La Press Canadienne reporter Lina Dib says PM Stephen Harper hasn’t come in the front door to QP for months.
The Hill Times, January 28th, 2008
By Meghan Moloney
If you ask around, La Presse Canadienne Hill reporter Lina Dib says people will likely describe her as a "persistent and annoying reporter." But that doesn’t bother her. What does bother her is the lack of access to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Cabinet ministers. She’s got a lot to say about that. Ms. Dib came to Ottawa in 1997 after eight years with Radio-Canada, during which she worked in Winnipeg, Montreal, and finally as the national correspondent in Toronto. She spent nine years as a Parliament Hill correspondent for TVA. In May 2006, she left TVA to work at Nouvelle Télé-Radio, which has since been "re-branded" as La Presse Canadienne, the French arm of Canadian Press. She met The Hill Times for an interview at her office last week.
Why did you switch from TVA to NTR?
"Because of my family life. Because I have a kid who was going to start school, and so that meant homework and I wanted to be home at a reasonable hour, which you don’t do when you work in TV. You’re often stuck in the evening. And I didn’t want to do any more election campaigns because I didn’t want to be leaving anymore, I didn’t want to be doing any more trips. So I negotiated a different kind of work schedule. I get my summers off, all of that too to enjoy my six-year-old."
How did being a parent change you as a reporter?
"I don’t know as a reporter, but as a person who’s working, you don’t care about work as much, definitely, and you’re more involved in your private life, and you have different sets of values. You don’t think that work is just the ultimate goal–happiness being the ultimate goal. Happiness is easier to find with people who love you, be that they’re small or big, and not from your job."
Do you mostly write copy stories or are you ever on the radio?
"Yeah, I’m on the radio. Actually I work for the radio French service, the Canadian Press, so yes, I write copy–mostly short copy, and I do news reports. We used to be called NTR, then we were rebranded as La Presse Canadienne, radio or print service. I’m not even sure they say print anymore, because it’s mostly an internet service."
How did you find the transition?
"I used to work in radio before. I came to TV from radio, but that was–when I was working in radio, we were still slicing tape. I worked for Radio-Canada for eight years. I worked in Winnipeg, Montreal, and Toronto. So the main difference is the technology of it now. But other than that, I’m still doing the exact same job–I’m still asking the same questions to the same people. It’s lighter because you don’t have to wear the makeup anymore. You don’t have to care about your hair anymore. But other than that, it’s pretty much the same job."
What’s your biggest scoop so far covering federal politics?
"I’m not much of a scoop person, more of a stunt person. Things kind of happen–I remember one Liberal convention here in Ottawa where I ended up being, totally by coincidence, in a room where I could hear a speech that Jean Chrétien was giving, you know, not for reporters’ ears. So that made a bit of noise."
Did you end up publishing it?
"Yeah. It was all about the Clarity [Act in 2000], and how he was happy that he had done it and people had said it was going to create a backlash and that didn’t happen, so you know, he was kind of bragging about it. There were some famous quotes saying that the sovereignty movement was like a sick dog. He was very colourful. Other little things like that, for some reason things kind of happen. But I don’t have any stars in my desk about incredible documents people slipped me in brown envelopes, like in the books."
Are you particularly proud of something you’ve reported on?
"I’m particularly proud of the coverage, and have happy memories of the coverage I did on the Middle East trip of Jean Chrétien’s in 2000, mostly because I speak Arabic. I’m Lebanese, so the whole thing, the whole area really interested me. That was quite a trip, because things just kept happening there again. And because of that edge I had, because I could speak to people other reporters couldn’t, because I could actually catch stuff happening that other people wouldn’t get access to. So I was very proud of that, plus I was enjoying myself. On the stop in Lebanon I got to see my family. That was like the ultimate coverage. It was kind of a nightmarish trip for the PMO. It did not go well. He stumbled a lot, it was kind of like one mistake a day. It made a lot of noise in the media here at the end of it. People were complaining about–a Senator wrote a mean letter about me being not a nice reporter."
What’s the biggest issue today in federal politics in Quebec? In Canadian politics?
"Well, the two very timely issues, the thing that everybody’s been talking about is mostly the manufacturing and forestry crisis. It got all of Quebec in a very bad mood last week or two weeks ago. And I think Afghanistan is definitely something on people’s minds, although maybe not so much in the day-to-day obsession of people in Québec. In the past year if you look more closely at Quebec politics, people haven’t been as impassioned with lots of things, because they’re comfortable, their economy is going well–they have their little fights, they had that whole accommodement raisonnable thing that got them totally–their focus was nowhere near Ottawa. At some point, the veiled vote thing got them a bit excited because of that other accommodement raisonnable noise. But maybe now with the economy crisis for these two sectors, if it gets bigger, affects more people. And Canada as a whole, everybody’s talking economy right now. Maybe I’m optimistic, but I have trouble believing that we’re really heading into troubled times. But I’m no expert."
What are some other major news stories you’ve broken?
"The thing is, you keep forgetting them, because when you’re in them they seem to be so huge and then two weeks later, nobody remembers, especially now that the news cycle is just so fast. I don’t know, anything that had to do with Quebec was always big, especially because of the employer I had. So there was the Clarity Bill, when it went to the Supreme Court. Just covering the politics–the whole Martin-Chrétien quarrel, that brought a lot of excitement. Elections of minority governments–all that stuff."
What do you like the most about your job?
"Actually, I like the laughter. I usually enjoy my day. I have a lot of fun with the people I work with. It’s just the general ambiance that I like. I like hanging out with–not with everybody, but with most of the crowd of the press gallery."
What do you find the hardest?
"Getting out of here in time, running out the door at a quarter to 5, because I absolutely, absolutely want to be home before 5:30 p.m. Budgets–I hate budgets. Although I was really good in math at school, when there’s a dollar sign next to the mathematics, for some reason I become dumb. I hate covering budgets. That’s probably my ultimate nightmare. And it comes back once a year!"
How do you find dealing with the Conservative government, the Prime Minister’s Office, and the Prime Minister?
"I don’t find it, because I don’t have any dealings with them. They don’t return calls. They hardly return emails. It’s just annoying and frustrating. I just do the job with the information I gather, and if they’re not in the story, well, I can’t do anything about it. Their point of view can’t get in the story if they’re not there. And they haven’t been there."
Are you able to get interviews with Cabinet ministers? Are they accessible?
"If I hang around at caucus, sometimes I catch some of them off guard. I caught Stockwell Day once in an elevator, where it was the first time he acknowledged that there was torture in Afghanistan, and that was just me and him in the elevator. Probably that’s the stuff I’m most proud of. I’m kind of a persistent, annoying reporter. If you ask around, that’s what they’ll say about me. So there’s just nothing else you can do. They’ve been taking back corridors, back doors. Stephen Harper hasn’t even come in the front door to QP for months now. So, I mean, if they’re hiding, what can you do? I try not to get emotional about it, because it’s just a job. But I don’t think it’s the most democratic way of doing things. It doesn’t change much to my life, except that it makes my job a little more frustrating."
When you were dealing with past governments, did you have these kinds of problems or did you find it more accessible?
"No, they were accessible. They weren’t nicer–it’s not about being nice and being chummy with them. It’s about being there, because when you’re elected and the people of Canada pay your salary, you have to answer questions, you have to say what you’re doing. And the only way you can tell people what you’re doing is–sure, you can put up stuff on the internet, on your website, but the only way you can be questioned back in a more critical way is to answer reporters’ questions. And they’re not answering reporters’ questions. I mean, I don’t think my relationship with the Chrétien PMO was ever good. But it’s not about entertaining a good relationship. I’ve had not a good rapport with the Bloc Québécois at some points also because they didn’t like the coverage I was giving them.
"It’s just about being there. So now we’ve been barred from Cabinet for two years. The whole gallery. The way things worked in the old days is that Tuesdays were Cabinet days, so they were on the third floor and reporters would just stand there and try to catch ministers on their way in or on their way out and ministers could stop or not stop and answer questions. And it was the same for the Prime Minister–he would come out or not come out. It was the same at Question Period. Now at Question Period, you’re just asking questions of the opposition, because the ministers never come out, or almost never come out. The opposition [MPs] get all the ice, so I’m sure they’re glad about that. Sure, there are clips that you could pull out of Question Period of the Prime Minister, or of the few ministers who speak French, but you don’t always want to put out the line. As a reporter, your job is to ask the tough questions and to get answers to those. So we get to grill the opposition, once they’ve done their show at QP, but we don’t get the ministers or the Prime Minister."
What do you think of the whole issue of the list and the Prime Minister’s Office having control over the list of questions and reporters?
"The Canadian Press does not go on that list. I wouldn’t go on a list, even if the Canadian Press decided that from now on they’re going on a list. I’m not sure that I would have questions for a list. No, I find that totally wrong. There were several ways that the gallery explored how to deal with it, the biggest problem being that the gallery cannot unite."
What’s the biggest challenge of reporting on the current government?
"Accessibility. Sometimes the silliest stuff that you need, the less controversial things–you used to pick up the phone, call [a] department, and say, ‘I want to know, you just put out some release, and I want to have more information.’ Now you get a phone call back saying, ‘I got your call–what is your deadline?’ It’s now. And then you get the call back–‘Now I know your deadline, what are your questions?’ Well, no. Give me someone to talk to. And then they’ll call back again–‘Can you email me your questions?’ So now, we’ve kind of lost the reflex of picking up the phone and calling to ask the government, what exactly do you mean by this or by that? Because they don’t answer. And that’s definitely challenging. So some stuff just doesn’t get reported, because you can’t get satisfying answers."
What do you think the impact will be of these trends on governments to come?
"When this whole affair started, I can’t remember who but some reporters went around all the opposition leaders and asked, ‘If you get power, will we have access back to Cabinet?’ And they all promised that they would. Now, that was when the whole fight or quarrel began, so will anybody remember what they had promised–I don’t know. I think it’s definitely a slippery slope, and not just with this government but for journalism as a whole. And I think the most annoying thing is not that they’re doing this, but how easily some of us have accepted this new order of things. Some people find in this order of things... they find something good out of this situation because it serves them. Obviously the PMO has chosen some news outlets to feed information to. Governments in the past have always had their corridors of information–you knew some reporters were being fed more easily by the PMO or by opposition parties or whatever. That’s always been the case."
Do you think the CBC was too severe in its punishment on one of its national reporters, Krista Erickson, who fed questions to a Liberal MP? Or is there a fine line between pushing a story with MPs and going too far? What are your thoughts?
"In the past 11 years, I have never given advice to a politician. You know, sometimes you hear their questions in the House or some story gets out and you think, ‘Why don’t you ask them this?’ And I think it’s totally inappropriate for reporters to go and whisper questions in anybody’s ears, or answers in anybody’s ears, because there’s this divide. I really look at the Hill as an us-and-them thing, and I can’t cross that line. I can’t be one of them. I don’t ever want to be one of them. I’m weird that way, I’m not comfortable in social gatherings with politicians–I don’t go to those, whoever sends out the invitation, I don’t go to those. I’ve been once, because I was president of the gallery, to Stornoway. I thought, okay, I had to show up. I just hate the whole thing.
"I find it hypocritical. I don’t want to be friends with them, I don’t want to have drinks with politicians. I’m just not interested. For me, it’s about a job and I know that a lot of reporters establish other kinds of relationships and get stories–I’m just not comfortable with that. It’s just the way I am. I don’t think [the CBC] was too severe."
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
NDP MP says Tories using private members’ bills to advance government’s crime agenda
But Tory MP Goodyear disagrees, says Canadians are concerned about crime.
The Hill Times, January 28th, 2008
by Meghan Moloney
Backbench Conservative MPs are using private members’ bills as a tool to further the government’s agenda, especially in this Parliament, says an NDP MP.
"In terms of the present government, there are hundreds of examples of private members’ bills being used for a certain agenda. How many crime bills are on the table right now?" said NDP MP Judy Wasylycia-Leis (Winnipeg North, Man.), who spoke at the Canadian Study of Parliament Group’s seminar on private members’ business on Jan. 23.
Ms. Wasylycia-Leis said although the government has no "master plan" to push crime bills, the use of exchanges when it comes to private members’ bills occurs often to fast-track certain issues. "I think what happens is like-minded individuals advancing an agenda through private member’s business to accomplish an overall agenda, to make a priority around an issue that is consistent with their own political agenda," she told The Hill Times.
However, she said the bills have an impact when they come together. "I would say that the end result, however it gets there, is an attempt to advance this issue on the political agenda and sort of to create the impression, which may not be founded on fact or in reality, that there’s this exponential growth in crime and in violence in our society that has never happened before, when in fact, everybody doesn’t live in fear and everybody may have concerns but may not want to go to the nth degree that the Conservatives are promoting, which is more criminal offences, more jails, more intervention, and protection measures and less and less on prevention and community enforcement."
Terence Moore, procedural clerk of the Private Members’ Business Office in the House of Commons, discussed the procedure of introducing private members’ business. He explained that MPs’ names are randomly drawn at the beginning of each Parliament to determine the order in which members can take up items for debate. If members are unavailable on their scheduled date in the order of precedence, they can request an exchange with another member. But, he said, if members don’t show up on their exchange date, their names get marked with a dagger and they are no longer allowed to request exchanges, though they may still participate in exchanges with other members. Mr. Moore said there have been 13 exchanges so far in the 39th Parliament, which he described as a lot. "Exchanges can be used to fast-track certain pieces of legislation," he said.
Conservative MP Gary Goodyear (Cambridge, Ont.) disagreed with Ms. Wasylycia-Leis, however, saying Canadians are concerned about crime and with good reason. "There’s a good focus on crime and justice issues because that’s the mandate of the government, the mandate given to us by the people of Canada," said Mr. Goodyear, chair of the Procedure and House Affairs Committee. "Ultimately, with all the efforts that we do to give people options to make different choices, at some point in time, once people make the wrong choice and in particular recent violent offenders, it is time to be tough on that stuff and put victims of crime ahead of criminals. And that’s simple."
Mr. Goodyear said that although crime in general in his region of Waterloo is down by "a few percentage points," violent crime in particular is up by about 20 per cent. He added that crack-cocaine, in particular, is an "epidemic in this country" and that the charge made by Liberal MPs that the Conservatives are making a big deal out of crime is "ridiculous."
"We’re not about to continue the coddle-the-criminal trend that we’ve seen in the last decade. We are going to move towards a balance of locating and identifying folks that are coming up to making choices in their life, that are perhaps susceptible at that time level, and try to deal with the causes of crime and preventing crime," Mr. Goodyear said.
The seminar featured speakers Mark Audcent, law clerk and Parliamentary counsel for the Senate; Bill Fleury, director of the Office of Parliamentary Returns at PCO; Ontario Liberal Senator Mac Harb; Ms. Wasylycia-Leis; Mr. Moore; and former Liberal MP Peter Adams.
Mr. Moore said the public is given 48 hours notice when an exchange has been scheduled, adding that an MP would have until 6 p.m. on a Tuesday to request an exchange for the following Thursday. He said so far in the current Parliament, 295 private members’ public bills have been introduced in the House; 11 are on third readings; there has been one private bill introduced; there are 428 motions on the Order Paper, 11 of which have been dealt with; and there are 77 items on the order of precedence.
Mr. Audcent discussed the tools and methods Senators use to introduce private members’ business. He described the process as "the whistle on a kettle—if something is bubbling, it’s a chance for the system to let some air in and for members to point out things that need to be discussed." He also said he prefers the French translation of the phrase: "le sifflet de la bombe."
"It’s a fantastic system," he said. "We probably have the best statute system, it gives us a very high quality of legislative drafting."
In the seminar’s second session, Sen. Harb said most votes in Parliament follow party lines, which is why private member’s bills are important in the Parliamentary process. "You get the odd rebel, but that rebel gets punished. They basically get treated like a bad child," he said, adding that members who do not wish to vote against the government but who wish to effect change, introduce private members’ initiatives.
"I had to either sit and wait for a sunny day to come, or I had to be proactive," he said. "I believe each Member of Parliament who wants to make a difference can."
Ms. Wasylycia-Leis said private members’ business is part of the reason people get into politics in the first place—to make positive improvements. "You can get lost in the game, but we are here to effect change. Private members’ business is a way within that framework to put your own stamp on Parliamentary politics," she said.
The next CSPG seminar will take place on May 21.
The Hill Times, January 28th, 2008
by Meghan Moloney
Backbench Conservative MPs are using private members’ bills as a tool to further the government’s agenda, especially in this Parliament, says an NDP MP.
"In terms of the present government, there are hundreds of examples of private members’ bills being used for a certain agenda. How many crime bills are on the table right now?" said NDP MP Judy Wasylycia-Leis (Winnipeg North, Man.), who spoke at the Canadian Study of Parliament Group’s seminar on private members’ business on Jan. 23.
Ms. Wasylycia-Leis said although the government has no "master plan" to push crime bills, the use of exchanges when it comes to private members’ bills occurs often to fast-track certain issues. "I think what happens is like-minded individuals advancing an agenda through private member’s business to accomplish an overall agenda, to make a priority around an issue that is consistent with their own political agenda," she told The Hill Times.
However, she said the bills have an impact when they come together. "I would say that the end result, however it gets there, is an attempt to advance this issue on the political agenda and sort of to create the impression, which may not be founded on fact or in reality, that there’s this exponential growth in crime and in violence in our society that has never happened before, when in fact, everybody doesn’t live in fear and everybody may have concerns but may not want to go to the nth degree that the Conservatives are promoting, which is more criminal offences, more jails, more intervention, and protection measures and less and less on prevention and community enforcement."
Terence Moore, procedural clerk of the Private Members’ Business Office in the House of Commons, discussed the procedure of introducing private members’ business. He explained that MPs’ names are randomly drawn at the beginning of each Parliament to determine the order in which members can take up items for debate. If members are unavailable on their scheduled date in the order of precedence, they can request an exchange with another member. But, he said, if members don’t show up on their exchange date, their names get marked with a dagger and they are no longer allowed to request exchanges, though they may still participate in exchanges with other members. Mr. Moore said there have been 13 exchanges so far in the 39th Parliament, which he described as a lot. "Exchanges can be used to fast-track certain pieces of legislation," he said.
Conservative MP Gary Goodyear (Cambridge, Ont.) disagreed with Ms. Wasylycia-Leis, however, saying Canadians are concerned about crime and with good reason. "There’s a good focus on crime and justice issues because that’s the mandate of the government, the mandate given to us by the people of Canada," said Mr. Goodyear, chair of the Procedure and House Affairs Committee. "Ultimately, with all the efforts that we do to give people options to make different choices, at some point in time, once people make the wrong choice and in particular recent violent offenders, it is time to be tough on that stuff and put victims of crime ahead of criminals. And that’s simple."
Mr. Goodyear said that although crime in general in his region of Waterloo is down by "a few percentage points," violent crime in particular is up by about 20 per cent. He added that crack-cocaine, in particular, is an "epidemic in this country" and that the charge made by Liberal MPs that the Conservatives are making a big deal out of crime is "ridiculous."
"We’re not about to continue the coddle-the-criminal trend that we’ve seen in the last decade. We are going to move towards a balance of locating and identifying folks that are coming up to making choices in their life, that are perhaps susceptible at that time level, and try to deal with the causes of crime and preventing crime," Mr. Goodyear said.
The seminar featured speakers Mark Audcent, law clerk and Parliamentary counsel for the Senate; Bill Fleury, director of the Office of Parliamentary Returns at PCO; Ontario Liberal Senator Mac Harb; Ms. Wasylycia-Leis; Mr. Moore; and former Liberal MP Peter Adams.
Mr. Moore said the public is given 48 hours notice when an exchange has been scheduled, adding that an MP would have until 6 p.m. on a Tuesday to request an exchange for the following Thursday. He said so far in the current Parliament, 295 private members’ public bills have been introduced in the House; 11 are on third readings; there has been one private bill introduced; there are 428 motions on the Order Paper, 11 of which have been dealt with; and there are 77 items on the order of precedence.
Mr. Audcent discussed the tools and methods Senators use to introduce private members’ business. He described the process as "the whistle on a kettle—if something is bubbling, it’s a chance for the system to let some air in and for members to point out things that need to be discussed." He also said he prefers the French translation of the phrase: "le sifflet de la bombe."
"It’s a fantastic system," he said. "We probably have the best statute system, it gives us a very high quality of legislative drafting."
In the seminar’s second session, Sen. Harb said most votes in Parliament follow party lines, which is why private member’s bills are important in the Parliamentary process. "You get the odd rebel, but that rebel gets punished. They basically get treated like a bad child," he said, adding that members who do not wish to vote against the government but who wish to effect change, introduce private members’ initiatives.
"I had to either sit and wait for a sunny day to come, or I had to be proactive," he said. "I believe each Member of Parliament who wants to make a difference can."
Ms. Wasylycia-Leis said private members’ business is part of the reason people get into politics in the first place—to make positive improvements. "You can get lost in the game, but we are here to effect change. Private members’ business is a way within that framework to put your own stamp on Parliamentary politics," she said.
The next CSPG seminar will take place on May 21.
Rookie Liberal MP Pearson's Sudan story
The Hill Times, January 28th, 2008
"When Liberal MP Glen Pearson and his wife Jane Roy took their adopted daughter back to Sudan in 2005 for a visit, they had no idea they'd be taking two more children back to Canada."
By Meghan Moloney
Rookie Liberal MP Glen Pearson is a former firefighter. He's also an internationally-known volunteer. He and his wife Jane Roy have been travelling regularly to Sudan since 1998 to help refugees in Darfur and have adopted three Sudanese orphans. Mr. Pearson (London North Centre, Ont.), 57, retired as a captain from the London Fire Department in 2006 after 29 years as a firefighter. He co-founded the London Food Bank in 1987 and has been its executive director ever since, along with Ms. Roy, the assistant director. They have each served as the head of Ontario's Association of Food Banks. In November 2006, Mr. Pearson was elected to office in a byelection.
But for the past decade, he and Ms. Roy have also been helping people in the war-torn Sudan. Their work to help end government-sanctioned slavery and their involvement in other development projects have kept them coming back to Sudan every January. During the civil war, they returned as many as four times a year. From 1998 to 2000, they worked with southern leaders, including the Sudanese minister of education, and a Switzerland-based NGO, Christian Solidarity International, to purchase people out of slavery through the Slave Redemption Program.
Mr. Pearson and Ms. Roy met with then external affairs minister Lloyd Axworthy in March 1999, announcing they would use funds raised in Canada to free slaves. Canadians and businesses from across the country donated $60,000, allowing them to free 800 slaves when they travelled to Sudan in May 1999 with CBC TV, The London Free Press, and a documentary crew. In 2000, Mr. Pearson said, they branched off and started their own NGO, Canadian Aid for Southern Sudan, which later established the New Sudan YMCA/YWCA in August 2002.
After bringing Mr. Pearson's predecessor, then-Liberal MP Joe Fontana (London North Centre, Ont.) with them to Sudan in April 2001, all three met with U.S. Senators and Congressional workers in Washington, D.C., to design a Canadian-American aid initiative.
Mr. Pearson and Ms. Roy met with then prime minister Paul Martin in 2004. CIDA gave them money to build schools and to start programs for women's literacy and recreation. Since 2005, they have helped build eight schools in the eastern region of Aweil, between the oil fields and Darfur. They have also helped the YWCA set up women's micro-enterprises by purchasing sewing machines and training girls to use them, so they can make some income in the markets and leave time to attend school. It was through their work in Sudan that they first heard the story of Abuk. In 2000, Christian Solidarity International mistakenly sent Mr. Pearson a newsletter written in French. On the front page was a picture of a four-month-old Sudanese girl, sick, and crying. The story described how her mother, who had been enslaved along with her children, had been killed while the family was trying to escape from Darfur.
Abuk, her twin sister, and their older brother had been travelling with their mother and grandmother when they were attacked by militia groups, Mr. Pearson told The Hill Times in an interview. "The mother got shot in the middle of a minefield, and she was holding on to Abuk, and the grandmother and the other two children escaped." They were later caught and taken back to Darfur.
Abuk was found by members of her community and taken care of. But when Mr. Pearson first heard about her, none of the people taking care of her knew that her relatives were still alive. "It was assumed by the grandmother and the other two kids that Abuk had been killed with the mother, and it was assumed by the community that had helped Abuk that the grandmother and the other two kids had been killed," he said. "So neither side knew that the other one existed." Mr. Pearson and Ms. Roy had already talked about adopting a Sudanese child. "It's hard–you see these people and your heart goes out to them," he said. "They lost three million people over 20 years and five million of them were displaced."
Mr. Pearson said that seeing local children and their desperate situations had led him and his wife to commit to going back to southern Sudan every year for the rest of their lives to raise money for relief projects, but they still felt they should do more.
"There were just so many children that were in such desperate shape that we thought, at some time we should [adopt a child]," he said. "But our hearts just went out to this particular little girl when we heard about her story. But we had no idea at that particular time that there had been a brother and a sister."
After deciding to adopt Abuk, it took Mr. Pearson and Ms. Roy a year to find her, since the Darfur refugees moved around constantly. When they finally met her, she was very sick. "She was like 12 pounds at a year of age. It was not good," he said. "We took her to the doctor. The doctor said, 'She will not survive,' because she had malaria [and] double pneumonia." They took Abuk to a United Nations hospital in Nairobi, believing she was going to die–but she ended up thriving. Three months later, when Abuk was 15 months old, they took her home to London, Ontario.
"Abuk is wonderful," Mr. Pearson said. Now seven years old, Abuk is no longer quiet and shy and is "more like a typical Canadian kid" who laughs, runs around, and loves to play sports and do gymnastics, he said.
"I think one of the things she loves to do the most is wrestle. She and I wrestle every day, probably 15 times a day."
Mr. Pearson said having Abuk in their family has helped to reaffirm his and Ms. Roy's commitment to Sudan and has kept them focused on important issues. "She's such a wonderful child, and a really peaceful kid, that we've always seen in Abuk the ability for what Sudan could be, if the people could just find peace." He also said that adopting Abuk meant so much to the people in her home village that it opened up communications with aid workers.
"We had been there building schools, but something happens when you adopt someone," he said. "The villagers there realized that Canadians were making a permanent commitment to one of their own people, and it just opened up the doors there for us to be able to get other projects done."
In January 2005, Mr. Pearson and Ms. Roy took Abuk back to her home village in southern Sudan for a visit. A peace agreement had just been signed between the North and the South, and Abuk's family and friends were finally able to leave Darfur, where they had been living as refugees, to return to their home. "Just as we arrived, as we were getting off the plane, a little girl was standing there who looked identical to Abuk," said Mr. Pearson. "And that was when we started to realize that these kids [her siblings] maybe survived." Abuk's grandmother was there with the other children. "As soon as she saw Abuk come off the plane, she just fell to the ground and started crying and crying, because she knew from looking at Abuk that she was an identical twin to the other little girl, so she knew that Abuk had survived. And that was the first that she knew that that had happened. It was a very emotional moment." When asked whether the children's grandmother objected to Abuk's siblings being adopted as well, Mr. Pearson said she asked him and his wife to take them home to give them a better life.
He admits that the decision was very difficult. He and his wife spent a day talking about their options. "We had planned what we wanted to do for our future–now all of a sudden we found out we could maybe have two more kids," he said. But in the end, it came down to their commitment to Abuk. "We realized we were never going to be able to face Abuk and say, 'Look, we knew that you had a brother and sister but we never tried to adopt them.'" It took two and a half years of red tape, medical treatment, and waiting, but Achan and Ater came to Canada at the end of August last year. Like Abuk, Achan, and Ater have had malaria and are still susceptible to recurring bouts of illness. Mr. Pearson, who has had malaria his "whole adult life," said the disease is "just part of life in Darfur." Recently, he has served as an ambassador for the Spread the Net Campaign, an organization founded by MP Belinda Stronach and comedian Rick Mercer in 2006 to raise money to buy bed nets, which prevent the spread of malaria from mosquito bites. Mr. Pearson told CBC in April that malaria "can be beat, and has been beat in our family's case," but that treatment is much easier to obtain in Canada than it is in Africa. Achan, 7, and Ater, 10, have gone through changes similar to what Abuk went through after arriving in Canada, said Mr. Pearson. Much like her twin, Achan was "very quiet and withdrawn," and Ater was "very serious all the time." Ater had to bring up his sister after their family was split up in the attack, Mr. Pearson said. "He's a very mature 10. He's kind of like 20. But now that they're here, and we're taking care of the sister, he's reverting. I think he's becoming a kid, and I love to see that." He said Abuk has done a good job at making her siblings feel at home in London. "They're monsters, all three of them. They jump all over me. It's a wonderful thing to see. It's brought these kids out of themselves." Mr. Pearson has taken the children to Ottawa several times and said MPs of all political parties were great to the kids. He said it's important for people to meet Sudanese kids to understand the issues being discussed. "I think for all of us, all of us as politicians, we need those kind of personal stories so that we keep focused on Africa and keep focused on Sudan."
Since being elected in November 2006, Mr. Pearson has made Darfur a priority in many of his House speeches. His obvious passion for the refugees' situation must have made an impact: when he was in Sudan in early January, he discovered that the Canadian government had told local leaders that they may contribute $3-million in aid by March. "I asked for six million and they're going to give three," he said. "I've been up there in the House of Commons, speaking all the time, saying 'Do something, do something,' and I think to a certain degree, they were listening to what I was saying, and were trying to find a way to give an answer to it. So I appreciate that."
Mr. Pearson said he has been working with retired general and Quebec Liberal Senator Romeo Dallaire, Liberal Party Leader Stéphane Dion (Saint-Laurent-Cartierville, Que.) and Deputy Leader Michael Ignatieff to "develop a broader capacity around Darfur and Sudan." As well as Abuk, Achan, and Ater, Mr. Pearson also has four older children. "I've got seven children and one grandchild," he said, laughing. "And I'm 57. But it's made for a pretty interesting life this last year." While in Sudan this month, Mr. Pearson said he and his wife saw the children's grandmother. They have been supporting her financially since the adoption, but he said she has heart disease and is struggling. "She's just thankful that somebody took these kids off of her hands before her health continues to deteriorate farther," he said. "I think if their mother could see them from wherever she's at, and see what has happened to them, she would just be overcome with joy about her family."
"When Liberal MP Glen Pearson and his wife Jane Roy took their adopted daughter back to Sudan in 2005 for a visit, they had no idea they'd be taking two more children back to Canada."
By Meghan Moloney
Rookie Liberal MP Glen Pearson is a former firefighter. He's also an internationally-known volunteer. He and his wife Jane Roy have been travelling regularly to Sudan since 1998 to help refugees in Darfur and have adopted three Sudanese orphans. Mr. Pearson (London North Centre, Ont.), 57, retired as a captain from the London Fire Department in 2006 after 29 years as a firefighter. He co-founded the London Food Bank in 1987 and has been its executive director ever since, along with Ms. Roy, the assistant director. They have each served as the head of Ontario's Association of Food Banks. In November 2006, Mr. Pearson was elected to office in a byelection.
But for the past decade, he and Ms. Roy have also been helping people in the war-torn Sudan. Their work to help end government-sanctioned slavery and their involvement in other development projects have kept them coming back to Sudan every January. During the civil war, they returned as many as four times a year. From 1998 to 2000, they worked with southern leaders, including the Sudanese minister of education, and a Switzerland-based NGO, Christian Solidarity International, to purchase people out of slavery through the Slave Redemption Program.
Mr. Pearson and Ms. Roy met with then external affairs minister Lloyd Axworthy in March 1999, announcing they would use funds raised in Canada to free slaves. Canadians and businesses from across the country donated $60,000, allowing them to free 800 slaves when they travelled to Sudan in May 1999 with CBC TV, The London Free Press, and a documentary crew. In 2000, Mr. Pearson said, they branched off and started their own NGO, Canadian Aid for Southern Sudan, which later established the New Sudan YMCA/YWCA in August 2002.
After bringing Mr. Pearson's predecessor, then-Liberal MP Joe Fontana (London North Centre, Ont.) with them to Sudan in April 2001, all three met with U.S. Senators and Congressional workers in Washington, D.C., to design a Canadian-American aid initiative.
Mr. Pearson and Ms. Roy met with then prime minister Paul Martin in 2004. CIDA gave them money to build schools and to start programs for women's literacy and recreation. Since 2005, they have helped build eight schools in the eastern region of Aweil, between the oil fields and Darfur. They have also helped the YWCA set up women's micro-enterprises by purchasing sewing machines and training girls to use them, so they can make some income in the markets and leave time to attend school. It was through their work in Sudan that they first heard the story of Abuk. In 2000, Christian Solidarity International mistakenly sent Mr. Pearson a newsletter written in French. On the front page was a picture of a four-month-old Sudanese girl, sick, and crying. The story described how her mother, who had been enslaved along with her children, had been killed while the family was trying to escape from Darfur.
Abuk, her twin sister, and their older brother had been travelling with their mother and grandmother when they were attacked by militia groups, Mr. Pearson told The Hill Times in an interview. "The mother got shot in the middle of a minefield, and she was holding on to Abuk, and the grandmother and the other two children escaped." They were later caught and taken back to Darfur.
Abuk was found by members of her community and taken care of. But when Mr. Pearson first heard about her, none of the people taking care of her knew that her relatives were still alive. "It was assumed by the grandmother and the other two kids that Abuk had been killed with the mother, and it was assumed by the community that had helped Abuk that the grandmother and the other two kids had been killed," he said. "So neither side knew that the other one existed." Mr. Pearson and Ms. Roy had already talked about adopting a Sudanese child. "It's hard–you see these people and your heart goes out to them," he said. "They lost three million people over 20 years and five million of them were displaced."
Mr. Pearson said that seeing local children and their desperate situations had led him and his wife to commit to going back to southern Sudan every year for the rest of their lives to raise money for relief projects, but they still felt they should do more.
"There were just so many children that were in such desperate shape that we thought, at some time we should [adopt a child]," he said. "But our hearts just went out to this particular little girl when we heard about her story. But we had no idea at that particular time that there had been a brother and a sister."
After deciding to adopt Abuk, it took Mr. Pearson and Ms. Roy a year to find her, since the Darfur refugees moved around constantly. When they finally met her, she was very sick. "She was like 12 pounds at a year of age. It was not good," he said. "We took her to the doctor. The doctor said, 'She will not survive,' because she had malaria [and] double pneumonia." They took Abuk to a United Nations hospital in Nairobi, believing she was going to die–but she ended up thriving. Three months later, when Abuk was 15 months old, they took her home to London, Ontario.
"Abuk is wonderful," Mr. Pearson said. Now seven years old, Abuk is no longer quiet and shy and is "more like a typical Canadian kid" who laughs, runs around, and loves to play sports and do gymnastics, he said.
"I think one of the things she loves to do the most is wrestle. She and I wrestle every day, probably 15 times a day."
Mr. Pearson said having Abuk in their family has helped to reaffirm his and Ms. Roy's commitment to Sudan and has kept them focused on important issues. "She's such a wonderful child, and a really peaceful kid, that we've always seen in Abuk the ability for what Sudan could be, if the people could just find peace." He also said that adopting Abuk meant so much to the people in her home village that it opened up communications with aid workers.
"We had been there building schools, but something happens when you adopt someone," he said. "The villagers there realized that Canadians were making a permanent commitment to one of their own people, and it just opened up the doors there for us to be able to get other projects done."
In January 2005, Mr. Pearson and Ms. Roy took Abuk back to her home village in southern Sudan for a visit. A peace agreement had just been signed between the North and the South, and Abuk's family and friends were finally able to leave Darfur, where they had been living as refugees, to return to their home. "Just as we arrived, as we were getting off the plane, a little girl was standing there who looked identical to Abuk," said Mr. Pearson. "And that was when we started to realize that these kids [her siblings] maybe survived." Abuk's grandmother was there with the other children. "As soon as she saw Abuk come off the plane, she just fell to the ground and started crying and crying, because she knew from looking at Abuk that she was an identical twin to the other little girl, so she knew that Abuk had survived. And that was the first that she knew that that had happened. It was a very emotional moment." When asked whether the children's grandmother objected to Abuk's siblings being adopted as well, Mr. Pearson said she asked him and his wife to take them home to give them a better life.
He admits that the decision was very difficult. He and his wife spent a day talking about their options. "We had planned what we wanted to do for our future–now all of a sudden we found out we could maybe have two more kids," he said. But in the end, it came down to their commitment to Abuk. "We realized we were never going to be able to face Abuk and say, 'Look, we knew that you had a brother and sister but we never tried to adopt them.'" It took two and a half years of red tape, medical treatment, and waiting, but Achan and Ater came to Canada at the end of August last year. Like Abuk, Achan, and Ater have had malaria and are still susceptible to recurring bouts of illness. Mr. Pearson, who has had malaria his "whole adult life," said the disease is "just part of life in Darfur." Recently, he has served as an ambassador for the Spread the Net Campaign, an organization founded by MP Belinda Stronach and comedian Rick Mercer in 2006 to raise money to buy bed nets, which prevent the spread of malaria from mosquito bites. Mr. Pearson told CBC in April that malaria "can be beat, and has been beat in our family's case," but that treatment is much easier to obtain in Canada than it is in Africa. Achan, 7, and Ater, 10, have gone through changes similar to what Abuk went through after arriving in Canada, said Mr. Pearson. Much like her twin, Achan was "very quiet and withdrawn," and Ater was "very serious all the time." Ater had to bring up his sister after their family was split up in the attack, Mr. Pearson said. "He's a very mature 10. He's kind of like 20. But now that they're here, and we're taking care of the sister, he's reverting. I think he's becoming a kid, and I love to see that." He said Abuk has done a good job at making her siblings feel at home in London. "They're monsters, all three of them. They jump all over me. It's a wonderful thing to see. It's brought these kids out of themselves." Mr. Pearson has taken the children to Ottawa several times and said MPs of all political parties were great to the kids. He said it's important for people to meet Sudanese kids to understand the issues being discussed. "I think for all of us, all of us as politicians, we need those kind of personal stories so that we keep focused on Africa and keep focused on Sudan."
Since being elected in November 2006, Mr. Pearson has made Darfur a priority in many of his House speeches. His obvious passion for the refugees' situation must have made an impact: when he was in Sudan in early January, he discovered that the Canadian government had told local leaders that they may contribute $3-million in aid by March. "I asked for six million and they're going to give three," he said. "I've been up there in the House of Commons, speaking all the time, saying 'Do something, do something,' and I think to a certain degree, they were listening to what I was saying, and were trying to find a way to give an answer to it. So I appreciate that."
Mr. Pearson said he has been working with retired general and Quebec Liberal Senator Romeo Dallaire, Liberal Party Leader Stéphane Dion (Saint-Laurent-Cartierville, Que.) and Deputy Leader Michael Ignatieff to "develop a broader capacity around Darfur and Sudan." As well as Abuk, Achan, and Ater, Mr. Pearson also has four older children. "I've got seven children and one grandchild," he said, laughing. "And I'm 57. But it's made for a pretty interesting life this last year." While in Sudan this month, Mr. Pearson said he and his wife saw the children's grandmother. They have been supporting her financially since the adoption, but he said she has heart disease and is struggling. "She's just thankful that somebody took these kids off of her hands before her health continues to deteriorate farther," he said. "I think if their mother could see them from wherever she's at, and see what has happened to them, she would just be overcome with joy about her family."
Being patient...
But it's so hard! I can't wait to see this week's issue. It's being mailed to me, since I'm back at school as of Monday. But I have three articles in this week, so I'm pretty psyched to see it.
I may be able to post the articles earlier if I can figure out the university's online subscription... but we'll see!
In the meantime, I've got a ton of assignments and freelancing articles coming up so I'll still be posting everything here. Also, my print specialization class will be producing an online newspaper ("The Online Reporter"--how original! Thankfully, our prof finally decided that the name is redundant, and has changed it to simply "The Reporter". Better?) So I'll be linking to that site from time to time.
Oh the excitement!!
I may be able to post the articles earlier if I can figure out the university's online subscription... but we'll see!
In the meantime, I've got a ton of assignments and freelancing articles coming up so I'll still be posting everything here. Also, my print specialization class will be producing an online newspaper ("The Online Reporter"--how original! Thankfully, our prof finally decided that the name is redundant, and has changed it to simply "The Reporter". Better?) So I'll be linking to that site from time to time.
Oh the excitement!!
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Meghan in syndication?
A bizarre but cool thing happened today: the Halifax Daily News read my story about the Cape Breton MPs (see yesterday's post) and wants to print it. They're going to pay me $75 for it. This will be the first time I've ever been paid for my writing, since my only experiences being published have been as a volunteer or intern.
If landing a spot at The Hill Times was my "first small step for woman," I guess this is the second!
If landing a spot at The Hill Times was my "first small step for woman," I guess this is the second!
Monday, January 21, 2008
Q&A with Patrice Roy on the Afghan mission
THE HILL TIMES
Monday, January 21, 2008
THE HOT ROOM - pg. 45
"Roy wonders: is Afghanistan mission worth it?
Radio-Canada TV's Patrice Roy, who survived a landmine explosion last August, says he doesn't think anybody knows if the mission in Afghanistan is worth it, even the generals who will be sent there on rotation."
By Meghan Moloney
Radio-Canada TV's Ottawa bureau chief Patrice Roy, 44, who survived a landmine explosion in Afghanistan last August while covering the war, says he's a stronger man because of it, but wonders if the war is worth it today. As bureau chief, Mr. Roy says he wanted to report on the war in Afghanistan first-hand.
On Aug. 22, when Mr. Roy and his cameraman Charles Dubois were embedded with the B Company of the Van Doos regiment from Valcartier, Que., two of the Canadian soldiers who were accompanying them were killed when their tank hit a landmine. Master Warrant Officer Mario Mercier and Master Corporal Christian Duchesne both died when they tried to reclaim a hill in Zari province, 40 kilometres west of Kandahar.
Mr. Roy captured the events that day in his documentary which later aired on CBC's The National and Le Téléjournal. The powerful documentary was presented as a narrative.
Mr. Roy, wearing a helmet, flak jacket, goggles, and protective gloves, throughout his report talked to soldiers as they repeatedly stopped the tank to check for landmines. There's some banter and humour between the soldiers and Mr. Roy. The documentary is 14 minutes long, but it captures the tediousness of battle too. By noon the tanks were under fire. “This is no training exercise--this is the real thing,” one soldier tells Mr. Roy in the documentary.
By six o’clock, the soldiers were 200 metres from their goal, but didn’t know whether there were IEDs--improvised explosive devices--in the area, so they moved slowly up the hill. Mr. Roy was writing his description of the battle in a notebook just as they reached the top. “Suddenly, with a bang, everything went black,” he said in a voiceover. “Our vehicle had backed over a mine, buried in the thick dust on the hillside.”
The soldiers previously joking in the report were killed, along with the Canadian Forces' Afghan interpreter. Mr. Dubois’ right leg was later amputated below the knee. The camera was destroyed, but the footage remained intact.
Mr. Roy spoke to The Hill Times last week about the experience and how it's changed him.
How does war reporting compare to daily reporting on federal politics?
"It’s more dangerous, obviously. It’s another ball game completely. It’s very, very different in the sense that the goal is not the same. When you are in Afghanistan, at least my goal was to explain to our viewers the complexity of the mission, and to go beyond some cliché about the Taliban on one side and the soldiers on the other. So it was a macro, a big operation, and we wanted to do a documentary plus some news items. So it was quite different from my day-to-day work here in Ottawa, which is to follow the puck and the politics.”
What happened to your documentary project?
"Our goal was to do a one-hour documentary on Afghanistan for Radio-Canada television, and to do a series of items for the most important newscast, Le Téléjournal, and for the radio, et cetera. Because of the accident, I was forced to of course come back with Charles and the project was completely dropped. But I did a 14-minute piece for Le Téléjournal and The National on that famous day. I chose to use only the footage of August 22, real footage of the operation. So I explained the day from A to Z, from the morning to the explosion."
Was that a more emotional experience for you to make that documentary?
"Of course. At first, I had difficulty watching to screen the pictures, because it was like reliving the incident again and again. But I think it was good, at the end, like a way to put—not a final period, but to close something, a chapter."
What feedback did you get from that piece that you made?
"I have to say that since the explosion, I got so much feedback, so many emails, so many beautiful notes from reporters, a lot of reporters that I don’t even know from all over Canada. I got some notes from Europe. I got some notes from people who were caring about us, Charles and I. I was shocked by this wave of sympathy. And after the airing of the piece, it was a little bit the same kind of reaction. People were saying basically, Wow, what an experience, I hope that you will be fine, that Charles will recover okay. So it was very touching for us to see that our work is important for a lot of people. And not only press people, I mean, most emails came from ordinary viewers who got to know me over the years and were touched. I have a blog on Radio-Canada.ca and it was a very useful instrument for that communication between the viewers and me."
Has the experience changed you as a reporter?
"I don’t know, I don’t think so, as a reporter. As a man, certainly, I’m more strong, I’m more aware that we are going to die one day, the mortality of our essence. I’m more sensitive to our human condition, if I may say. It makes you stronger when you live [through] something like that. But as a reporter I think I’m the same. I have the same flaws and the same qualities."
Are you more afraid now to report from war zones? Will you go back to Afghanistan?
"To Afghanistan, I don’t think so. Not in 2008, for sure. Honestly, not because of me, but because of my family—to ask them to live in the waiting and the fear that something could happen to me again, it’s too much to ask. If I was alone, I think I’m crazy enough to go back, but again, it’s so improbable. That was not supposed to happen to us, and it did happen. By the way, for me, one of the most important things of this whole story is to see the courage of other reporters who, after what happened to us, decided to still go out—[Christie] Blatchford from The Globe [and Mail], reporters from CP, from Presse Canadienne, from TVA in Québec, from La Presse—the courage of those persons who saw us, who saw the event, who saw me after, who saw Charles, it’s striking for me. It tells you a lot of the importance of a free press and the importance of our work."
Had there been other moments in your career that prepared you for this experience?
"Nothing prepares you for that. CBC sent me to a training week in first aid and to be able to have some reflex in a war zone. Maybe it did help, I don’t know, but nothing prepares you to see bodies around you and blood and explosions and the fear that other mines would be there—it’s like a nightmare and you have to live it. I think you are stronger in the hour than you think you would be. But I did travel a lot, as I said, I started my career with three months filming a documentary around some tough places—I went to Africa, I went to Haiti, but it’s not the same. I’ve been caught in the middle of riots in Italy for the G8[summit], those types of stressful events, but nothing like a tank exploding."
Do you think journalists who experience trauma in the field should be required to undergo therapy?
"I don’t know. I got a lot of offers from CBC and even from the Forces. I think it’s each person—you have to be confident that if somebody needs help, he or she will ask for it. For me, I talked to a lot of people but I didn’t feel the need to get real therapy. Again, I was very lucky. The guy who suffered was Charles, my cameraman, who got [his leg] amputated. He’s the one who will live the rest of his life with real consequences."
The media has reported that you were in shock after the incident.
"I think it’s an automatisme to say that, I read that too. Of course, I must have been in shock but I was very conscious. Actually, I did an interview the day after—a couple of hours after, in fact, and I was calmer then, right after, than a week after. It’s serious, and I talked a lot about that episode, and I’m not taking it lightly, but for me I didn’t see the need to treat post-traumatic syndrome. I don’t think I suffered from that."
Have you become more or less critical of public officials involved in making decisions about Canada’s commitment in Afghanistan, since seeing it first-hand?
"I’m not more or less critical, I mean, I think I understand a little bit more than others who never went to Afghanistan. I think you have to go there to be able to understand. I read before my departure, I read everything on the mission and a lot of documents. But it’s not the same thing to be there and to feel it on the ground. There’s no other way to do it. But because we blew [up] under a mine doesn’t mean that I’ve become an expert on Afghanistan. I’m a Canadian reporter. I’m following the political scene here. But I thought that it was one of the most important files here in Ottawa, so it was important as a bureau chief to understand the mission."
At the end of your documentary, you said that the operation you witnessed was a success, but you’re not sure the mission as it stands will honour the soldier’s sacrifice.
"It was more like a question. I’m still at the same point, actually. The real question is, we know that it’s a very dangerous mission, we know that the international community had to go there, that’s a fact for a lot of people and that’s a consensus. But right now, witnessing all the incidents and all the difficulties that we face in the south, it’s a question that we can raise—is it worth it? At the end of the mission, will the Afghan people in the south be living differently than now? And nobody has the answer to that question. Time will tell, but at the end of the report, I wanted to underline that it’s not clear if Canada will succeed in a way that people think we should succeed."
So if someone asked you to predict now, based on what you’ve seen from your own coverage, would you say that it’s going to be worth it?
"I don’t know. That’s why I finished my item with a question. It’s the honest answer, I really don’t know. I don’t think anybody knows, to be frank—even generals who will be sent there for the other rotation. It will depend on so many things—on the frontier with Pakistan, on the way the Afghan president is dealing with the pressure. Honestly, I hope those guys [in the army] are not there for nothing, and that’s a personal view. After seeing what they’ve accomplished there, it’s real, real hard work for them. But honestly, I don’t know. The south of the country is so unpredictable, and so it’s a difficult place to predict anything. But we’ll see—it’s too early to tell. But that’s why, on the other hand, I think it’s kind of normal that Canada wants to stay a bit longer. Because quitting now, leaving now, would be in a way a failure of the mission—in a way. That’s the consensus. But as I said to you, I’m not an expert on Afghanistan. I’m a reporter. So it’s not for me to tell if we’re going to succeed or not. It’s a question that people will have to answer."
Monday, January 21, 2008
THE HOT ROOM - pg. 45
"Roy wonders: is Afghanistan mission worth it?
Radio-Canada TV's Patrice Roy, who survived a landmine explosion last August, says he doesn't think anybody knows if the mission in Afghanistan is worth it, even the generals who will be sent there on rotation."
By Meghan Moloney
Radio-Canada TV's Ottawa bureau chief Patrice Roy, 44, who survived a landmine explosion in Afghanistan last August while covering the war, says he's a stronger man because of it, but wonders if the war is worth it today. As bureau chief, Mr. Roy says he wanted to report on the war in Afghanistan first-hand.
On Aug. 22, when Mr. Roy and his cameraman Charles Dubois were embedded with the B Company of the Van Doos regiment from Valcartier, Que., two of the Canadian soldiers who were accompanying them were killed when their tank hit a landmine. Master Warrant Officer Mario Mercier and Master Corporal Christian Duchesne both died when they tried to reclaim a hill in Zari province, 40 kilometres west of Kandahar.
Mr. Roy captured the events that day in his documentary which later aired on CBC's The National and Le Téléjournal. The powerful documentary was presented as a narrative.
Mr. Roy, wearing a helmet, flak jacket, goggles, and protective gloves, throughout his report talked to soldiers as they repeatedly stopped the tank to check for landmines. There's some banter and humour between the soldiers and Mr. Roy. The documentary is 14 minutes long, but it captures the tediousness of battle too. By noon the tanks were under fire. “This is no training exercise--this is the real thing,” one soldier tells Mr. Roy in the documentary.
By six o’clock, the soldiers were 200 metres from their goal, but didn’t know whether there were IEDs--improvised explosive devices--in the area, so they moved slowly up the hill. Mr. Roy was writing his description of the battle in a notebook just as they reached the top. “Suddenly, with a bang, everything went black,” he said in a voiceover. “Our vehicle had backed over a mine, buried in the thick dust on the hillside.”
The soldiers previously joking in the report were killed, along with the Canadian Forces' Afghan interpreter. Mr. Dubois’ right leg was later amputated below the knee. The camera was destroyed, but the footage remained intact.
Mr. Roy spoke to The Hill Times last week about the experience and how it's changed him.
How does war reporting compare to daily reporting on federal politics?
"It’s more dangerous, obviously. It’s another ball game completely. It’s very, very different in the sense that the goal is not the same. When you are in Afghanistan, at least my goal was to explain to our viewers the complexity of the mission, and to go beyond some cliché about the Taliban on one side and the soldiers on the other. So it was a macro, a big operation, and we wanted to do a documentary plus some news items. So it was quite different from my day-to-day work here in Ottawa, which is to follow the puck and the politics.”
What happened to your documentary project?
"Our goal was to do a one-hour documentary on Afghanistan for Radio-Canada television, and to do a series of items for the most important newscast, Le Téléjournal, and for the radio, et cetera. Because of the accident, I was forced to of course come back with Charles and the project was completely dropped. But I did a 14-minute piece for Le Téléjournal and The National on that famous day. I chose to use only the footage of August 22, real footage of the operation. So I explained the day from A to Z, from the morning to the explosion."
Was that a more emotional experience for you to make that documentary?
"Of course. At first, I had difficulty watching to screen the pictures, because it was like reliving the incident again and again. But I think it was good, at the end, like a way to put—not a final period, but to close something, a chapter."
What feedback did you get from that piece that you made?
"I have to say that since the explosion, I got so much feedback, so many emails, so many beautiful notes from reporters, a lot of reporters that I don’t even know from all over Canada. I got some notes from Europe. I got some notes from people who were caring about us, Charles and I. I was shocked by this wave of sympathy. And after the airing of the piece, it was a little bit the same kind of reaction. People were saying basically, Wow, what an experience, I hope that you will be fine, that Charles will recover okay. So it was very touching for us to see that our work is important for a lot of people. And not only press people, I mean, most emails came from ordinary viewers who got to know me over the years and were touched. I have a blog on Radio-Canada.ca and it was a very useful instrument for that communication between the viewers and me."
Has the experience changed you as a reporter?
"I don’t know, I don’t think so, as a reporter. As a man, certainly, I’m more strong, I’m more aware that we are going to die one day, the mortality of our essence. I’m more sensitive to our human condition, if I may say. It makes you stronger when you live [through] something like that. But as a reporter I think I’m the same. I have the same flaws and the same qualities."
Are you more afraid now to report from war zones? Will you go back to Afghanistan?
"To Afghanistan, I don’t think so. Not in 2008, for sure. Honestly, not because of me, but because of my family—to ask them to live in the waiting and the fear that something could happen to me again, it’s too much to ask. If I was alone, I think I’m crazy enough to go back, but again, it’s so improbable. That was not supposed to happen to us, and it did happen. By the way, for me, one of the most important things of this whole story is to see the courage of other reporters who, after what happened to us, decided to still go out—[Christie] Blatchford from The Globe [and Mail], reporters from CP, from Presse Canadienne, from TVA in Québec, from La Presse—the courage of those persons who saw us, who saw the event, who saw me after, who saw Charles, it’s striking for me. It tells you a lot of the importance of a free press and the importance of our work."
Had there been other moments in your career that prepared you for this experience?
"Nothing prepares you for that. CBC sent me to a training week in first aid and to be able to have some reflex in a war zone. Maybe it did help, I don’t know, but nothing prepares you to see bodies around you and blood and explosions and the fear that other mines would be there—it’s like a nightmare and you have to live it. I think you are stronger in the hour than you think you would be. But I did travel a lot, as I said, I started my career with three months filming a documentary around some tough places—I went to Africa, I went to Haiti, but it’s not the same. I’ve been caught in the middle of riots in Italy for the G8[summit], those types of stressful events, but nothing like a tank exploding."
Do you think journalists who experience trauma in the field should be required to undergo therapy?
"I don’t know. I got a lot of offers from CBC and even from the Forces. I think it’s each person—you have to be confident that if somebody needs help, he or she will ask for it. For me, I talked to a lot of people but I didn’t feel the need to get real therapy. Again, I was very lucky. The guy who suffered was Charles, my cameraman, who got [his leg] amputated. He’s the one who will live the rest of his life with real consequences."
The media has reported that you were in shock after the incident.
"I think it’s an automatisme to say that, I read that too. Of course, I must have been in shock but I was very conscious. Actually, I did an interview the day after—a couple of hours after, in fact, and I was calmer then, right after, than a week after. It’s serious, and I talked a lot about that episode, and I’m not taking it lightly, but for me I didn’t see the need to treat post-traumatic syndrome. I don’t think I suffered from that."
Have you become more or less critical of public officials involved in making decisions about Canada’s commitment in Afghanistan, since seeing it first-hand?
"I’m not more or less critical, I mean, I think I understand a little bit more than others who never went to Afghanistan. I think you have to go there to be able to understand. I read before my departure, I read everything on the mission and a lot of documents. But it’s not the same thing to be there and to feel it on the ground. There’s no other way to do it. But because we blew [up] under a mine doesn’t mean that I’ve become an expert on Afghanistan. I’m a Canadian reporter. I’m following the political scene here. But I thought that it was one of the most important files here in Ottawa, so it was important as a bureau chief to understand the mission."
At the end of your documentary, you said that the operation you witnessed was a success, but you’re not sure the mission as it stands will honour the soldier’s sacrifice.
"It was more like a question. I’m still at the same point, actually. The real question is, we know that it’s a very dangerous mission, we know that the international community had to go there, that’s a fact for a lot of people and that’s a consensus. But right now, witnessing all the incidents and all the difficulties that we face in the south, it’s a question that we can raise—is it worth it? At the end of the mission, will the Afghan people in the south be living differently than now? And nobody has the answer to that question. Time will tell, but at the end of the report, I wanted to underline that it’s not clear if Canada will succeed in a way that people think we should succeed."
So if someone asked you to predict now, based on what you’ve seen from your own coverage, would you say that it’s going to be worth it?
"I don’t know. That’s why I finished my item with a question. It’s the honest answer, I really don’t know. I don’t think anybody knows, to be frank—even generals who will be sent there for the other rotation. It will depend on so many things—on the frontier with Pakistan, on the way the Afghan president is dealing with the pressure. Honestly, I hope those guys [in the army] are not there for nothing, and that’s a personal view. After seeing what they’ve accomplished there, it’s real, real hard work for them. But honestly, I don’t know. The south of the country is so unpredictable, and so it’s a difficult place to predict anything. But we’ll see—it’s too early to tell. But that’s why, on the other hand, I think it’s kind of normal that Canada wants to stay a bit longer. Because quitting now, leaving now, would be in a way a failure of the mission—in a way. That’s the consensus. But as I said to you, I’m not an expert on Afghanistan. I’m a reporter. So it’s not for me to tell if we’re going to succeed or not. It’s a question that people will have to answer."
MPs who live together
So it's my last week as an intern. It's gone by fast but at the same time, it feels like I've been here for awhile. I'll be back at school next week, but The Hill Times will still be publishing a few of my stories in the next couple of weeks, so I'll keep posting them whenever I receive it in the mail!
********
THE HILL TIMES
Monday, January 21, 2008
FEATURE - pg. 16
"Roommates Eyking, Cuzner getting the 'seven-year itch'"
By Meghan Moloney
Liberal MP Mark Eyking says he and his roommate Grit MP Rodger Cuzner have the "seven-year itch."
Like a number of MPs, the two Cape Bretoners have shared an Ottawa apartment since January 2001, after they were both first elected to Parliament in November 2000. They're good friends, but it's never easy having a roommate. Everyone has their differences, even two Grit Nova Scotian MPs who like to kid around, believe it or not.
"We always seem to be on different sides of the fence," Mr. Eyking (Sydney-Victoria, N.S.) told The Hill Times last week. Mr. Cuzner's (Cape Breton-Canso, N.S.) "a Protestant, I'm a Catholic, he's a Toronto Maple Leaf, I'm a Montreal Canadien, he was a Chretien supporter, I was a Paul Martin supporter, it just keeps going. He was an Ignatieff supporter and I was a Dion supporter. But the overall thing is we have the Cape Breton flag--that's the main flag in the apartment."
They decided to live together after meeting on the campaign trail and realizing they didn't know anyone else in Ottawa, Mr. Eyking said. They also wanted to save money, although MPs receive a housing allowance.
Mr. Eyking and Mr. Cuzner share a two-bedroom apartment in The Juliana at Bronson Avenue and Albert Street, a building close to Parliament Hill where several other MPs live, including Liberal MP Geoff Regan (Halifax West, N.S.) and Conservative MP Carol Skelton (Saskatoon-Rosetown-Biggar, Sask.). The apartment does double duty as a living space as well as the Cape Breton "embassy," they say, providing visitors from Cape Breton with a place to stay.
"They all know it's a welcome, open house, whether they're coming up for hockey games or courses or just visiting," said Mr. Eyking. "We Cape Bretoners stick together."
Mr. Cuzner agreed, saying it's "the Cape Breton way" to help others whenever possible. But he admits the guests can get noisy, describing one occasion three years ago when he hosted 12 people who were in town for the Gatineau International Midget Hockey Tournament. "Our neighbours still aren't speaking to us about that one."
Mr. Eyking, 47, is his party's critic for small business and tourism. He's married with four children. He and his wife, Pam, ran a vegetable farm as part of Eyking farms in Millville, N.S., and he has been an active member of community and agricultural councils.
Mr. Cuzner, 52, has been a sports columnist, a radio commentator, and an event coordinator for the Cape Breton Department of Recreation, Culture and Facilities and for the City of Fort McMurray, Alta. He and his wife Lynn have three sons.
On the whole, both say they are good tenants and are learning to do domestic tasks in Ottawa. But they don't spend as much time in the apartment as they anticipated. "I remember the first time we moved in, we got all these groceries. We figured we'd be home at 5:30 every night and cook together and all this stuff. Well, that ended after the first week, with votes at night and things like that," said Mr. Eyking.
"When you're away from the apartment for periods of time, it doesn't really make sense to put a whole lot in the cupboards or in the fridge," Mr. Cuzner said. "We did that initially and you'd come back and it would be like a science experiment in your fridge."
Other domestic tasks have caused them more trouble. Mr. Eyking said they nag each other "like in any marriage." Bathroom etiquette is a serious issue. "He leaves his towel on the floor all the time, and he says I don't refill the toilet paper holder," Mr. Eyking said of Mr. Cuzner.
Mr. Cuzner, on the other hand, said that putting the top back on the toothpaste tube has never come naturally to Mr. Eyking. "He's very, very fortunate to have such a tolerant roommate," said Mr. Cuzner. "I'm sure that his wife Pam will have a spot in Heaven for looking after him all these years." When asked what in their relationship has changed over the years, Mr. Cuzner responded: "He's got far less hair to comb in the morning, so that's been significant."
It all comes as good-natured teasing. Mr. Cuzner said Mr. Eyking is hairy, for instance. "It's a little tough when he's brushing his teeth and leaves the door open, and it looks like he left his sweater on. He's a bit of a Chia Pet. So I remind him to take his sweater off," Mr. Cuzner said, taking a friendly jab at his roommate. "We're great friends, and that's only improved over the number of years that we've lived together."
The two have provided each other with much-needed support in the world of public office and partisan politics. Mr. Eyking said he has appreciated Mr. Cuzner as a roommate.
"Ottawa was a big change for me, in lifestyle and things like that, and it would have been very difficult for me without having Rodger as a roommate to get through it," Mr. Eyking said. "When I had problems, whether it's personal problems or problems as an MP, he was always there for me, and he always gave me an ear no matter what time of the day. There's a few things we joke about, but I couldn't have a better roommate."
Being away from their families in Ottawa, it's important to have a roommate to unwind with, Mr. Cuzner pointed out.
"Mark came to Ottawa wanting to help anybody that came to him with a problem," Mr. Cuzner said. "By the end of March, the first year, he was starting to realize that there were some problems that just couldn't be fixed. And I came home one night and he was really beside himself. So we hadn't been on the [Rideau] Canal before, and I said, 'Grab your skates--we're going for a blast.' So we went up and we skated up to the end of the canal and back, about three hours, and [he] just had a chance to clear his head. So that's sometimes how roommates sort of help each other out, I guess."
Even though they don't spend many waking hours at the apartment together, Mr. Cuzner said he enjoys having someone to talk to about his day, to get different perspectives or to complain about various issues. "We're not like-minded on everything, but the main thing is we have a lot of respect for each other and we do enjoy each other's time," he said.
In the building next door to the Juliana lives another pair of MPs who call themselves the "odd couple"--Conservatives Larry Miller (Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound, Ont.) and James Bezan (Selkirk-Interlake, Man.). They have lived together on and off since being elected and are now on their second apartment, Mr. Bezan told The Hill Times last week.
He said he has a good relationship with Mr. Miller. "We're the odd couple--he's Oscar and I'm Felix," said Mr. Bezan. "It works pretty good for us. It helps offset the cost of living in Ottawa. If one of us is away, the other one can bring our family to visit. It's good to have it that way."
Mr. Bezan said he does more cleaning than Mr. Miller, but Mr. Miller does more cooking. They both try to exercise frequently. "The building we live in has a good gym downstairs, so we've both been trying to lose some of the damn weight we've put on."
Other Parliamentary roommates include Conservatives Jason Kenney (Calgary Southeast, Alta.) and James Rajotte (Edmonton-Leduc, Alta.). Mr. Kenney previously lived with Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day (Okanagan-Coquilhalla, B.C.). NDP MP Tony Martin (Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.) used to live with fellow New Democrat Charlie Angus (Timmins-James Bay, Ont.), and Mr. Martin now rooms with Dennis Bevington (Western Arctic, N.W.T.).
Another pair of Conservative MPs, Indian and Northern Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl (Chilliwack-Fraser Canyon, B.C.) and Human Resources Minister Monte Solberg (Medicine Hat, Alta.), are high-profile roommates who have both blogged about living together. Like Mr. Cuzner and Mr. Eyking, they tease each other about the cleanliness of their apartment--or lack thereof.
Mr. Strahl once wrote that he had spoken on the phone with Mr. Solberg, who was washing the cereal bowl Mr. Strahl had left in the kitchen. "He had chiseled out the caked-on Cheerios, and was now soaking the bowl in industrial strength lye to get off the general scunge," he wrote. "Of course, what Monte doesn't talk about is the permanent high water mark in his bathtub ... The ring-around-the cholera in his tub has been there so long that Monte's wife Deb is threatening to ask the workers on Lyon Street to bring in their jackhammers for some general bathroom cleanup. And Monte worries about a calcified cheerio!?!"
But Mr. Cuzner said the relationship between Mr. Strahl and Mr. Solberg is likely as friendly as his own and Mr. Eyking's. "I know both of them, they both love to laugh, they're both capable Members of Parliament, but they both have a sense of humour and they're both pretty grounded guys," he told The Hill Times. But he said he and Mr. Eyking make "a much more attractive couple."
********
THE HILL TIMES
Monday, January 21, 2008
FEATURE - pg. 16
"Roommates Eyking, Cuzner getting the 'seven-year itch'"
By Meghan Moloney
Liberal MP Mark Eyking says he and his roommate Grit MP Rodger Cuzner have the "seven-year itch."
Like a number of MPs, the two Cape Bretoners have shared an Ottawa apartment since January 2001, after they were both first elected to Parliament in November 2000. They're good friends, but it's never easy having a roommate. Everyone has their differences, even two Grit Nova Scotian MPs who like to kid around, believe it or not.
"We always seem to be on different sides of the fence," Mr. Eyking (Sydney-Victoria, N.S.) told The Hill Times last week. Mr. Cuzner's (Cape Breton-Canso, N.S.) "a Protestant, I'm a Catholic, he's a Toronto Maple Leaf, I'm a Montreal Canadien, he was a Chretien supporter, I was a Paul Martin supporter, it just keeps going. He was an Ignatieff supporter and I was a Dion supporter. But the overall thing is we have the Cape Breton flag--that's the main flag in the apartment."
They decided to live together after meeting on the campaign trail and realizing they didn't know anyone else in Ottawa, Mr. Eyking said. They also wanted to save money, although MPs receive a housing allowance.
Mr. Eyking and Mr. Cuzner share a two-bedroom apartment in The Juliana at Bronson Avenue and Albert Street, a building close to Parliament Hill where several other MPs live, including Liberal MP Geoff Regan (Halifax West, N.S.) and Conservative MP Carol Skelton (Saskatoon-Rosetown-Biggar, Sask.). The apartment does double duty as a living space as well as the Cape Breton "embassy," they say, providing visitors from Cape Breton with a place to stay.
"They all know it's a welcome, open house, whether they're coming up for hockey games or courses or just visiting," said Mr. Eyking. "We Cape Bretoners stick together."
Mr. Cuzner agreed, saying it's "the Cape Breton way" to help others whenever possible. But he admits the guests can get noisy, describing one occasion three years ago when he hosted 12 people who were in town for the Gatineau International Midget Hockey Tournament. "Our neighbours still aren't speaking to us about that one."
Mr. Eyking, 47, is his party's critic for small business and tourism. He's married with four children. He and his wife, Pam, ran a vegetable farm as part of Eyking farms in Millville, N.S., and he has been an active member of community and agricultural councils.
Mr. Cuzner, 52, has been a sports columnist, a radio commentator, and an event coordinator for the Cape Breton Department of Recreation, Culture and Facilities and for the City of Fort McMurray, Alta. He and his wife Lynn have three sons.
On the whole, both say they are good tenants and are learning to do domestic tasks in Ottawa. But they don't spend as much time in the apartment as they anticipated. "I remember the first time we moved in, we got all these groceries. We figured we'd be home at 5:30 every night and cook together and all this stuff. Well, that ended after the first week, with votes at night and things like that," said Mr. Eyking.
"When you're away from the apartment for periods of time, it doesn't really make sense to put a whole lot in the cupboards or in the fridge," Mr. Cuzner said. "We did that initially and you'd come back and it would be like a science experiment in your fridge."
Other domestic tasks have caused them more trouble. Mr. Eyking said they nag each other "like in any marriage." Bathroom etiquette is a serious issue. "He leaves his towel on the floor all the time, and he says I don't refill the toilet paper holder," Mr. Eyking said of Mr. Cuzner.
Mr. Cuzner, on the other hand, said that putting the top back on the toothpaste tube has never come naturally to Mr. Eyking. "He's very, very fortunate to have such a tolerant roommate," said Mr. Cuzner. "I'm sure that his wife Pam will have a spot in Heaven for looking after him all these years." When asked what in their relationship has changed over the years, Mr. Cuzner responded: "He's got far less hair to comb in the morning, so that's been significant."
It all comes as good-natured teasing. Mr. Cuzner said Mr. Eyking is hairy, for instance. "It's a little tough when he's brushing his teeth and leaves the door open, and it looks like he left his sweater on. He's a bit of a Chia Pet. So I remind him to take his sweater off," Mr. Cuzner said, taking a friendly jab at his roommate. "We're great friends, and that's only improved over the number of years that we've lived together."
The two have provided each other with much-needed support in the world of public office and partisan politics. Mr. Eyking said he has appreciated Mr. Cuzner as a roommate.
"Ottawa was a big change for me, in lifestyle and things like that, and it would have been very difficult for me without having Rodger as a roommate to get through it," Mr. Eyking said. "When I had problems, whether it's personal problems or problems as an MP, he was always there for me, and he always gave me an ear no matter what time of the day. There's a few things we joke about, but I couldn't have a better roommate."
Being away from their families in Ottawa, it's important to have a roommate to unwind with, Mr. Cuzner pointed out.
"Mark came to Ottawa wanting to help anybody that came to him with a problem," Mr. Cuzner said. "By the end of March, the first year, he was starting to realize that there were some problems that just couldn't be fixed. And I came home one night and he was really beside himself. So we hadn't been on the [Rideau] Canal before, and I said, 'Grab your skates--we're going for a blast.' So we went up and we skated up to the end of the canal and back, about three hours, and [he] just had a chance to clear his head. So that's sometimes how roommates sort of help each other out, I guess."
Even though they don't spend many waking hours at the apartment together, Mr. Cuzner said he enjoys having someone to talk to about his day, to get different perspectives or to complain about various issues. "We're not like-minded on everything, but the main thing is we have a lot of respect for each other and we do enjoy each other's time," he said.
In the building next door to the Juliana lives another pair of MPs who call themselves the "odd couple"--Conservatives Larry Miller (Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound, Ont.) and James Bezan (Selkirk-Interlake, Man.). They have lived together on and off since being elected and are now on their second apartment, Mr. Bezan told The Hill Times last week.
He said he has a good relationship with Mr. Miller. "We're the odd couple--he's Oscar and I'm Felix," said Mr. Bezan. "It works pretty good for us. It helps offset the cost of living in Ottawa. If one of us is away, the other one can bring our family to visit. It's good to have it that way."
Mr. Bezan said he does more cleaning than Mr. Miller, but Mr. Miller does more cooking. They both try to exercise frequently. "The building we live in has a good gym downstairs, so we've both been trying to lose some of the damn weight we've put on."
Other Parliamentary roommates include Conservatives Jason Kenney (Calgary Southeast, Alta.) and James Rajotte (Edmonton-Leduc, Alta.). Mr. Kenney previously lived with Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day (Okanagan-Coquilhalla, B.C.). NDP MP Tony Martin (Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.) used to live with fellow New Democrat Charlie Angus (Timmins-James Bay, Ont.), and Mr. Martin now rooms with Dennis Bevington (Western Arctic, N.W.T.).
Another pair of Conservative MPs, Indian and Northern Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl (Chilliwack-Fraser Canyon, B.C.) and Human Resources Minister Monte Solberg (Medicine Hat, Alta.), are high-profile roommates who have both blogged about living together. Like Mr. Cuzner and Mr. Eyking, they tease each other about the cleanliness of their apartment--or lack thereof.
Mr. Strahl once wrote that he had spoken on the phone with Mr. Solberg, who was washing the cereal bowl Mr. Strahl had left in the kitchen. "He had chiseled out the caked-on Cheerios, and was now soaking the bowl in industrial strength lye to get off the general scunge," he wrote. "Of course, what Monte doesn't talk about is the permanent high water mark in his bathtub ... The ring-around-the cholera in his tub has been there so long that Monte's wife Deb is threatening to ask the workers on Lyon Street to bring in their jackhammers for some general bathroom cleanup. And Monte worries about a calcified cheerio!?!"
But Mr. Cuzner said the relationship between Mr. Strahl and Mr. Solberg is likely as friendly as his own and Mr. Eyking's. "I know both of them, they both love to laugh, they're both capable Members of Parliament, but they both have a sense of humour and they're both pretty grounded guys," he told The Hill Times. But he said he and Mr. Eyking make "a much more attractive couple."
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Dion's leadership would be beefed up by byelection wins: Prof. Docherty
THE HILL TIMES - Monday, Jan. 14, 2008
Politics, pg. 15
By Meghan Moloney
Stephane Dion’s position as leader of the Liberal Party could be reinforced if his party regains all four vacant seats in the byelections scheduled for March, but he would need to clearly redefine his party’s mandate to win back public support, says David Docherty, associate professor of political science at Wilfrid Laurier University.
Prof. Docherty said in an interview that four byelection wins would probably not be a vindication of Mr. Dion’s leadership, but it would reduce the criticism being leveled against him.
“It certainly stops some of the critics in their tracks, in the sense that, if he were to lose two of [the seats], it would give his critics in the party all the ammunition they need to say, Hold on a second,” Mr. Docherty said. “If he wins all four, it’ll keep them quiet, I would think, until the next election.”
Prof. Docherty added that a win of four seats with candidates such as former leadership candidates Bob Rae and Martha Hall Findlay would also send party workers into the next election on a high note, which he says is important. “That helps solidify leader support as much as anything, whether it’s the leader that carries them to victory or not.”
But a strong showing in the byelections would not fix all of Mr. Dion’s problems. He would still face a lack of unity within his own party.
Ned Franks, professor emeritus of political science at Queen’s University, told The Hill Times last week that Dion’s leadership would only be solidified if it was also qualified by a clear assertion of what the party stands for—-a definition the Liberals are currently lacking. Prof. Docherty agreed with Prof. Franks, adding that Mr. Dion needs to give Canadians a clear alternative to the Conservatives’ policies.
“Part of the problem is when [the Liberals] continually abstain and punt on government motions, no one knows what they stand for,” Prof. Docherty said. “[Mr. Dion] has to be able to give Canadians a different vision than what Harper is showing right now, on a whole host of fronts, whether it’s Afghanistan, whether it’s the environment, whether it’s how to deal with cities, whether it’s the nuclear reactor issue, all those kinds of things."
Politics, pg. 15
By Meghan Moloney
Stephane Dion’s position as leader of the Liberal Party could be reinforced if his party regains all four vacant seats in the byelections scheduled for March, but he would need to clearly redefine his party’s mandate to win back public support, says David Docherty, associate professor of political science at Wilfrid Laurier University.
Prof. Docherty said in an interview that four byelection wins would probably not be a vindication of Mr. Dion’s leadership, but it would reduce the criticism being leveled against him.
“It certainly stops some of the critics in their tracks, in the sense that, if he were to lose two of [the seats], it would give his critics in the party all the ammunition they need to say, Hold on a second,” Mr. Docherty said. “If he wins all four, it’ll keep them quiet, I would think, until the next election.”
Prof. Docherty added that a win of four seats with candidates such as former leadership candidates Bob Rae and Martha Hall Findlay would also send party workers into the next election on a high note, which he says is important. “That helps solidify leader support as much as anything, whether it’s the leader that carries them to victory or not.”
But a strong showing in the byelections would not fix all of Mr. Dion’s problems. He would still face a lack of unity within his own party.
Ned Franks, professor emeritus of political science at Queen’s University, told The Hill Times last week that Dion’s leadership would only be solidified if it was also qualified by a clear assertion of what the party stands for—-a definition the Liberals are currently lacking. Prof. Docherty agreed with Prof. Franks, adding that Mr. Dion needs to give Canadians a clear alternative to the Conservatives’ policies.
“Part of the problem is when [the Liberals] continually abstain and punt on government motions, no one knows what they stand for,” Prof. Docherty said. “[Mr. Dion] has to be able to give Canadians a different vision than what Harper is showing right now, on a whole host of fronts, whether it’s Afghanistan, whether it’s the environment, whether it’s how to deal with cities, whether it’s the nuclear reactor issue, all those kinds of things."
Friday, January 11, 2008
Highlight of the afternoon:
Talking to two MPs who share an apartment in Ottawa to save money, and hearing one MP refer to his roommate as a Chia pet, because while he's standing in the bathroom brushing his teeth, he looks like he's wearing a sweater... but he's not.
Highlight of the morning:
Calling the office of an MP to ask for an interview for Fashion File, a Q&A column that talks to parliamentarians about their fashion and style... and hearing his administrative assistant howl with laughter.
Monday, January 7, 2008
CBC still investigating allegations reporter fed questions to Grit MP
THE HILL TIMES, Monday, January 7, 2008
Politics section, page 5
"CBC still investigating allegations reporter fed questions to Grit MP"
The CBC is still investigating an allegation that one of its national reporters on Parliament Hill fed questions to Quebec Liberal MP Pablo Rodriguez last month when he questioned former prime minister Brian Mulroney at the House Ethics Committee.
Jeff Keay, head of media relations for the CBC, declined to discuss any time limits on the investigation or any decisions reached thus far, in an interview last week with The Hill Times. Mr. Keay declined to release the name of the reporter who allegedly wrote the questions, saying he isn't sure when CBC would be willing to do so. "That's going to depend on the results of the investigation," he said.
Mr. Keay said he was unable to characterize what type of discipline the reporter could face, if any. But, he added, anything that happens would be consistent with the terms of the CBC's collective agreement, as set out by the Canadian Media Guild.
The story broke last month when former Liberal MP and current TVA personality Jean Lapierre declared to Mike Duffy on his show CTV's Mike Duffy Live, that an "influential Member of Parliament" told him that the CBC wrote the questions that Mr. Rodriguez asked Mr. Mulroney.
Although Liberal researcher Jay Ephard later told Mr. Duffy the questions were suggested--not written--by the CBC, the Conservatives filed a formal complaint to CBC ombudsman Vince Carlin. "Regardless of who wrote the questions the fact that our national public broadcaster was actively cooperating with a political party in an attempt to embarrass the government raises serious questions about the impartiality of Canada's publicly funded national broadcaster," wrote Doug Finley, director of political operations for the Conservative Party.
The public broadcaster told The Canadian Press that it may take disciplinary action against the reporter for using methods that were "inconsistent" with the CBC's "journalistic policies and practices."
The investigation centres on a list of questions regarding Mr. Mulroney's involvement with the current government's decision to open up the wireless spectrum for auction to new players. Mr. Rodriguez uncharacteristically asked Mr. Mulroney the questions in English instead of in French. He denies getting the questions from the CBC reporter, however, saying he wrote them himself with the help of the Liberal research bureau. "[I was] inspired by the questions in the House of Commons, inspired by the fact that [former Industry Minister Maxime] Bernier never wants to answer questions on this," he told The Hill Times before the House recessed in December.
Reports from The Canadian Press said the Liberals have argued the reporter did nothing wrong and that MPs are regularly "bombarded" with suggestions for questions without investigations taking place. Mr. Keay said that in this case, the CBC "thought that the technique or the methodology was inappropriate under the circumstances," even though they also "thought that the reporter was in pursuit of a journalistically legitimate story."
Following media reports announcing the investigation, Mr. Finley, also the Conservative Party campaign director, sent out a fundraising letter to supporters in which he reiterated the recent allegations of collusion between the Liberals and the CBC prove the Conservatives are at a financial disadvantage, pointing out that the CBC received $1.1-billion in public funding last year. The Canadian Press reported on Dec. 24 that Mr. Finley asked for $100 or $200 to help fight an election. "The Liberals have long benefited from the support of the country's most powerful vested interests," he wrote. "And the NDP has always been backed by the country's loudest vocal interests."
In response to Mr. Finley's letter, CBC producer John Cruickshank posted an open letter to Mr. Finley on the CBC News editors' blog on Dec. 28. Mr. Cruickshank accused Mr. Finley of "inaccuracy, innuendo, exaggeration and expressed malice," and lamented the fact that he continued to denigrate the integrity of the CBC even after the disciplinary investigation was put into action. "We accept that you are not the only, or even the first, Canadian political party to use CBC News as a whipping boy for fundraising purposes. The Liberal party accused us of bias on several occasions when it fit their agenda," he wrote, also pointing out that it was the Progressive Conservative government of R.B. Bennett in the 1930s that created the CBC.
Mr. Cruickshank also stated that while the CBC is not infallible, it is accountable for its actions. "When there are errors of judgment, or misunderstandings or improper interpretation of the journalistic standards and practices, we investigate," he wrote. "When we discover shortcomings, we change our standards and practices."
Politics section, page 5
"CBC still investigating allegations reporter fed questions to Grit MP"
The CBC is still investigating an allegation that one of its national reporters on Parliament Hill fed questions to Quebec Liberal MP Pablo Rodriguez last month when he questioned former prime minister Brian Mulroney at the House Ethics Committee.
Jeff Keay, head of media relations for the CBC, declined to discuss any time limits on the investigation or any decisions reached thus far, in an interview last week with The Hill Times. Mr. Keay declined to release the name of the reporter who allegedly wrote the questions, saying he isn't sure when CBC would be willing to do so. "That's going to depend on the results of the investigation," he said.
Mr. Keay said he was unable to characterize what type of discipline the reporter could face, if any. But, he added, anything that happens would be consistent with the terms of the CBC's collective agreement, as set out by the Canadian Media Guild.
The story broke last month when former Liberal MP and current TVA personality Jean Lapierre declared to Mike Duffy on his show CTV's Mike Duffy Live, that an "influential Member of Parliament" told him that the CBC wrote the questions that Mr. Rodriguez asked Mr. Mulroney.
Although Liberal researcher Jay Ephard later told Mr. Duffy the questions were suggested--not written--by the CBC, the Conservatives filed a formal complaint to CBC ombudsman Vince Carlin. "Regardless of who wrote the questions the fact that our national public broadcaster was actively cooperating with a political party in an attempt to embarrass the government raises serious questions about the impartiality of Canada's publicly funded national broadcaster," wrote Doug Finley, director of political operations for the Conservative Party.
The public broadcaster told The Canadian Press that it may take disciplinary action against the reporter for using methods that were "inconsistent" with the CBC's "journalistic policies and practices."
The investigation centres on a list of questions regarding Mr. Mulroney's involvement with the current government's decision to open up the wireless spectrum for auction to new players. Mr. Rodriguez uncharacteristically asked Mr. Mulroney the questions in English instead of in French. He denies getting the questions from the CBC reporter, however, saying he wrote them himself with the help of the Liberal research bureau. "[I was] inspired by the questions in the House of Commons, inspired by the fact that [former Industry Minister Maxime] Bernier never wants to answer questions on this," he told The Hill Times before the House recessed in December.
Reports from The Canadian Press said the Liberals have argued the reporter did nothing wrong and that MPs are regularly "bombarded" with suggestions for questions without investigations taking place. Mr. Keay said that in this case, the CBC "thought that the technique or the methodology was inappropriate under the circumstances," even though they also "thought that the reporter was in pursuit of a journalistically legitimate story."
Following media reports announcing the investigation, Mr. Finley, also the Conservative Party campaign director, sent out a fundraising letter to supporters in which he reiterated the recent allegations of collusion between the Liberals and the CBC prove the Conservatives are at a financial disadvantage, pointing out that the CBC received $1.1-billion in public funding last year. The Canadian Press reported on Dec. 24 that Mr. Finley asked for $100 or $200 to help fight an election. "The Liberals have long benefited from the support of the country's most powerful vested interests," he wrote. "And the NDP has always been backed by the country's loudest vocal interests."
In response to Mr. Finley's letter, CBC producer John Cruickshank posted an open letter to Mr. Finley on the CBC News editors' blog on Dec. 28. Mr. Cruickshank accused Mr. Finley of "inaccuracy, innuendo, exaggeration and expressed malice," and lamented the fact that he continued to denigrate the integrity of the CBC even after the disciplinary investigation was put into action. "We accept that you are not the only, or even the first, Canadian political party to use CBC News as a whipping boy for fundraising purposes. The Liberal party accused us of bias on several occasions when it fit their agenda," he wrote, also pointing out that it was the Progressive Conservative government of R.B. Bennett in the 1930s that created the CBC.
Mr. Cruickshank also stated that while the CBC is not infallible, it is accountable for its actions. "When there are errors of judgment, or misunderstandings or improper interpretation of the journalistic standards and practices, we investigate," he wrote. "When we discover shortcomings, we change our standards and practices."
Rae says PM is hoping general election will be held before four March 17 byelections
THE HILL TIMES, Monday, January 7, 2008
News section, page 17
"Rae says PM is hoping general election will be held before four March 17 byelections"
Prime Minister Stephen Harper's announcement last month to hold four byelections in three provinces in March is now being slammed by some critics who say the Prime Minister hopes a general election will happen before the byelections.
Ned Franks, a professor emeritus of political science at Queen's University, said Prime Minister Harper (Calgary Southwest, Alta.) likely hoped that a general election would be called before the March 17 byelections in Ontario, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia when he made the decision last month.
"I think he set the first three byelections for places where he thought would be advantageous to his party and deferred these [four] in the hopes that there'd be a general election that would intervene, and in the meantime they wouldn't have to go through a byelection that would produce a stronger Liberal Party," Prof. Franks said from Kingston on Thursday, referring to the three Quebec byelections held in September where the Liberals were shut out, the NDP won one seat and the Conservatives won one seat. "He ran into a period where byelections simply had to be called."
The ridings of Toronto Centre and Willowdale in Ontario, Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River in Saskatchewan, and Vancouver Quadra in British Columbia had been held by Liberal MPs since the 2006 federal election.
All four Liberal MPs resigned or retired in 2007, leaving their ridings vacant. Toronto Centre MP Bill Graham resigned on July 2, followed by his Willowdale counterpart Jim Peterson on July 12. Stephen Owen left his Vancouver Quadra riding on July 27 to become VP of external and community relations at UBC. Churchill River MP Gary Merasty officially resigned on Sept. 4 to work as a VP of Cameco Corp.
Mr. Harper had six months from the date of the resignations, or until Dec. 30, to set the date for the byelections, which are scheduled for March 17. He announced the byelections on Dec. 21.
Most speculate the Liberals will win the Ontario and B.C. ridings, but could lose the Saskatchewan riding to the Conservatives.
Liberal candidate Bob Rae is running in Toronto Centre. In a statement on his website, Mr. Rae criticized Mr. Harper's decision to wait until Dec. 21 to announce the byelections. "He's delayed calling byelections for the full six months, and put them off by another three," he wrote. "But there's no point complaining--the elections will happen when they happen, and people will make up their minds and make their decisions."
The Conservatives have also been criticized over their decision to drop their original Toronto Centre candidate, Mark Warner, after an internal party disagreement. According to media reports in November when the story broke, the party said Mr. Warner was disqualified because of complaints from the riding association. But Mr. Warner said the party dumped him because he wanted to play up urban and social issues in his campaign that were at odds with the national Conservative campaign strategy. Mr. Warner said the party disapproved of his public discussion of education, housing, and HIV/AIDS.
"Frankly, I felt there was a lot of micromanagement ... and I don't think it was legitimate," said Mr. Warner in a CBC News article.
Don Plett, the Conservative Party president, told The Toronto Star on Nov. 1 that the party's decision to oust Mr. Warner was a private matter but didn't argue with Mr. Warner's characterization of the dispute. "There are certain things that we expect all of our candidates to do in a national campaign. You're telling me Mr. Warner has admitted himself that he wasn't prepared to go along with that, then I think he's answered his own question."
David Docherty, associate professor of political science at Wilfrid Laurier University, said dropping Mr. Warner won't play well with progressive, urban voters. "Doing this to someone who clearly was on the more progressive end of the party, in terms of his interest in social policy, I think it speaks to a couple things," Prof. Docherty said in an interview with The Hill Times last week. "The Conservative Party under Stephen Harper is very different from both the Progressive Conservative Party and the old Reform Party, where people were encouraged to represent the views of their constituents. So what kind of party is this? That's the message that's probably out in Toronto Centre right now, one that Bob Rae can quite easily exploit."
The new Conservative Party candidate in Toronto Centre is Don Meredith, a Pentecostal minister who co-founded and chairs the GTA Faith Alliance, an organization that works to wipe out youth violence in Toronto and improve relations between the black community and police. In an interview with The Hill Times on Thursday, Mr. Meredith said it was a good time for Mr. Harper to announce the byelections because it will allow the candidates enough time to prepare their campaigns.
"I think it's just about getting everybody prepared for the eventuality that there is a full-blown election," Mr. Meredith said. "We're happy that he's called it, it gets us in a mode where we can go out and campaign, and may the best individual win."
Mr. Meredith said the timing of the byelections depends in part on the actions of the opposition parties in the House when Parliament resumes later in January. But, he added, he doubts a general election will be called before March 17.
"I don't think Canadians, in general, have an appetite for another election just a year-and-a-half or two years" after the last federal election, he said. "Obviously the Conservative Party is in a minority position and they would like to obtain a full majority so that all the laws and bills that they're putting forward can be put through the House without any hindrances. However, I think they also have to weigh the appetite of Canadians."
Opponents of Mr. Meredith and Mr. Rae in Toronto Centre include NDP candidate El-Farouk Khaki, a human rights activist and immigration lawyer, and Green Party candidate Chris Tindal, an interactive media producer who also ran in 2006. He lost to Liberal Bill Graham, who won 52 per cent of the vote.
In the GTA riding of Willowdale, the Liberal candidate is Martha Hall Findlay, a lawyer and a high-profile 2006 federal leadership candidate. She replaces Jim Peterson, who won the riding in 2006 with 55.3 per cent of the vote. Representing the Conservatives is Maureen Harquail, also a lawyer and a former federal environmental prosecutor. Rini Ghosh, a University of Toronto student leader, will run for the NDP, and Lou Carcasole, an engineer and entrepreneur, will run for the Greens.
In Vancouver Quadra, former B.C. legislative cabinet minister Joyce Murray will run for the Liberals and UBC business lecturer Deborah Meredith will run for the Conservatives. The NDP candidate is Rebecca Coad, a community activist. The Greens will be represented by Daniel Grice, a tech consultant and long-time supporter. The previous Liberal MP, Stephen Owen, won 48.8 per cent of that riding.
In Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River, Rob Clarke, an RCMP sergeant and community volunteer, will run for the Conservatives. Joan Beatty, a former Saskatchewan NDP cabinet minister and aboriginal activist, will run for the Liberals, and the NDP and Greens have yet to confirm their candidates. The riding was formerly held by Liberal Gary Merasty, who won the riding for the first time in 2006 with 41.5 per cent of the vote. The Conservatives previously held the riding.
News section, page 17
"Rae says PM is hoping general election will be held before four March 17 byelections"
Prime Minister Stephen Harper's announcement last month to hold four byelections in three provinces in March is now being slammed by some critics who say the Prime Minister hopes a general election will happen before the byelections.
Ned Franks, a professor emeritus of political science at Queen's University, said Prime Minister Harper (Calgary Southwest, Alta.) likely hoped that a general election would be called before the March 17 byelections in Ontario, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia when he made the decision last month.
"I think he set the first three byelections for places where he thought would be advantageous to his party and deferred these [four] in the hopes that there'd be a general election that would intervene, and in the meantime they wouldn't have to go through a byelection that would produce a stronger Liberal Party," Prof. Franks said from Kingston on Thursday, referring to the three Quebec byelections held in September where the Liberals were shut out, the NDP won one seat and the Conservatives won one seat. "He ran into a period where byelections simply had to be called."
The ridings of Toronto Centre and Willowdale in Ontario, Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River in Saskatchewan, and Vancouver Quadra in British Columbia had been held by Liberal MPs since the 2006 federal election.
All four Liberal MPs resigned or retired in 2007, leaving their ridings vacant. Toronto Centre MP Bill Graham resigned on July 2, followed by his Willowdale counterpart Jim Peterson on July 12. Stephen Owen left his Vancouver Quadra riding on July 27 to become VP of external and community relations at UBC. Churchill River MP Gary Merasty officially resigned on Sept. 4 to work as a VP of Cameco Corp.
Mr. Harper had six months from the date of the resignations, or until Dec. 30, to set the date for the byelections, which are scheduled for March 17. He announced the byelections on Dec. 21.
Most speculate the Liberals will win the Ontario and B.C. ridings, but could lose the Saskatchewan riding to the Conservatives.
Liberal candidate Bob Rae is running in Toronto Centre. In a statement on his website, Mr. Rae criticized Mr. Harper's decision to wait until Dec. 21 to announce the byelections. "He's delayed calling byelections for the full six months, and put them off by another three," he wrote. "But there's no point complaining--the elections will happen when they happen, and people will make up their minds and make their decisions."
The Conservatives have also been criticized over their decision to drop their original Toronto Centre candidate, Mark Warner, after an internal party disagreement. According to media reports in November when the story broke, the party said Mr. Warner was disqualified because of complaints from the riding association. But Mr. Warner said the party dumped him because he wanted to play up urban and social issues in his campaign that were at odds with the national Conservative campaign strategy. Mr. Warner said the party disapproved of his public discussion of education, housing, and HIV/AIDS.
"Frankly, I felt there was a lot of micromanagement ... and I don't think it was legitimate," said Mr. Warner in a CBC News article.
Don Plett, the Conservative Party president, told The Toronto Star on Nov. 1 that the party's decision to oust Mr. Warner was a private matter but didn't argue with Mr. Warner's characterization of the dispute. "There are certain things that we expect all of our candidates to do in a national campaign. You're telling me Mr. Warner has admitted himself that he wasn't prepared to go along with that, then I think he's answered his own question."
David Docherty, associate professor of political science at Wilfrid Laurier University, said dropping Mr. Warner won't play well with progressive, urban voters. "Doing this to someone who clearly was on the more progressive end of the party, in terms of his interest in social policy, I think it speaks to a couple things," Prof. Docherty said in an interview with The Hill Times last week. "The Conservative Party under Stephen Harper is very different from both the Progressive Conservative Party and the old Reform Party, where people were encouraged to represent the views of their constituents. So what kind of party is this? That's the message that's probably out in Toronto Centre right now, one that Bob Rae can quite easily exploit."
The new Conservative Party candidate in Toronto Centre is Don Meredith, a Pentecostal minister who co-founded and chairs the GTA Faith Alliance, an organization that works to wipe out youth violence in Toronto and improve relations between the black community and police. In an interview with The Hill Times on Thursday, Mr. Meredith said it was a good time for Mr. Harper to announce the byelections because it will allow the candidates enough time to prepare their campaigns.
"I think it's just about getting everybody prepared for the eventuality that there is a full-blown election," Mr. Meredith said. "We're happy that he's called it, it gets us in a mode where we can go out and campaign, and may the best individual win."
Mr. Meredith said the timing of the byelections depends in part on the actions of the opposition parties in the House when Parliament resumes later in January. But, he added, he doubts a general election will be called before March 17.
"I don't think Canadians, in general, have an appetite for another election just a year-and-a-half or two years" after the last federal election, he said. "Obviously the Conservative Party is in a minority position and they would like to obtain a full majority so that all the laws and bills that they're putting forward can be put through the House without any hindrances. However, I think they also have to weigh the appetite of Canadians."
Opponents of Mr. Meredith and Mr. Rae in Toronto Centre include NDP candidate El-Farouk Khaki, a human rights activist and immigration lawyer, and Green Party candidate Chris Tindal, an interactive media producer who also ran in 2006. He lost to Liberal Bill Graham, who won 52 per cent of the vote.
In the GTA riding of Willowdale, the Liberal candidate is Martha Hall Findlay, a lawyer and a high-profile 2006 federal leadership candidate. She replaces Jim Peterson, who won the riding in 2006 with 55.3 per cent of the vote. Representing the Conservatives is Maureen Harquail, also a lawyer and a former federal environmental prosecutor. Rini Ghosh, a University of Toronto student leader, will run for the NDP, and Lou Carcasole, an engineer and entrepreneur, will run for the Greens.
In Vancouver Quadra, former B.C. legislative cabinet minister Joyce Murray will run for the Liberals and UBC business lecturer Deborah Meredith will run for the Conservatives. The NDP candidate is Rebecca Coad, a community activist. The Greens will be represented by Daniel Grice, a tech consultant and long-time supporter. The previous Liberal MP, Stephen Owen, won 48.8 per cent of that riding.
In Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River, Rob Clarke, an RCMP sergeant and community volunteer, will run for the Conservatives. Joan Beatty, a former Saskatchewan NDP cabinet minister and aboriginal activist, will run for the Liberals, and the NDP and Greens have yet to confirm their candidates. The riding was formerly held by Liberal Gary Merasty, who won the riding for the first time in 2006 with 41.5 per cent of the vote. The Conservatives previously held the riding.
First week published in the Hill Times!
Hello, friends!
For those of you who have been waiting, breath held, fists clenched, for my glamorous debut as a parliamentary journalist... it is here! It is now! It is... not online. Hmmph. I have a bit of a problem with the fact that I can't even read my own articles on the Hill Times website, since I'm not a subscriber. (aka, am poor.) So I'm taking the time to post my stories here!
THE HILL TIMES, Monday, January 7, 2008
Politics section, page 5
"CBC still investigating allegations reporter fed questions to Grit MP"
The CBC is still investigating an allegation that one of its national reporters on Parliament Hill fed questions to Quebec Liberal MP Pablo Rodriguez last month when he questioned former prime minister Brian Mulroney at the House Ethics Committee.
Full Story
******
News section, page 17
"Rae says PM is hoping general election will be held before four March 17 byelections"
Prime Minister Stephen Harper's announcement last month to hold four byelections in three provinces in March is now being slammed by some critics who say the Prime Minister hopes a general election will happen before the byelections.
Full Story
For those of you who have been waiting, breath held, fists clenched, for my glamorous debut as a parliamentary journalist... it is here! It is now! It is... not online. Hmmph. I have a bit of a problem with the fact that I can't even read my own articles on the Hill Times website, since I'm not a subscriber. (aka, am poor.) So I'm taking the time to post my stories here!
THE HILL TIMES, Monday, January 7, 2008
Politics section, page 5
"CBC still investigating allegations reporter fed questions to Grit MP"
The CBC is still investigating an allegation that one of its national reporters on Parliament Hill fed questions to Quebec Liberal MP Pablo Rodriguez last month when he questioned former prime minister Brian Mulroney at the House Ethics Committee.
Full Story
******
News section, page 17
"Rae says PM is hoping general election will be held before four March 17 byelections"
Prime Minister Stephen Harper's announcement last month to hold four byelections in three provinces in March is now being slammed by some critics who say the Prime Minister hopes a general election will happen before the byelections.
Full Story
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)