Michael Woods’s Portfolio
Keeping Tom Thomson alive: Mystery man relives artist's last spring and death on Twitter
It’s a testament to Tom Thomson’s legacy that although the celebrated artist died nearly 100 years ago, he’s alive and well on Twitter. As Leighann Neilson, a Carleton University marketing professor, said this week in a lecture about Thomson’s enduring appeal: “When you tweet that you’re giving a talk ... Read more
The Ottawa Citizen / March 20, 2015
Third and goal: Can the Redblacks bring football glory back to Ottawa?
The Ottawa Redblacks took the field at their Lansdowne Park home for the first time on a cloudless Friday morning in late June to the sounds of bulldozers, dump trucks and jackhammers, as workers scrambled to finish building the stadium around them. Players on the Canadian Football League’s newest ... Read more
The Ottawa Citizen / July 12, 2014
Public urinators near Lansdowne irk Glebe resident
Forgive Glebe resident Scott Bentley if football games at TD Place have left him feeling a little peeved. Bentley, 38, said some football fans have turned his property on Monk Street near Holmwood Avenue into a urinal before and after Redblacks games this season. Before last month’s home opener, ... Read more
The Ottawa Citizen / August 19, 2014
Talks between new Liberal government, largest PS union off to rocky start
Talks between the new Liberal government and the largest federal public service union appear to be off to a rocky start. Treasury Board negotiators met with union bargaining teams this week for the first time since the Liberals took power. Negotiations between the unions and the previous Conservative... Read more
Metro Ottawa / Feb. 5, 2016
Seven in 10 appointees to federal government bodies since 2006 have been men
Most of the people appointed to federal bodies since 2006 have been men – which, at least in the official Opposition's eyes, suggests gender equality is not a priority for the Conservative government. The Tories have made 5,833 governor-in-council appointments since they came to office more than nine... Read more
Metro Ottawa / 2015
Canadian translators worry wider access to software will lead to 'hundreds' of job losses
Federal government translators are concerned that a plan to make a machine translation tool available to all public servants would lead to their jobs disappearing.The translators also worry the tool’s availability would “sully” the federal Translation Bureau’s reputation and lower the quality of... Read more
Metro Ottawa / June 8, 2015
Meet the Ottawa-born designer of Canada's new typeface
Before Ray Larabie designed Canada’s new typeface, unifying English, French and indigenous languages for the country’s 150th birthday next year, he was a font-crazed kid living near Arnprior, Ont.. The Ottawa-born designer developed his passion for typography as a small child, when his grandmother... Read more
Metro Ottawa / Jan. 5, 2016
As gold soars what's your jewellery worth?
With gold prices topping $1,800 (U.S.) an ounce for the first time earlier this month and continuing to rise — on Monday gold hit a record high of almost $1,900 — cash-for-gold dealers say their industry has never been busier. “It really is non-stop,” said Russell “Cashman” Oliver, the man known... Read more
The Toronto Star / August 23, 2011
Connor McDavid was born to play hockey
Once Connor McDavid put skates on, it didn’t take long for his parents Brian and Kelly to realize he wasn’t like the other kids. When Connor got his first pair of rollerblades just before his third birthday, he instantly rolled around the family’s unfinished basement without falling. Then he enlisted... Read more
The Toronto Star / March 17, 2012
'Our people here have been telling us get out of AFN': Rival group steps up to challenge Atleo's Assembly of First Nations
In a clear challenge to the Assembly of First Nations, a group of aboriginal chiefs will meet this month in a bid to establish a rival group to deal with the federal government. The July 14-18 National Treaty Gathering at Onion Lake First Nation in Saskatchewan is scheduled the same week as the AFN’s... Read more
The National Post / July 4, 2013
CN Rail ‘extremely frustrated’ by Ottawa's handling of Idle No More blockade in Sarnia, documents show
CN Rail expressed frustration to federal government officials about the handling of a First Nations rail blockade in Sarnia late last year, while the voice of Canada’s propane industry asked Public Safety Minister Vic Toews to intervene in the matter, according to emails obtained by Postmedia News... Read more
The National Post / April 10, 2012
Strike takes a toll
Last Friday at work, Sarah Mitchell-Loyst broke down and cried. "I had never broken down at my job before," she said. Mitchell-Loyst, her husband, John Loyst, and their two children live with John's brother Jay, who uses a wheelchair because he has a developmental defect known as spina bifida. Jay... Read more
Kingston Whig-Standard / June 11, 2009