candidate for the leadership of the Alberta Party, which was a bit of a foray back into Alberta provincial politics for me (where the bug first bit me during my years as a page in the Alberta legislature), but unfortunately it was cut for space, and Easton lost the leadership this past weekend, so that piece is iced unfortunately.

The editorial is on page 15 of the print edition.

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.

Siksay Says Goodbye to Parliament + Thoughts From the Campaign Trail + What this Election Means to the Queer Community

I have three pieces in the April issue of Outlooks - an interview with Bill Siksay as he retires from his political career, a panel with the party leaders for a change, and an editorial about what is at stake if the Conservatives form another government. The interview was drawn from the same long interview I did with Siksay for Xtra (I went into said interview intending different different questions for each outlet, but there was a bit of bleed between them). The panel was a bit of fun since I don't normally get to talk to the leaders, and true to form, Harper's team didn't respond. Good thing we planned for that in the layout. As for the editorial, it was pretty difficult to write, and I knew I was going to get a lot of pushback from the community (many members of whom have a great deal of loyalty to the NDP), but there were points that needed to be made.

The interview is on page 14 of the print edition, the panel on page 15, and the editorial on page 22 (and as you can see, both the panel and editorial are available online).

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.

What About a Spring Election + Thoughts From the Hill - March Edition

I have two pieces in the March edition of Outlooks Magazine (and apologies for the delay in posting this). The first is the usual Thoughts From the Hill panel, this time with a timely topic about the response to the uprisings in the Middle East. The second piece was an editorial about the possibility of a spring election, and why Canadians shouldn't moan so much about going to the polls - and lo and behold, days after it hit the stands, we went into an election.

The panel is on page 20, and the editorial is on page 22 of the print edition.

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 rights bill uncertain in Parliamentary landscape + Thoughts From the Hill - February Edition

The February issue of Outlooks is now on newsstands, and I once again have two pieces in it. The first is a look at the issues that Bill C-389 was facing before it went into third reading, and this is one of those instances where writing for a monthly magazine has its downside. C-389 was of course originally supposed to be debated in early March, which the article would have been perfectly timed for, but as things go, it managed to trade spots on the Parliamentary calendar, so that debate and vote happened before the issue went to print, but too late to change it. Alas! The second piece is my usual Thoughts From the Hill panel, this time looking at the upcoming budget (which, it turns out, will be released in late March). This was one of those months where all of my panelists were really concise in their points, so I was trying to actually find a way to pad it out a bit more as opposed to trying to edit down. This is also the first issue where Outlooks is moving to a fully paid magazine rather than one that's largely free with a few newsstand and subscription sales. This is all part of the growth strategy, and I'm looking forward to seeing how this develops.

The C-389 piece is on page 14, and the Thoughts from the Hill panel is on page 17.

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.

How Parliament Failed CAMR + Thoughts From the Hill - December/January Edition

The December/January issue of Outlooks magazine is now out, and I have two pieces in it. The first is an editorial based on my experience following the two bills and various debates on trying to reform the Canada's Access to Medicines Regime (CAMR) legislation, and some of the frustrating aspects of watching the drama play out and everything that could go wrong with it happening, while MPs of all stripes were content to accuse one another of sabotaging things. I can't say that I'm happy with one of the captions, which seemed to belittle a group despite a point I was trying to make, but this is the way it goes sometimes. The second piece was, of course, my monthly panel, and it was an interesting question to ask, and as per usual, I got some pretty interesting responses.

The CAMR editorial is on page 19, while the panel is on page 22.