Today I asked Prime Minister Trudeau about his assertion that, in response to
#COVID19
, his government "took on debt so that individual Canadians didn't have to."
#cdnpoli
CSIS reported former Ontario Liberal cabinet minister, Michael Chan, now deputy mayor of Markham, met repeatedly with suspected Chinese intelligence operatives. Warned Prime Minister's Office.
#cdnpoli
#onpoli
New direct messaging from Premier Ford at Fordfest here in Kitchener: “Parents rights. They need to be..informed when they [students] make a decision. It’s not up to teachers and school boards to indoctrinate our kids. I can’t even figure out what school boards do anymore”
#onpoli
The PC's campaign manager Kory Teneycke once told us, "I think you’re one of the very best broadcasters in Canada." Then why won't he let Doug Ford come on our show? As premier, he has never appeared on Ontario's public broadcaster for an interview
#onpoli
A new private members' bill tabled by
@ASimardL
aims to ensure Ontario students are taught civic education throughout high school, including the Constitution/separation of powers, so they can identify misinformation.
#onpoli
“Canada is a G7 nation, a nation that has the potential really possibly to be something like a super power. A real player of good on the global stage. But due to ill advised decisions and corruption, we have become a playground for the worst criminal and terror espionage networks…
What’s TVO Jeff? Don’t your remember?
We’re the journalists who caught you trying to deny you told Ontarians former Premier Kathleen Wynne was a “scumbag” who “belonged in jail”. (14:49)
#onpoli
Still trying to wrap my head around this quote from the newsletter sent around by my Liberal MP here in Toronto.
"As the Prime Minister stated, we took on debt so that individual Canadians didn't have to."
#cdnpoli
RIP Hugh Segal. A true Red Tory. An advocate for the poor. A man who believed and fought for things bigger than himself. A guy who truly loved this country.
BREAKING: "Faith Goldy, Kevin Goudreau, Canadian Nationalist Front, Aryan Strikeforce, Wolves of Odin, and Soldiers of Odin (Canadian Infidels) have been banned from having any further presence on Facebook and Instagram"
#cdnpoli
Journalism schools are not nefariously building an army of “big L” Liberal partisan flying monkeys so that they can dive-bomb Conservatives from the sky. But they are developing almost exclusively left-leaning storytellers who question objectivity. My take:
I am chuffed (I’ve always wanted to use that word) to announce that I will be taking on the role of Managing Editor of
@TheHubCanada
in 2024, helping to lead a growing team of journalists and columnists cover and comment on Canada.
I chose to work at The Hub because it provides…
Witold Pilecki, a man who volunteered to be imprisoned in Auschwitz to gather intel on the death camp being built, escaped, fought the Nazis and then the Polish Communists, only to be killed following a show trial.
The insanity that Canada will not have a COVID inquiry.A once in a century event that upended the country. Killed thousands. Rolled back rights. Overwhelmed our hospitals. Unresolved emotions/arguments about our failures, solutions for the next pandemic. To stay in stasis forever
THREAD: After nearly 10 years working at
@TVO
’s
@TheAgenda
, it is time for me to hit the old dusty trail.
I grew up in that current affairs newsroom. I’ve been raised by a family of journalists who respected one another, mentored one another, thought out loud around the pitch…
Harrison Lowman: The old news is dead. Long live the new news:
"Journalists today face a public that is far less interested in what we have to say. Reuters and the University of Oxford now report that the number of Canadians who say they are “very or…
Tonight on
@TheAgenda
8/11pm:
@RM_Transit
tells us how fare integration could transform the GTHA transit system. Ford govt is promising a fully funded fare integration program by the end of this year that will include Toronto and surrounding regions. Will it happen?
Does one laugh or cry when at 4am on actual day of the federal government’s national summit on car theft, someone throws a cinder block through the car in your driveway?
#cdnpoli
I am delighted to make known that
@TVO
will be hosting the Ontario provincial English-language leaders debate on Monday, May 16th @ 6:30pm at our
@TheAgenda
studios.
#onpoli
I don’t understand what all the fuss is about.
This is clearly the perfect most accurate physical representation of the massive dump being taken on Canada’s historical symbols.
Today I was supposed to be producing an in-depth panel discussion on the Greenbelt scandal for
@TheAgenda
.
Instead, myself and colleagues are on strike for fair wages. For the first time in its 18 years on the air, tonight, our show will not have a season premiere.
#onpoli
@acoyne
Am I oversimplifying this?: Elected officials must avoid not just actual conflicts of interest, but equally important: “perceived” conflicts of interests. It seems like they are constantly missing the latter point.
“Younger journalists entering newsrooms are often more committed to sticking to their own idealism than considering a story from every angle.” “They have practised technical skills, but lack news judgement, perspective and are unprepared to be challenged”-anonymous CTV journalist
Journalism schools are not nefariously building an army of “big L” Liberal partisan flying monkeys so that they can dive-bomb Conservatives from the sky. But they are developing almost exclusively left-leaning storytellers who question objectivity. My take:
Close ally to PM Trudeau and Canada’s former ambassador to
#China
Dominic Barton was once head of the major consulting firm McKinsey. Under his tenure revenues doubled to over $10 billion. The firm was also embroiled in major scandals and deepened its ties with the Chinese state
Since this piece dropped I’ve been privately messaged by concerned journos from The Canadian Press+more hosts from the CBC, supporting points I made. And before you ask, yes, they included young racialized women. Our industry has a problem. And we are sleep walking into it.
Journalism schools are not nefariously building an army of “big L” Liberal partisan flying monkeys so that they can dive-bomb Conservatives from the sky. But they are developing almost exclusively left-leaning storytellers who question objectivity. My take:
"Carceral Intersections of Gender Identity, Sexual Orientation and Trans Experience in Confronting Anti-Black Racism and Structural Violence in the Prisoner Reentry Industrial Complex" ($400,075 government grant awarded)
I am sorry to report that our recent guest Liam Dwyer passed away at the age of 96 and 4 days today. Liam protected Cdn shores from Nazi subs in
#WW2
and helped build the great Avro Arrow. He sat down with
@spaikin
only days ago to tell us about his life.
The Conservative platform states that an O’Toole government would “Recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and move the Canadian embassy to Jerusalem.”
#cdnpoli
NEW numbers from me at
@TheHubCanada
: Following years of massive budget cuts and job losses, there are now as few as 54 full-time Canadian foreign correspondents left abroad reporting across all our major outlets, with 40 (74%) of them working for the CBC.
@FredHahnCUPE
Fred. This is horrific. These are slaughtered civilians.
I ask this genuinely as someone who is a Jew, with a trans sibling, who was on the picket line with you no less than 7 weeks ago. What do you honestly think Hamas’ views on rights and protections for LGBTQ people is?
I’m at Queen’s Park where for the first time in history the four major teachers unions are holding a joint legal strike. 200,000 teachers, 72 school boards, affecting nearly 5,000 schools across the province.
#onpoli
Another often missed historical gem: the
#Toronto
city archives. Formed in 1960 they now have 1.25 million photos dating back to 1856. Some of this stuff used to be stored in a leaky attic. The public is welcome inside. Right now
@torontoarchives
has an exhibit on the suburbs.
President Donald Trump is now considering pardoning Edward Snowden. Here's an
@TheAgenda
throwback to an interview we did with
@benwizner
(Snowden's attorney) and
@RadioFreeTom
, shortly after he leaked classified documents exposing vast govt surveillance.
Currently stuck on subway car at Bay station with a police investigation on board the train. I can hear a man on platform yelling “Please kill me”. Day after a 16 year old boy was stabbed in an unprovoked attack on the TTC. Is this really our Monday morning Toronto commute now?
National Day For Truth And Reconciliation to cost $388.9 million. “It would be an insult..to the memories of those survivors I have lost along the way if this day were to become yet another paid day at the cottage for federal workers" - Senator Dennis Patterson (Nunavut)
#cdnpoli
BREAKING: Ontario moving BACK to STEP 2 of its reopening plan, with tweaks:
- Remote learning for all students Jan 5-17 (at least)
- Social gatherings indoors limited to 5 people
- Indoor concerts/cinemas, gyms closed
- No more indoor dining
- All non-urgent surgeries paused
Today we commemorate the 85th anniversary of the horrific Holodomor famine genocide of 1932–33.
The
#Holodomor
caused unimaginable pain and suffering and resulted in the loss of millions of lives of Ukrainians.
We will never forget.
#Holodomor85
We were pleased to profile (as part of our The Future of News series)
@scoopercooper
’s outlet The Bureau today, and his tireless efforts to uncover and report on foreign interference in Canada.
I’m enjoying reading The Hub, here they have profiled my startup (good timing after over 150,000 reads of my Fake Chinese Income investigation) The Bureau: filling in Canada’s intelligence reporting gap
“The third wave was predicted, clearly and unambiguously, and we walked right into it. If this isn’t failure, what is? What could be?”-
@jm_mcgrath
Twice-poisoned Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza (
@vkaramurza
) has now been imprisoned in
#Russia
since last April. Trumped up charges mean he could be there for 24 yrs. His wife was just in Canada begging for help. Here he is on
@theagenda
a while back
Canada has now been without a permanent Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner for more than a year. The interim commissioner's term ends tomorrow, with no successor in sight. More in
@TheHubCanada
tmrw. /1
#cdnpoli
Today marks the 58th anniversary of my aunt Susan’s arrival to Canada. She was the first internationally adopted child in
#Ontario
, and the first from
#China
. Her arrival at the airport even graced the pages of the
@TorontoStar
, where my grandad Ron worked as a journalist.
Saddened to hear about the passing of John Duffy. Here he is on
@TheAgenda
following the last federal election a few months back, describing Trudeau's win. RIP John. Thank you for caring so much about this country.
#cdnpoli
TIL the Canadian delegate who signed the document that would mark the end of WW2 signed on the wrong line, meaning delegates following him all then had to sign on the wrong line. Angering the Japanese, who questioned the legitimacy of the document. THREAD /1
Today marks 4 whole years since Doug Ford (
@fordnation
) came on
@TheAgenda
to speak to
@spaikin
. He’d just been made PC leader. Prov election is June 2. We hope to have the Premier join us again!
#onpoli
This is so wonderful.
Different ethnicities.
Different religions.
No sense of superiority.
No taking yourself or your faith too seriously.
Friendship.
Humanity.
Enlightenment.
@MarcMillerVM
Minister, with all due respect, you politicians all blame us.
“The allegations in the Globe story this morning are false,” - Prime Minister Trudeau.
“I don’t think conservatives can, on one hand, rightly criticize the Trudeau govt’s economic and fiscal agenda and the extent to which its contributed to a lost decade.And on the other hand continue to stay quiet when it comes to the Ford govt”-
@Sean_Speer
The creators of the Liz Truss Lettuce suggest the ultimate conclusion should probably be a livestream of the former PM consuming said lettuce in their newsroom.
The answer to our crisis of young men is a 117-year-old idea. Boy Scouts.
Me for
@TheHubCanada
on the occasion of Lord Baden Powell’s, the founder of the Scouting Movement, birthday today.
"The day has passed when the archbishop or the bank president...gets to stand there and say, ‘There's nothing to see here. I'm not taking any more questions.’ People don't buy it anymore. It's not because their cynical it's because they're informed”
It is the job of public broadcasters to mirror the public they serve, back at them; bringing the big complex (sometimes controversial) issues and debates that matter, that are discussed energetically around the Canadian dinner table, …to the TV panel table. It is not its job to…
.
@TheAgenda
and
#Ontario
’s public broadcaster are officially on STRIKE as of this morning.
@TVO_CMG
is demanding an end to years of precarious contract work and unfair wages. This is the first time we’ve taken to the picket lines in our entire existence (53 years).
#onpoli
We are days and days into this global pandemic, now a provincial state of emergency. And I just wanted to say how proud I am of our team.
@TheAgenda
remains on the air. We. are. still. here. Doing our very best to provide information to the public in these troubling times.
Why an Ontario chief librarian was fired for writing a column entitled “Censorship and what we are allowed to read" . By
@MathewGiagnorio
for
@TheHubCanada
BREAKING: “We are now two weeks into the siege of the City of Ottawa. I call it a siege because that is what it is. It’s an illegal occupation,” says Premier Ford in his speech about the
#truckerconvoy
The Scotiabank Giller Prize: The most prestigious and biggest fiction prize in the Canadian book world twice had pro-Palestinian protestors rush the stage tonight during the award ceremony. A third protestor was stopped. Protestors were yelling about how they have proof the Cdn…
BREAKING: Protestors disrupt
@scotiabank
’s Giller Prize Ceremony this evening. Scotiabank is funding the genocide of the Palestinian people through its $500 million stake in Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest weapons manufacturer.
Tomorrow on
@TheAgenda
:
@spaikin
sits down with the incoming leader of the Ontario NDP (and proud Newfoundlander)
@maritstiles
to discuss her priorities, where her party went wrong in the last election, and whether they’ve lost labour love. 8/11pm
#onpoli
"In our spot check of 34 local debates happening across the province, 23 Progressive Conservatives did not participate, while 10 Green Party candidates, one NDP candidate and one Liberal did not participate"
#onpoli
Mikhail Gorbachev is dead. In 2005,
@TheAgenda
's
@spaikin
had the chance to interview the last leader of the Soviet Union. Steve said it was the "single most important person" he'd ever interviewed.
Here's part of that discussion:
Yesterday I had the honour of interviewing 100-year-old
#WW2
veteran Merfyn David in front of my
@scoutscanada
Cub Scout troop at
@HumbercrestUC
Merf was born in Wales in 1923 and emigrated to Canada when he was just a tot. He enlisted with the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals…
THREAD:
@TheAgenda
is a flagship current affairs TV show for a reason. It deserves to have its journalists treated fairly and with respect, so it can go back on air.
Just a taste of some of the praise I've received over my 10 years from guests/viewers who believe we matter: /1
A food security expert once told me: It’s an abdication of duty that our politicians pose in food banks instead of building our social safety net.“Someone needs to take them by the hand and say, ‘Look buddy I can sort the cans. You go back to Queen’s Park and tackle this problem”
Happy Thanksgiving weekend! This is a time to count our blessings and to give to those less fortunate. If you are able, please consider donating to your local food bank this weekend.
Thanks to those who participated in our Turkey Drive & may God bless each and everyone of you.