July 2010 – Page 4 – David Akin’s On The Hill

A new GG; abusive minor sports coaches; and so long to Chris Bosh: Thursday's A1 headlines and political daybook

A new GG; abusive minor sports coaches; and so long to Chris Bosh: Listen to my four-minute audio roundup of what's on the front pages of the country's newspapers plus highlights from Thursday's political daybook by clicking on the link below.

You can also get these audio summaries automatically every day via podcast from iTunes or via an RSS feed by subscribing to my AudioBoo stream. Both the iTunes link and the RSS link are at my profile at AudioBoo.fm. Lookin the top right corner of the “Boos” box.

Full Statement from His Excellency Jean-Daniel Lafond

Just in from Rideau Hall:

STATEMENT BY HIS EXCELLENCY JEAN-DANIEL LAFOND

When reading certain newspapers this morning, I learned that I allegedly expressed a desire that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh not stay at Rideau Hall during their visit to Ottawa. I do not know where this unfounded information came from, and truly insulting to me and my wife, the Governor General.

There is no justification for such an allegation. I have profound respect for the institutional ties that Canada maintains with the British monarchy and the Royal Family, and I recognize how strong are these symbolic, historic and constitutional ties.

On a personal level, I have the deepest respect for Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, with whom we established an unforgettable connection in September 2005, when we were invited to stay with them at Balmoral Castle, in Scotland. Since then, we have welcomed, on several occasions, members of the Royal Family to Rideau Hall, most recently His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales and his wife, The Duchess of Cornwall, with whom we got along really well.

The current allegations are completely unfounded, given that we warmly welcomed Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh right before we left Canada for our visit to China, and wished them not only a wonderful visit to the country, but also a lovely stay at Rideau Hall. And it was in that same spirit that we bid them farewell in Toronto upon our return from China, and that, with great appreciation, we received their tokens of friendship.

I therefore vehemently deny the insulting and ill-intentioned remarks that have been attributed to me

His Excellency Jean-Daniel Lafond

July 7, 2010

Statement from His Excellency Jean-Daniel Lafond

Re: This.

“Since her appointment as Governor General of Canada, my wife, Michaëlle Jean, and I have had the pleasure of welcoming several members of the Royal Family to Rideau Hall, notably His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales and his wife, The Duchess of Cornwall, with whom we got along quite well. The current allegations are completely unfounded, given that we warmly welcomed Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh right before we left Canada for our visit to China, and wished them not only a wonderful visit to the country, but also a lovely stay at Rideau Hall. And it was in that same spirit that we bid them farewell in Toronto upon our return from China, and that, with great appreciation, we received their tokens of friendship. I therefore vehemently deny the insulting and ill-intentioned remarks that have been attributed to me.”

Notes on the making of the sausage: Lafond vs. HRH

Many of my tweeps this morning had questions (here's one from Kady O'Malley) about the story that is leading A1 in many of our newspapers. As I'm all about transparency — as much as I'm able — I'll try to provide some context:

This is a story we've been working on for more than a week, trying to pin it down from several sources, who declined to be identified for a variety of reasons that we believe to be legitimate requests for anonymity. It's my experience, after working in three newsrooms on Parliament Hill, that these reasons are broadly accepted reasons for granting anonymity by most Parliament Hill journalists.

Late yesterday, an early incomplete draft of the story was accidentally posted online at some our online properties. The complete version is the one that is now online and is in many of our papers. Chalk the mixup to me — the new guy in the chain who had an incomplete understanding of our copy flows to dozens and dozens of our papers and all of their related online properties. (Betcha didn't know that the combined circulation of our papers is more than 6 million. It's a big complicated outfit here!)

So: The difference between the incomplete draft that made it online and the final version? There are precisely two:

– A quote was removed that, upon subsequent double-checks with all our sources, seemed to be more spin than fact.

– We added a line to note that Mme Jean had nothing to do with Lafond's request. We felt that was an important point that, again, was made by several sources.

The bottom line to the story — that Lafond asked that the Queen not stay at Rideau Hall — was unchanged.

Journalists will recognize these kinds of changes as routine tweeks that often happen as a story develops and works its way through several editors.

So that's the how this sausage was made on this one.

Lafond's royal suggestion; heatwaves; and a big stink: Wednesday's A1 headlines and political daybook

Lafond's royal suggestion; heatwaves; and a big stink: Listen to my four-minute audio roundup of what's on the front pages of the country's newspapers plus highlights from Wednesday's political daybook by clicking on the link below.

Follow the money: Apple, Zittrain and conflicts-of-interest

I'm sure he doesn't remember me but I was rather impressed meeting and listening to Jonathan Zittrain years ago when I was a technology reporter and was lucky enough to have an employer that would send me from time to time to meet some of tech's leading lights in Boston, Silicon Valley and elsewhere.

Politics has been my full-time beat for the last five years but I continue to follow, as I'm able, what Jonathan and other influential thinkers/writers in the tech space are up to (Incomplete list of others I try to keep up with: Accordion Guy, John Markoff, Dave Farber, Oxblood Ruffin, Michael Geist, Tara Calishain, David Weinberger, Mathew Ingram, David Isenberg, Mark Evans, Bill St. Arnaud …)

I give that as context as I point you to this blog post by Emily Brill hosted at The Daily Beast. Emily notes that Zittrain, who has been an influential critic of Apple Computer Inc., has received donations towards his work and the work of the Berkman Center at Harvard, which he co-founded, from Apple's competitors. Emily's piece is “this close” to sounding like sour grapes. She did not get a research job she wanted at Berkman but — kudos to her — she disclosed that fact in the piece. But while she discloses her potential bias, she reports that there was no disclosure when Microsoft picked up the tab for free lunches for Berkman seminar attendees. That's not right.

These are not insignificant observations. Even where there is no actual conflict-of-interest, the perception that there may be a conflict-of-interest is something that is to be avoided among journalists, academics, and others who are in the business of getting by on their wits. It's one reason I have had this disclaimer/explanation on my blog for several years now.

And it might be a good reason why the Berkman Center might want to be as upfront as possible about all of its funding sources.

UPDATE: A few hours after posting this, I received the following note from Larry D. Kramer, the Dean of Stanford Law School, who provides some more information on this issue:

To say that Professor Zittrain's class at Stanford was funded by a “special grant” from Microsoft is highly misleading. The class was an experimental and unusual arrangement that involved bringing Harvard students to Stanford for a special three-week joint class. It was arranged long before the grant from Microsoft was even in the works. The grant, in turn, was secured with room for discretionary uses and with no mention of the Zittrain class. We subsequently decided that we could use some of these resources to fund Zittrain's class, which was within its general terms. But while we did, as a courtesy, let Microsoft know later that we had used a portion of their grant for this purpose, we did not seek their permission. Nor did we inform either Professor Zittrain or the class of the source of funding, as it was irrelevant under the circumstances. Dinners for the three weeks were catered because to fit the course into this short time frame required meeting for many hours each evening, including through the dinner hours.

G20's a bust; heatwaves and blackouts; and the death of an NHL tough guy: Tuesday's A1 headlines and political daybook

G20's a bust; heatwaves and blackouts; and the death of an NHL tough guy: Listen to my four-minute audio roundup of what's on the front pages of the country's newspapers plus highlights from Tuesday's political daybook by clicking on the link below.

The race is on for Milliken's seat: Queen's law school dean wants in

Bill Flanagan, the dean of the law school at Queen's University, has called a press conference for Thursday afternoon in which he will “make an announcement about Liberal nomination race in Kingston and the Islands.”

Kingston and the Islands has been represented since 1988 by a certain Peter Milliken who, after setting the all-time record for longevity in the Speaker's Chair in the Canadian House of Commons, has decided to retire at the end of this Parliament.

Before Milliken, Kingston was represented by Progressive Conservative Flora MacDonald.

And, with Milliken out of the picture, the Conservative Party of Canada believes it has a good shot of making eastern Ontario, including Kingston, completely blue.

Flanagan, presumably, seeks to spoil the plans of S. Harper and Co. by winning the nomination and then winning the seat.

Here's some excerpts from a piece Ian Elliot had in the Kingston Whig-Standard just before Milliken announced his retirement:

Local Liberals are tight-lipped about whether Peter Milliken's traditional summer barbecue for his supporters is going to be his last.

Milliken has called a news conference to follow the annual members-only barbecue at his house near Elginburg.

Milliken has not only never held a news conference after the annual garden party, but no Kingston reporter can recall him holding a news conference, ever. Even when he chooses to run for re-election, he makes his announcement with a written statement.

… Bittu George, a longtime party member and former city councillor, is often mentioned as a possible successor to Milliken, but he was similarly tight-lipped yesterday.

… [Milliken] said he did not enjoy the 2008 election campaign as much as he enjoyed past ones. In that election, he won by his lowest margin ever, both in the number of votes cast for him and percentage of all votes cast.

Milliken has won some of the most massively lopsided votes ever in the riding — sometimes while barely even bothering to campaign — but in 2008, Conservative hopeful Brian Abrams came within 4,000 votes of unseating him.

Abrams is standing again for the Tories, while Eric Walton is already on deck for the Greens and Daniel Beals is running for the NDP.

George wouldn't say if he is interested in being a candidate but did acknowledge that people have encouraged him to run.

Bill Flanagan, the dean of law at Queen's University is another name that is mentioned as a successor to Milliken, but he was equally reticent to confirm any of the rumours swirling around the Kingston political scene.

“I can only say that I'm looking forward to Saturday's barbecue and it will be about celebrating the achievements of Peter Milliken,” he said. “I'm expecting a great turnout and we're all just hoping it doesn't rain.”

Ignatieff in China: Avoiding "megaphone diplomacy"

Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff is in Beijing today where, among other things, he delivered a speech at the University of Tsinghua. An excerpt:

And as China continues to work toward fostering a harmonious society, Canada must remain engaged with China, as we have been in the past, on important issues of mutual concern.

We must be ready to speak plainly with one another about human rights, always understanding that neither of our countries has a flawless past or present, and always conscious of the vast differences in our respective histories, societies, and political cultures.

Canada can contribute more to the development of human rights in China and to strengthening the rule of law through this array of people-to-people interactions, than by megaphone diplomacy.

We should move forward together, to learn from each other in matters of rights, justice, civil service reform, and corporate social responsibility.

…. I’m in China to build relationships and build trust.

I’m in China to understand, to listen, and to learn.

I am here to engage China as a friend to Canada, and to speak frankly, as good friends do.

And I intend to be back frequently.

Hard rock miners, the Queen, tornadoes and touchdowns: Monday's A1 Headlines and Political Daybook

Hard rock miners may go back to work, the Queen, tornadoes and touchdowns: Listen to my four-minute audio roundup of what's on the front pages of the country's newspapers plus highlights from Monday's political daybook by clicking on the link below.