14 Comments

I thought it was a well researched piece with no bias. I appreciate the extra clarity of the subsequent article but I had no issues. Thanks

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I hope all of our PMs have enough downtime to recharge and refresh as needed. More time for them to just think could only be of benefit.

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Nov 24, 2023Liked by Glen McGregor

Glen, I did see the NP column and, yes, the raw number appeared high but then I read - you were very clear - that that number included weekends. I did a little math (I'm a retired accountant so I can manage!) and realized that the number was well within reason.

Oh, by the way, I despise JT - I can't even write his name without breaking out in hives - but, really, the total number of days is reasonable. Further, I do believe that he does "some work" [how much? don't know] on those personal days but I also expect that there are personal hours on work days. Yup; pretty much like anyone else.

My point, Glen, is that from my perspective, you provided an interesting analysis but I think everyone who was excited or swooning with (joy? ecstacy? disgust?) really needs to settle down. You asked a reasonable question; developed the answer; next.

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Nov 24, 2023·edited Nov 24, 2023Liked by Glen McGregor

Oh, by the way, Glen, thanks for your explanation.

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Nov 23, 2023Liked by Glen McGregor

As some already mentioned, I don’t think the issue for some people wasn’t your facts based article but how your article was used by other people for rage farming.

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Nov 23, 2023Liked by Glen McGregor

Thanks for the explanation. It’s easy for amateurs like me to forget about the difference between reporting and opinion pieces. You did really good work on this and it’s an interesting baseline.

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Nov 23, 2023Liked by Glen McGregor

Well said, Glen. That's exactly how I interpreted the piece, as a counterpoint to Poilievre's constant badgering about the PM's time off. Keep it up.

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The problem is not in the actual facts, which clearly took time to compile. It is in the screaming headline suggesting he is too often absent from the job.

Any fair analysis would have noted right along with the first mention of the days away that such number would be less than almost any worker. Subtracting weekends leaves, as you buried lower in the article, leaves only 11 days a year. That’s two weeks a year holiday.

The article was phrased and organized such that conservative troglodytes could fundraise from it.

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Struck me as gotcha journalism, TBH. Appearing in the Post, and burying the parts about working during personal time and how this compares to an average person's time off, only further confirmed it.

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The Prime Minister is entitled to days off and holiday time. With a young family, working long hours, often late into the evenings and weekends demands some free time somewhere to compensate.

My problem is continual opulence of the vacations that usually require a huge jet engine carbon footprint, not to mention the security detail tab that can run up into hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Even the Queen’s funeral was leveraged as an opportunity to let one’s hair down at $6,000 per night.

Milking the perks for everything it’s worth is a huge top up to an already generous salary, looming pension and a highly visible life after politics with a Prime Ministerial cache.

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Time in a red Canoe like My red Langford Kevlar let's you focus on surviving physical life. At the sames time you can reflect on true life values without refuting illiterate comments by a hopeful no decision no experience opposition leader. Stay the course! James

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I was not surprised at our PM’s time off..

He’s devoted to his elected position.

For you to be criticized about this article is a sign of our non interest and attention to detail with a leader and PM.

The average Canadian today since Covid hit and the truck convoy occupied Ottawa are not respectful of our Prime Minister and his leadership. They would not recognize a leader or his qualities.

The same scenario with PM Pierre Trudeau.

He was criticized every time he governed our country. Yet after he was gone......Canadians realized that they had one of the best Prime Ministers in Canadian history. . and the most recognized in the world.

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The view that PET was some kind of Prime Ministerial Wonder is an invention of the Liberal Party.

Once you get off the beaten track of Montreal/Ottawa/Toronto politics, the rearview look at the legacy of PET isn’t very generous.

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If JT’s personal time was what you were curious about and pitched as a query to the news orgs, then why not balance the article by being clear that regardless of whether JT’s or any PM is off due to vacation/weekends and statutory holidays, in reality, a PM is on deck 24/7. I think he works pretty hard and the pandemic made that clear.

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