Maclean's writer savours vindication for Quebec "most corrupt" story

Martin Patriquin
Martin Patriquin, the Quebec bureau chief of Maclean's magazine, wrote a cover story last September which dubbed Quebec the most corrupt province in the country, illustrating it in part by detailing the dark heart of the province's construction industry. He was roundly criticized for publishing it, including a motion in the legislature by Pierre Paquette of Joliette expressing

Maclean's reprimanded by Quebec press council for "corrupt" cover story

Maclean's magazine has been reprimanded by the Quebec press council for declaring it was "the most corrupt province in Canada" in the cover story of its October 4, 2010 issue.The council released the results of its March 18 decision Tuesday, criticizing the magazine for "lack of journalistic rigour" and for its inflammatory headline. The decision said that Maclean's journalist Martin Patriquin

Comedian Rick Mercer writing weekly election column for Maclean's

Comedian, commentator and TV personality Rick Mercer has signed on to write an exclusive column for Maclean's magazine during this federal election. According to a Rogers Publishing release the first column will be in the issue on newsstands today.Mercer is the host of The Rick Mercer Report, the highest-rated comedy show in Canada, returning to the CBC for its ninth season this fall. He

Controversy over Maclean's's "Too Asian?" article kept on boil

Maclean's magazine's so-called "Too Asian?" controversy simply will not die down. A group called The Chinese Canadian National Council (CCNC) has rejected a letter from Rogers Publishing offering them a full-page ad in the magazine to "directly express to Maclean's audience your concerns" about the article in November. “We believe that Maclean’s has not adequately addressed our concerns and we

Is CBC required to share sensitive and competitive information, Maclean's asks?

Maclean's magazine's Quebec bureau chief Martin Patriquin this week chronicles the siege being laid on the CBC by Michel Drapeau, a fervent and frequent user of Access to Information act and how his campaign may be fuelling a feud between Quebecor and the CBC. The story reports that Drapeau -- a lawyer and retired colonel -- has filed nearly 800 ATI requests with the CBC since the fall of 2007

Liberal Senator asks for revocation of $1.5 million in federal funding from Maclean's

Senator Poy
Oh, boy, this is simply going way too far. 
A Liberal senator from Toronto, Vivienne Poy, wants Canadian Heritage to yank $1.5 million in funding from Maclean's magazine for its recent article now indelibly labelled "Too Asian?", a headline which the magazine acknowledged was misunderstood. From a story in Georgia Straight, by Steven Hui:Senator Vivienne Poy of Toronto has sent a

Toronto City Council censures Maclean's's "Too Asian?" article

Toronto City Council last night voted 30-11 to ask Maclean's magazine to "apologize unreservedly" for an article published last month with its "Too Asian?" headline (later amended online). The thrust of the article was to question whether the preponderance of Asian students at the University of Toronto was turning away other students.The Toronto vote is the most recent such censure motion to be

Maclean's and Quebec winter carnival settle over use/misuse of image of Bonhomme

Maclean's magazine has settled out of court with the organizers of Quebec's winter carnival. Though Maclean's didn't apologize for its controversial cover story declaring Quebec "the most corrupt province", the carnival committee's lawyers began legal proceedings over the use (or, from their perspective, the misuse) of the iconic image of  Bonhomme Carnaval.According to a story from Postmedia

I said Maclean's story was bullshit, and I'm glad, says Regina mayor

Regina's mayor Pat Fiacco, told a reporter for Maclean's magazine that its reporting of the crime situation in his city was "bullshit', according to a story in the Regina Leader Post (which used a euphemism). Actually, Mayor Fiacco said, he was referring to a story two years ago about the north central area of the city rather than the most recent crime stats round up, in which Regina had moved up

New York Times takes an interest in the fallout from Maclean's cover story about Quebec

Bringing up the rear somewhat on the story about Maclean's dissing Quebec as "the most corrupt province" is no less than the New York Times. Its Media Decoder blog reported that the statement of regret from Rogers Publishing president Brian Segal was insufficient for Quebec premier Jean Charest: “He didn’t ask Rogers for regrets,” [M. Charest's press secretary Hugo] D’Amours said. “He asked

Provocation for the nation: Maclean's slammed for calling Quebec "most corrupt province"

October 4 edition
[This post has been updated]Maclean's magazine has provoked a good deal of anger with its October 4 cover story saying that Quebec is the most corrupt province in Canada. Clearly intended to have exactly that reaction, the story by Quebec correspondent Martin Patriquin got immediate response from across the country, according to a story in the Montreal Gazette and other

Ken Whyte of Maclean's springs to the defence of Chatelaine publisher Kerry Mitchell

Ken Whyte, the publisher of Maclean's, Canadian Business, Profit and MoneySense  has sprung to the defence of his colleague Kerry Mitchell (right), recently the subject of a critical profile called "There's Something about Kerry" in the Ryerson Review of Journalism.

The article, which relied on both unnamed and named sources, paints a picture of the Chatelaine publisher having an  intrusive

Maclean's magazine reports on how The Beaver changed its name

Maclean's magazine has published a story on how The Beaver magazine managed its name change to Canada's History. The story, by Martin Patriquin, quotes editor Mark Reid (who, with publisher Deborah Morrison, must be shell-shocked by the worldwide, salacious attention paid to what is, after all, simply a rebranding).“Yes, I like beavers, the animals, just as much as anybody else,” Reid said

Maclean's AD Dewairy takes over Canadian Business, MoneySense & Profit

The recent consolidation of management and staff dismissals at Rogers Publishing's news and business consumer group proceeds apace, as Christine Dewairy, the art director of Maclean's, takes over responsibility for Canadian Business, MoneySense and Profit magazines. This means the four publications share one publisher and one art director. According to a story in Mastheadonline, Dewairy will do

Idea for three covers of Maclean's claimed by advertising agency

[This post has been updated] So we thought the three covers idea of Maclean's magazine last week was a good one -- with excellent art direction and each cover featuring one of the three leading candidates in the federal election. What an original idea, we thought.And it appears it was original, but not to Maclean's. The idea came from an advertising agency, according to the president of the

Universities howl as rankings drop because of revised Maclean's criteria

Maclean's just can't win. It is riding out a campaign by some of Canada's biggest universities to boycott its annual university rankings; they complain that the listings are junk methodology, even though they were based on questionnaires the universities had completed themselves.The boycott continues, but now universities who were not part of it are complaining that stripped-down criteria have

Saddam/Bush Maclean's cover continues to cause flurry south of the border

Right- and left-wing bloggers and some mainstream media outlets have swung their gaze north because Maclean's played dressup with George Bush and made him look like Saddam Hussein. The current cover story by Patrick Graham continues to cause talk, which was undoubtedly what was intended. In a story on CBC.ca, Rogers Media spokesman Suneel Khanna said blandly that there haven't been any complaints

The first lawyer shall be last and the last lawyer first?

The counter-attack against Maclean's and its recent "Lawyers are rats" cover proceeds apace. Erstwhile Liberal political operative and National Post blogger and columnist Warren Kinsella wades in with a column called "The rats fight back".As pretty much every lawyer will recall, at the end of July, Maclean's magazine made a bad decision to promote a bad book by a certain Philip Slayton about a

Bar association tried to muscle us, says Maclean's editor

Maclean's editor in chief Ken Whyte has come out swinging against the law community's criticism of last week's "Lawyers are rats" cover. He says in a press release that the Canadian Bar Association tried to pressure Maclean's's parent companies, Rogers Communications and Rogers Publishing, to force an apology. Likely to stoke, rather than bank, the fires is the following comment:That the CBA

Maclean's cheeses off lawyers by calling them rats

The Canadian Bar Association is spitting mad about a Maclean's story headlined "Lawyers are rats", an interview by Kate Fillion with ex-lawyer and legal scholar Phillip Slayton called Lawyers Gone Bad: Money, Sex and Madness in Canada's Legal Profession. Slayton's book has the typical disclaimer saying that most lawyers are not vermin. But the CBA fired off a letter nonetheless, in which CBA