Regular readers of this blog know that we are waist-deep in transcripts from our MP exit interview project. To date, we've spoken to 66 MPs from all parties living in most regions of Canada.  At two hours apiece, these interviews have generated a ton fascinating information that we'll be sharing in a number of ways, including in a series of reports, over the coming year. We're starting where... [More]

For more on yesterday's piece on free speech in Canada, a short debate between Paul Saurette and Margaret Wente. Among other things, they discuss the role of controversial arguemnts and individuals in public life.  It was reminiscent of many of themes of last week's emotion and public policy conference. If this continues, I'll surely regret my decision to forgo philosophy in first year unive... [More]

Rumours to the contrary aside, if March is any indication, there is good reason to believe that philosophy is alive and well in modern life. Today, Paul Saurette encourages us to reflect, in light of Ann Coulter's recently-thwarted attempt to address a crowd in Ottawa, on the appropriate justifications for limiting free speech in Canada.  His plea for a "thoughtful and nuanced consideration... [More]

Edited tapes of Paul Steiger's recent talk on the creation of the foundation-funded investigative newsroom ProPublica are now available. His remarks have been edited down into five parts: 1. Introduction to ProPublica. 2. Assesment of how they overcame their initial set of challenges. 3. The challenges looking forward. 4 & 5. Audience questions, including how ProPublica collaborates with ... [More]

On a day where our southern neighbours await their potentially historic healthcare vote, it feels fitting to share summaries of the excellent symposium on emotion and public policy held at the University of Toronto last week. The first portion was a public lecture, anchored on a poll that showed Canadians overwhelmingly reject the notion that emtion is a good thing in political leaders, or that e... [More]

In addition to the good upcoming public policy chit-chat this week, we add two notes which will be of particular interest to the journalistically-inclined. First, on Tuesday March 16 the Canadian Journalism Foundation is hosting a roundtable discussion with four journalists who covered the immediate aftermath of the hurricane in Haiti -a heartbreaking story that was no doubt extremely dif... [More]

Joseph Brean caught up with ProPublica's Paul Stieger during his visit to Toronto last week for the Samara-Massey journalism seminars, and Brean's interview featured as the National Post's Saturday interview. Of particular interest are Steiger's descriptions of how his non-profit, foundation-funded investigative newsroom so successfully collaborates with mainstream news publications, bot... [More]

Recently back in the big smoke after my annual in-person visit to Question Period, I can assure everyone that emotion - real and contrived - is alive and well in Canadian politics. For those interested in exploring emotion and public policy in a slightly more, shall we say, detached fashion, next Tuesday evening, March 16, there is a free public lecture on emotion and public policy at th... [More]

Paul Steiger was in Toronto on Monday, sharing the story of ProPublica's first two years and the challenges it faces into the future. ProPublica is a foundation-funded investigative newsroom, based in New York and founded two years ago with money from Herb and Marion Sandler. With 32 journalists on staff, they focus on stories on the abuse of power and the failure to uphold the public interest. ... [More]