Ignatieff's pitch

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, April 21, 2011 at 11:55 AM - 29 Comments

I have a story in this week’s print edition about Michael Ignatieff’s position going into the last two weeks of this campaign and the complicated electoral math with which he is presently faced.

On Monday, somewhere between Yellowknife and Winnipeg, we sat for a chat. Some of what Mr. Ignatieff had to say made it into that story, but for your enlightenment—and as a demonstration of what a few days of travel does to my ability to form coherent questions—here is the transcript. Continue…

A statistically unrepresentative sample of Canadian concerns

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, April 18, 2011 at 2:52 PM - 40 Comments

Over the last few days, Michael Ignatieff has discussed astrophysics with a six-year-old girl (true story), purchased two cakes from a Vancouver bakery, participated in Regina’s spring pow wow, shot a little pool and played with a bulldozer simulator in Dettah and shaken hands at BBQs in St. Isidore and Yellowknife.

Yesterday he took questions at two town hall meetings: the first in Vancouver, the second a few hours later in Victoria. The topics broached by members of the public during these discussions included: cooperation among parties in Parliament, elected MPs who change their party allegiance, airport security, science, taxation, improving access to generic drugs for developing countries, how to assist older Canadians in their retirement without raising taxes on younger Canadians, the case of a Canadian citizen imprisoned in Mexico, copyright law, child poverty, farmed salmon, Canada’s role in the Middle East, the possible health hazards of genetically modified organisms, Canada’s complicity in a 9/11 conspiracy, the recognition of foreign credentials, mental health, marijuana legalization, the high cost of dental work, dysfunction in the House of Commons, Internet usage rates, registered disability savings plans, proportional representation, the use of uranium in bombs allegedly dropped on Libya, halibut fishing, students and funding for the CBC.

Stephen Harper and the Canada Health Act

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, April 18, 2011 at 1:32 PM - 190 Comments

Greetings from the Northwest Territories, where the Conservative and Liberal campaigns have come to debate Stephen Harper’s feelings for the Canada Health Act.

Specifically, the Conservative side is demanding that the Liberal side pull an ad that suggests Mr. Harper once suggested aloud that the Canada Health Act be scrapped. The ad cites the Globe and Mail, but it now seems the comment in question should have been attributed to a different former president of the National Citizens Coalition. (The Globe has now added a correction to the article in question.)

The Conservatives further claim that Mr. Harper “has always supported the Canada Health Act.” There may be quibbles on that point to be found below in the backgrounder the Liberal campaign has distributed, which sets out their sourcing for the ad in question (including, er, Maclean’s) and other comments attributed to Mr. Harper.

Speaking with reporters here, Mr. Ignatieff said that if the Liberal ad is mistaken, necessary action will be taken. Indeed, the Liberals now say they will replace the “scrapped” quote from the current ad with one of the other comments cited here. Furthermore, they say they will post an online poll to ask Canadians which of Mr. Harper’s quotes should be used in the new cut.

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Breaking the ice

By Anthony Davis - Thursday, August 12, 2010 at 11:40 AM - 0 Comments

Anthony Davis

An enemy soldier was on the ground dying. A Canadian army reserve medic knelt beside him. “He’s critical,” he told his commander. “He’s got about 10 minutes left.” Capt. John Grebenc of the Loyal Edmonton Regiment ordered him to do what he could for the soldier, part of a rebel band that this company of 70 army reservists had been ordered to kill or capture. The medic went through the motions of administering morphine. “There,” he assured his patient, “your last minutes on Earth are going to be nice and pleasant.”

The supposedly unconscious “Stromian” soldier—the word was concocted by Canadian Forces intelligence officers—couldn’t help but grin. He would not win an Oscar for this bit of acting. The scene, one of many staged over the course of a week in May during a training program near Yellowknife, was more about manoeuvres than method acting.

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The tally

By Aaron Wherry - Sunday, January 24, 2010 at 1:55 PM - 208 Comments

With 51 precincts reporting specific estimates—restricting the count to media-reported figures and, where available, police counts—it’s possible to account for approximately 21,000 anti-prorogation protestors at yesterday’s rallies. Continue…

Meghan McCain fights back, Georgia May Jagger models, and Jean Sarkozy gets a boost

By Ken MacQueen - Friday, October 23, 2009 at 8:00 AM - 2 Comments

The thorn in Stelmach’s side
It was a rough week for Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach. A new poll suggests he and his Progressive Conservatives are in free fall. His televised speech, intended to reassure Albertans about his handling of the recession, was widely panned and his attempt to set an austerity example with a 15-per-cent cut in his premier’s allowance fell on deaf ears. The nurses’ and teachers’ unions have rejected his call for voluntary wage freezes. And on Saturday, the Wildrose Alliance chose former journalist Danielle Smith as its new leader—continuing the Alliance’s evolution from cranky protest party to credible conservative alternative.

To ghostbust, you must first believe
Peter Aykroyd, an 87-year-old former federal civil servant who lives in a spirit-infested family homestead north of Kingston, Ont., has penned one of the season’s odder memoirs. A History of Ghosts: The True Story of Seances, Mediums, Ghosts, and Ghostbusters tells the multi-generational story of his spiritualist family. The foreword is supplied by his famous son, Dan, Saturday Night Live comedian and co-writer of the hit movie Ghostbusters. Dan writes how his family, from his great-grandfather onwards, were serious and scientific investigators of the paranormal. “Part of Ghostbusters’ appeal derives from the cold, rational, acceptance-of the-fantastic-as-routine tone that Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, director Ivan Reitman, and I were able to sustain in the movie,” he writes. With good reason: the Aykroyds are believers. Dan’s grandfather was a Bell Telephone engineer who considered the possibility of contacting the spirit realm via a crystal radio set. And one of Dan’s daughters, he writes, claims “glops of light and other shapes attend her when pictures are taken in and around the old family farmhouse.”

They did it for their families
An extramarital affair with a legislative assembly clerk has damaged the personal life and reputation of Northwest Territories Premier Floyd Roland. Now his political future rests with Ted Hughes, a no-nonsense former judge and one-time B.C. conflict-of-interest commissioner. Hughes conducted a hearing in Yellowknife to determine if Roland breached the public trust by keeping secret his relationship with clerk Patricia Russell. Both were married and have since left their spouses to live together. During the hearing Russell denied allegations she shared confidential caucus discussions with her lover. Roland told Hughes they kept the affair secret out of consideration for their families. Hughes may table his report by the end of October.

Beatles vs. Stones, next generation
The children of two of rock’s biggest names have taken a different approach to fame. James McCartney, son of Paul, has always avoided attention. He recently debuted his band Light to just 30 people in a tiny Oxford pub. McCartney, 32, and his band went to extraordinary attempts to conceal the name and parentage of their lead singer. “James has a way with melody,” wrote an approving gossip columnist for the tabloid Sun, “and a set of pipes which are more than a match for his dad’s.” Meantime, Mick Jagger’s toothy daughter Georgia May Jagger is sprawled topless atop a Union Jack in a new advertising campaign for Hudson Jeans. While crossed arms or strategic camera angles keep the photos just on this side of decency, they have still caused a stir, because, to paraphrase an old Beatles tune, she is just 17.

This little piggy went to Paris
Newsmakers spoke in haste last week when it suggested Paris Hilton was unlikely to acquire a British-bred micro-pig because the extremely intelligent animals aren’t available in the U.S. Hilton has now ordered a bred-in-the-U.S. Royal Dandie Extreme miniature pot-bellied pig from an Oregon breeder. “So excited for my new piglette [sic] to come home to me,” she Tweeted on Friday. The always predictable folks at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals are less than enthused, saying she treats her pets as “disposable.” In fact, the pet-loving Hilton has quite a menagerie; it’s boyfriends that end up in the discard pile.

From hell, straight to Whistler
Skateboarding San Diego chef Dave Levey survived the fire-and-brimstone of celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay to win the top prize on his Hell’s Kitchen reality show on Fox TV. Levey wins a job for a year working under executive chef James Walt at Araxi Restaurant in Whistler. He starts Jan. 4, barely a month before the start of the Winter Olympics. Of course, he’s survived greater challenges. Not only did he endure the usual hazing by Ramsay, he spent most of the competition in pain after breaking his wrist. Such grit, combined with the 32-year-old’s skater-boy vibe, should make for a perfect Whistler fit. Levey says the tightly edited reality show was mostly real. “What people saw,” he says, “is very similar to who I am.”

Curves and all
Meghan McCain, daughter of former U.S. Republican presidential candidate John McCain, would like to get something off her chest. “Don’t call me a Slut,” she thundered in her column on the Daily Beast website. The furor erupted after McCain used Twitter to post a picture of herself spilling out of a low-cut tank top. Reaction to a revealing photo of a Republican-values gal generated almost as much Web traffic as a certain Colorado family’s errant balloon. First an abashed McCain Tweeted an apology: “I have clearly made a huge mistake and am sorry 2 those that are offended.” Then she got mad. “Honest, I don’t feel that I have anything to feel ashamed of,” she wrote in her column. “I’ve always embraced my curves and will continue to do so.”

Kids say the darnedest things
Lisa Scott of Paulina, La., promised her son Tyren she’d take him to see U.S. President Barack Obama, so last Thursday they went to the President’s town hall meeting in New Orleans. Tyren raised his hand during a question period and Obama gave him the floor. “I have to say, why do people hate you?” he stammered. “They supposed to love you…. God is love.” The President gave a diplomatic reply about how such anger is politically motivated, and people are worried about their futures. The answer was fine, but the question later gave some commentators pause. Just when and why had the hate and rage so troubling to a young boy become a daily part of American discourse? “It was a pretty good question, I must say,” Tyren’s mother later reflected.

Free from Evin
Newsweek journalist Maziar Bahari was released on bail Saturday after almost four months in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison. Maziar, who holds dual Iranian- Canadian citizenship, was arrested June 21 after reporting on the demonstrations following President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s disputed re-election. “Hopefully this is a sign that other journalists who continue to languish in jail in Iran will also be released in the near future,” said Annie Game, executive director of Canadian Journalists for Free Expres sion. Bahari’s wife, Paola Gourley, is confined to a London hospital where she is due to give birth to their first child on Oct. 26. It’s unclear if Bahari, who still faces charges, can leave Tehran to attend the birth.

Fortunately, only the marriage is dead
Just three years ago they were rockers in love. The musical marriage in 2006 of Avril Lavigne and Sum 41 frontman Deryck Whibley ended last week with Lavigne filing for divorce. Neither said what caused their “irreconcilable differences.” Lavigne was seen this summer in St. Tropez with oil heir Brandon Davis. Whibley was recently in Las Vegas with model Hanna Beth Merjos. It may simply be they married too young. As Lavigne said on her website, “Deryck and I have been together for 6 years. We have been friends since I was 17, started dating when I was 19, and married when I was 21. I am grateful for our time together, and I am grateful and blessed for our remaining friendship.” And Whibley is grateful to be alive. Internet rumours last weekend had him dead—not a good start to single life. Luckily that was just a hoax.

Spacing out
There’s a bit of a ham in any politician but the Elvis-loving former Japanese premier Junichiro Koizumi is uncommonly blessed. He once famously crooned the King’s tunes while on an official tour of Presley’s Graceland mansion. But now Koizumi, 67, is really reaching for the stars. His newest gig is as a voice actor for an extraterrestrial hero who fights aliens from outer space in the movie Mega Monster Ball: Ultra Galaxy. Sure, it was great to be premier of a major world power, but being Ultraman King has its advantages.

Sarko’s son also rises
Jean Sarkozy, all of 23 and repeating his second year at the Sorbonne, has been given a boost into the family business by his father Nicolas. The French president has appointed his son chairman of La Défense, the public agency administering France’s biggest business district, in west Paris. There are predictable cries of nepotism and even some of Sarkozy’s cabinet squirm at claims he is running a presidential monarchy. Sarkozy has denounced the “hysterical manhunt” against his son. Jean maintains a dignified silence, relying on what critics concede are two of his greatest assets: his golden good looks and his very nice hair.

No vaccine for Catholic schoolgirls

By Tom Henheffer - Thursday, October 8, 2009 at 1:40 PM - 22 Comments

In a 5-2 vote, the Yellowknife Catholic school board has decided against allowing human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination shots in its institutions. This will make it more difficult for girls to get the shots, increasing their risk for the sexually transmitted infection, which is the primary cause of cervical cancer. “This is not ideal for the work of public health,” says Sandy Lee, minister of health and social services for the Northwest Territories.

In Calgary’s Catholic schools, where the board refused to allow the shots, only one in five girls has been vaccinated against HPV (70 per cent of girls in public schools have received the shots). A similar situation could occur in Yellowknife, where girls are sexually active earlier than in most of Canada, and the rate of STIs is eight times the national average. Continue…

Northern blight

By Nancy Macdonald - Thursday, March 26, 2009 at 9:00 AM - 4 Comments

Readers of Iqaluit’s Nunatsiaq News might know that when Maclean’s released its annual crime rankings last week, Canada’s most violent region was absent from the list. Iqaluit, Whitehorse and Yellowknife, the biggest cities in the three northern territories, with a combined population of around 50,000, are too small to figure into the roll, which ranks Canada’s 100 largest cities. Yet crime data from Statistics Canada are shocking. Whitehorse had a homicide rate 355 per cent higher than the Canadian average in 2007 (the most recent StatsCan data available). The rate of aggravated assault in Yellowknife was more than 350 per cent higher than average. And Iqaluit recorded an aggravated assault rate 1,033 per cent above the Canadian average. Its rate of sexual assault is more than 1,270 per cent above the average—and, according to the RCMP, climbing.

The north’s violent crime wave, much of it sexual in nature, defies easy explanation. Still, there are clues. For starters, there’s simple demographics. “Nearly two-thirds of all crime is committed by young men between the ages of 15 and 29,” says Neil Boyd, a criminologist at Simon Fraser University; 56 per cent of Nunavut residents are under 25 compared with 16 per cent in Canada as a whole. The population of Iqaluit—the country’s fastest-growing capital—has roughly doubled to 6,800 in the decade since it was chosen capital of the new territory and people flocked to new jobs in government, construction, the service industry. Parts of the N.W.T. and Yukon have also boomed, thanks to new resource-extraction projects. And boom towns, as Fort McMurray, Calgary and Vancouver have learned, see increases in crime, violence, and drug and alcohol use (which fuels most northern crime, according to the RCMP).

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