David Akin
Chief Political Correspondent
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 Corus Radio stations and at Globalnews.ca.
Akin’s reporting has literally taken him around the world. He has covered Canadian politicians at G7 and G20 summits in St. Petersburg, Russia; Perth, Australia; Kampala, Uganda; and Seoul, South Korea. He has also reported from Tahrir Square during the Arab Spring of 2011; from post 9/11 terror trials at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; and was in Rome in 2013 to cover the election of Pope Francis.
He has covered 7 federal elections and more than 20 provincial elections.
In his 40-year journalism career, Akin has been a member of the inaugural staff of the National Post, was a contributing writer for The Globe and Mail, and served as Parliamentary Bureau Chief for Sun Media. He has also been a parliamentary correspondent for CTV National News.
He has long been one of Canada’s journalism pioneers when it comes to exploring ways to use digital and social media as well as computer-assisted tools for newsgathering and publishing.
Akin received the 2017 National Newspaper Award for political reporting for breaking the news about Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s 2017 Christmas holiday at the Aga Khan’s island in the Bahamas, a series of stories that led to Trudeau becoming the first prime minister in history to have been found to have broken a federal statute. Akin is also the recipient of a Gemini Award (now known as the Canadian Screen Awards) for his television reporting.
Akin was born in Montreal and studied history at the University of Guelph. He lives near Ottawa with his wife and two children and enjoys cross-country skiing, golf, and collecting Canadian stamps.
Contact David Akin
Author Archives
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Pension funds are Canada’s ‘crown jewels.’ Should they invest more at home?Ottawa says it's looking to encourage Canada's public pension plans to invest more in the country. Some members of the business community support the idea, but pensions push back.CanadaMar 15
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Harper-era cabinet minister Ed Fast will not seek re-electionFast's resignation should set off some vigorous internal politicking among Conservatives keen to represent two ridings near Abbotsoford the party is expected to win.PoliticsMar 14
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A closer look at the growing diversity of Conservatives under PoilievreThough the Conservatives have sometimes struggled to build support in cultural communities, Pierre Poilievre has led an effort to diversify his team's gender and ethnic mix.CanadaMar 8
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Ottawa ends pandemic programs, shifts priorities in $449B spending planWhile the government's tries to lower discretionary spending, overall spending will grow next year driven by higher debt servicing costs and transfers to seniors and provinces.PoliticsMar 7
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Ottawa wants billions more for debt, defence, Indigenous kidsThe single biggest item the government needs more money for is an extra $3.2 billion to service the national debt.CanadaFeb 20
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Canadian authorities cautious, nervous about AI in political campaignsArtificial intelligence tools are being increasingly used and, some fear, abused in the U.S. But in Canada, political actors are just starting take up AI tools.CanadaFeb 18
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What’s driving New Democrats in the West away from Jagmeet Singh’s NDPAn Alberta NDP leadership hopeful argues it should no longer be automatic that buying members in a provincial party makes you a member of the federal NDP.CanadaFeb 17
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In Generation Z, a new kind of voter emerges, focused more on issues, less on partiesThere will be about 4.5 million eligible voters under the age of 30, a cohort demographers call Generation Z and they engage in politics in different ways than older voters.PoliticsJan 22
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Internal government polls capture desire for balanced budget, housing spendingNearly 60 per cent of Canadians believe Ottawa should balance the budget though many are ready to run bigger deficits so long as the extra money is spent on housing.PoliticsJan 3
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PCO poll finds many do not trust the media and do not believe news outlets are closingLocal governments scored highest when it comes to trust, while social media platforms scored lowest, with just one in 10 believing those platforms act in the public interest.PoliticsDec 27, 2023
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Poll finds 2023 Poilievre ads spur same voter response as 2015 Trudeau adsInnovative Research finds the Conservative Party of Canada has positioned itself as the party of 'hope' in much the same way the Liberals ahead of the 2015 election.CanadaDec 21, 2023
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NDP ridings got more federal rapid housing cash than Conservative ones. Why?The country's largest cities benefited most from a $4-billion fund to build housing for those most at risk of homelessness, while small centres got less.PoliticsDec 6, 2023
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ANALYSIS: Would replacing Trudeau help the Liberals? It’s probably unlikelyNew polling shows the Liberal Party's biggest liability is its leader Justin Trudeau. Would a new leader help? And how will the party win support despite Trudeau's unpopularity?CanadaNov 30, 2023
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Poll says three in four want Trudeau to go, but Trudeau insists he’ll stayThe Conservatives have a 16-point lead. Three-quarters of the country think it's time for a change. But Justin Trudeau is vowing to fight Pierre Poilievre in the next election.PoliticsNov 29, 2023
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Conservatives promise unanimous support for national carbon tax pauseFederal Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre is challenging the minority Liberal government to remove federal surcharges on all home heating energy.PoliticsOct 29, 2023
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Trudeau government’s own polling program is saying it’s in troubleNearly 24,000 were polled and a healthy majority gave the Trudeau government a failing grade for the way it was handling the economy, climate change and Indigenous issues.PoliticsOct 22, 2023
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NOTEBOOK: Atlantic, Pacific voters most worried about extreme weatherCanadians living on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts tend to have stronger feelings about extreme weather events according to internal government polls obtained by Global News.CanadaOct 21, 2023
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ANALYSIS: Manitoba Liberals could be the key in historic provincial electionBoth PC Leader Heather Stefanson and NDP Leader Wab Kinew are looking to make history on Oct. 3. But it could be Manitoba Liberals who decide which one of them moves forward.PoliticsSep 3, 2023
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ANALYSIS: To lead on Arctic issues, Trudeau must be more present in the NorthA Global News analysis of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's itineraries shows that, of the 2,658 days he's been in office, he's spent just 10 days in the Arctic.PoliticsJun 29, 2023
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Canada’s elections authorities move slowly, carefully to digitize votingElection Nova Scotia's historic step is a good example of the kind of cautious, incremental approach often taken by elections authorities when it comes to technology.PoliticsMay 1, 2023
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Ottawa spends millions on 944K phone lines. Nearly a third are ‘dormant’The information comes as Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has vowed to find more than $15 billion in savings from the federal budget over the next four years.PoliticsApr 1, 2023
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ANALYSIS: How a looming vote on Katie Telford may test the Liberal-NDP dealOpposition parties believe Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's chief of staff Katie Telford knows when and what kind of information Trudeau had on foreign election interference.CanadaMar 17, 2023
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Russian disinformation fogs up view of Ukraine war for many CanadiansInternal government polls obtained by Global News show that two-thirds of Canadians say disinformation campaigns impacts their ability to tell fact from fiction about Ukraine.PoliticsFeb 24, 2023
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Canada will soon get a new electoral map — and it may have a blue tintAlberta gets three new seats. A part of BC that votes Conservative gets a new seat. And the Liberal fortress of Toronto loses a seat in the proposed new federal riding map.PoliticsFeb 20, 2023
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Conservatives buy ad time in Atlantic time to attack Trudeau ‘carbon tax’The 30-second TV spot features Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, was shot in St. John's, and attacks the governing Liberals on the cost of home heating.PoliticsFeb 17, 2023