DAVID AKIN

Chief Political Correspondent
Global News

1400 -- 40 Elgin Street
Ottawa | Ontario | CANADA | K1P 5K6
Office (private voice-mail): +1 613 369 4905
Mobile: +1 613 404 6307
E-mail: david.akin@globalnews.ca

David Akin on Instagram David Akin on LinkedIn David Akin on Bluesky Social David Akin on Threads David Akin on Mastodon

Subscribe - FREE - to my morning newsletter: The Roundup

BIO Award-winning journalist David Akin covers Canadian federal and electoral politics and is currently Chief Political Correspondent for Global News where his work is featured on Global National, on Global news programs across the country, on Global News Radio stations, and at GlobalNews.ca. Akin has covered seven federal elections and more than two dozen provincial elections. He has reported from several G7, G20, APEC, and other international summits of heads of government. Akin received a Gemini Award for his reporting while he was a correspondent for CTV National News and received a National Newspaper Award for his political reporting for the National Post. Akin has long been one of Canada's journalism pioneers when it comes to exploring ways to use digital media and computer-assisted tools for newsgathering and publishing. A Montrealer by birth, Akin studied history at the University of Guelph. He lives near Ottawa with his wife and two children. See more at LinkedIn.com

DISCLOSURE: I am a political reporter for Global News, which is owned by Corus Entertainment. Corus owns and operates traditional television stations, radio stations, specialty television channels, and various online content platforms. Corus pays me a salary for the journalism I do. My salary does not depend on any commissions or other systems that requires me to boost traffic to a Web site or increase ratings for a television program. Corus earns the money to pay my salary primarily by selling advertising space but also through subscriber fees. I have no control over the advertising content that you may see displayed near any of my work. As a publicly traded company, Corus must regularly report to shareholders about its activities and finances. You can learn more about Corus, its executives and governance here.

By law, Corus and Global are disqualified from receiving any government subsidies from the Refundable Labour Tax Credit, a tax credit that is available to other media organizations. Privately owned broadcasters like Global are ineligible for this subsidy. Any and all subsidies Corus may receive are disclosed in the company's quarterly financial statements.

When travelling to cover an election campaign or the activities of a politician such as the prime minister, the costs of my travel -- including accommodation, meals, and other incidentals -- are always paid by my employer. I have never received any travel subsidy by any organization or individual I have ever covered or written about. This includes travel aboard the Canadian prime minister's Royal Canadian Air Force plane. Global and all of my previous employers have always paid the equivalent of commercial rates for any of my travel on government aircraft.


I receive no fees, considerations, etc. from organizations or individuals I write about or speak about. I may, from time to time, accept speaking engagements from non-news organizations. I only accept engagements after consulting with my supervisors. I accept no such engagements unless I may publish in advance who is paying my fee, when and where I will speak, and what I will speak about. Anyone who hires me to speak must allow any member of the public or the press to attend my speech. There are no conditions under which I will accept a speaking engagement, for a fee or for free, from any individual or entity registered with Elections Canada or any provincial elections registration authority.

My COVID-19 vaccination status: Got 'em all and I keep getting boosters. Vaccines work. Vaccines save lives. I'm happy to show my proof of vaccine for entry to sporting events, restaurants, and so on. Not a problem at all.

I am not, nor have I ever been during my 35 years as a professional journalist, a member of any political party. No member of my family is a member of any party nor campaigns for one. Neither I nor anyone in my immediate family own shares or equity in any corporation or business including the one I work for. Any investments I have are in widely-held mutual funds.

I am a member of a union. That union is Unifor which represents thousands of journalists across Canada. Not all Global journalists are Unifor members but some are and I am one of them. Nonetheless, you should know that anything a Unifor executive may say about politics may or may not reflect my views. I do not believe it is appropriate for Unifor executives to engage in political activity so long as Unifor represents political journalists. And, in fact, when a Unifor executive made inappropriate partisan comments ahead of the 2019 federal election, I and other journalists who are Unifor members felt compelled to issue a public statement reminding our audience that no Unifor executive speaks for us.

I am a baptized Anglican (which means I'm a Christian). I'm certain I do not go to church enough. But when I do go to church, my favourite bits are a great choir and a loud organ. I promise not to argue with you about your faith (or lack of faith) if you won't pick on mine.

I allow my sources to buy me the occasional meal or beer. And I try to return the favour and may buy my sources an occasional meal or beer. I do not accept gifts, grab-bags at conferences, demonstration products, etc. that are worth more than $50 Canadian. Any other material is donated to charity or refused.

If you think other disclosures are appropriate in this space, I'd like to hear from you. All of my contact details are always at www.davidakin.com.

From 2003 to 2015, I authored and published my own blog under the title: "David Akin's On the Hill." While that blog is no longer active, its 4,000+ posts can be browsed and search at this archive.