Posts with the Members of Parliament tag

Barris Beat

Line in the sand

Written by Ted Barris on . Leave a comment
Carolyn Dunn felt the pressure of convoy demonstrators’ threats.

Until last weekend, I’d become kind of blasé to the words of protest and counter-protest. Every day, I’d read the latest on the demonstrations at Parliament Hill and the border crossings and winced at the deadlock and rhetoric. And, as I pointed out last week, I feared for wider freedom being trampled.

But a TV news story the other night stopped me in my tracks. Carolyn Dunn, CBC’s Alberta reporter, stood adjacent to flashing police cruiser lights, and parked semi-trailer trucks near Coutts, Alta., reporting but also looking over her shoulder anxiously.

Some Freedom Convoy truckers at Coutts, Alta., putting limits on freedom with their taunts.

“Things remain tense for citizens and the media,” Dunn said in her report. She went on to say that some of the demonstrators had directed abusive language at her and other reporters. In other words, in a weirdly Trumpian way, media not just mandates, had become the enemy. And Dunn said she felt uncomfortable having to hide who she was from strangers. “We’ve been told to be careful.” (more…)

Barris Beat

Monumental trauma

Written by Ted Barris on . 2 Comments
Speaker of the House of Commons Andrew Scheer, left, and Minister of Veterans Affairs Erin O'Toole unveil Sam in relief.
Speaker of the House of Commons Andrew Scheer, left, and Minister of Veterans Affairs Erin O’Toole unveil Sam in relief.

Sam helped Tyler make it through. But when he needed the same kind of assistance – nearly 100 years ago – there was no one there to help Sam through. Tyler Briley, from Port Perry, was in Ottawa last Thursday. The minister of veterans affairs was unveiling Briley’s latest creation, a wax sculpture of Sam Sharpe.

“It’s been a form of therapy,” he said. “I’ve just gotten well in the last year, in part, because of my work on this.” (more…)

Barris Beat

More than chasing votes

Written by Ted Barris on . Leave a comment
For every candidate in the Nov. 26 by-election in Durham there is a cost to politics.

At the height of the exchange, the subject came up. After we had addressed the economy, following our discussion on the environment and the state of farming, and even in the wake of a discussion of veterans’ compensation, a member of the audience rose to address what was at the heart of the evening’s discussion.

“What’s the cost of politics?” he asked. (more…)