My Interview with Senator Hugh Segal

Interviewing politicians is so much easier when they come through to visit Kingston rather than me going either to Calgary, Ottawa or Toronto to interview them!

Senator Hugh Segal is a Conservative member of the Canadian Senate (appointed by Prime Minister Paul Martin).

The Senator came by Queen’s University to give a talk on ethics and partisanship, especially during political campaigns. He was also coming through to promote his new book on the recent history of Conservative demise and renewal in Canada.

After his speech, I had the opportunity to set up the camera and start rolling on a previously unscheduled interview. We discuss topics ranging from parliamentary obstructionism, Senate reform, Garth Turner and the 2006 General Election.

Comments, video production tips (I look like a giant in the framing of the video) and any other interesting discussion is welcome!

Kids can trick-or-treat for Volpe

Hey Kids!

This Hallowe’en, Uncle Joe Volpe wants you to trick-or-treat for his Liberal leadership. If you don’t have a trust-fund to give to Joe, you can go door-to-door collecting money dressed up as mummy, a witch, or a newly minted, yet deceased, member of the Liberal Party of Canada!

Trick-or-treat for Volpe!

Make your own fundraising box!

Click to enlarge
box-picture.jpg
Exterior (PDF — Click to download)
volpe-outside.jpg
Interior (PDF — Click to download)
volpe-inside.jpg

A special thanks to the frog-lady blog for the South Park likeness of Uncle Joe that was used as one small (but amusing) design element to create these boxes!

While you were barking…

Stories in the written press (newspaper/internet) about Puppy-gate: 376

Number of news stories about announced by-elections: 97

Number of news stories about the Conservative government’s Dangerous Offenders legislation: 127

Has the Canadian news media gone to the dogs?

Blogging Tories co-founder Craig Smith seems to think so too

(number of stories from Google News likely to change over time. These numbers were a snapshot of about 7am this morning)

BONUS: Researching this article, I found perhaps the most bizarre, incoherent hodgepodge of anti-Conservative blather to date on puppy-gate and it comes courtesy of Toronto Star’s “Slinger”. Tie Domi, puppy-gate, a Peter MacKay assault fantasy, nazis, sexism and a critique on imagined Conservative (and Canadian) prejudice against Islam all at once? Who knew that the symptoms of Conservative Derangement Syndrome had parallels with those of ADHD?