Call a news conference only if you have something new or significant to announce -- journalists will lose respect for you if you summon them for no important reason. Choose a time that works best for local media deadlines & a location easily accessible for reporters and television cameras. Consider choosing a location that is... Continue Reading →
Canadian Council of Churches, American health care
By Dennis Gruending President Barack Obama attempted in a September 10 television appearance to recover lost ground in the debate over his proposed health care reform. In a 46-minute speech to Congress, Obama insisted that he was determined to proceed. “I am not the first president to take up this cause,†he said, “but I... Continue Reading →
Canadian Council of Churches comments on U.S. health care debate
By Dennis Gruending The Canadian Council of Churches (CCC) has written to three large American religious groups offering positive comments on the value of a publicly financed and administered health care system. Rev. Dr. Karen Hamilton, the CCC’s general secretary, sent a letter on August 10 to the National Council of Churches, the United States... Continue Reading →
Shafia deaths stir immigration debate
By Dennis Gruending Three members of the Shafia family (father, mother and teenaged son) appeared via video conference in a Kingston courtroom on August 6 to face charges of first-degree murder in the mysterious deaths earlier this summer of four female family members. So far little hard information has been made public about what happened... Continue Reading →
Some churches oppose Obama on health care
By Dennis Gruending President Barack Obama appeared on national television recently to promote his plan for reforming the American health care system. He is involved in a high stakes contest against the massive American health insurance lobby and its political friends among Republicans, but also some so-called Blue Dog Democrats who are opposed to... Continue Reading →
Bob Carty releases album Desert Eyes
By Dennis Gruending Bob Carty is an Ottawa-based journalist best known for his consummate radio documentaries for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation but he has another skill as well. He is a fine musician and singer and has released an album called Desert Eyes: Songs of Justice and Spirit. They are songs about justice with a... Continue Reading →
Bishops clear Development and Peace on Lifesite allegations
By Dennis Gruending Canada’s bishops have rejected allegations that the Catholic aid agency Development and Peace (D&P) provides money to organizations or projects in Mexico that promote abortion. The bishops created D&P in 1967 to support projects in poor countries and to undertake development education in Canada and two bishops sit on D&P’s board. The... Continue Reading →
Development and Peace under attack by Catholic right
By Dennis Gruending The Canadian Catholic aid agency Development and Peace (D&P) has come under attack recently from right wing Catholics in English Canada and the United States. The allegations, frequently repeated, became something of a feeding frenzy beginning in March. The claim is that D&P provides money to non-government organizations in Mexico that condone... Continue Reading →
COAT vs CADSI, Ottawa arms bazaar
By Dennis Gruending Richard Sanders described it as a “David and Goliath†contest. On one side, Canada’s military and weapons contractors (they prefer to call themselves the defence and security industry), along with Ottawa’s mayor, the bureaucracy and most city councillors. On the other side, a small and loosely organized group of citizens drawn from... Continue Reading →
NDP promotes faith and social justice commission
By Dennis Gruending The federal New Democratic Party wants to reach out to faith-based groups and religiously motivated individuals through its recently created Faith and Social Justice Commission. Joe Comartin, NDP MP for Windsor-Tecumseh, is chair of the Commission’s provisional steering committee. “We are going back to our roots,†Comartin says. “The CCF-NDP was created... Continue Reading →
Pulpit and Politics 