War and Pestilence are well-known Horsemen of the Apocalypse, but Bribery and Quitting….? From Parliament Hill to the Nickel Capital of the World to the disease filled attractions of the Magic Kingdom, it’s been another busy week in the news, and Open Sources Guelph has you covered from all the angles.
This Thursday, February 5, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz McWhinnie and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
1) Buh-Bye, Baird. In a surprise move, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird announced his resignation with immediate effect from the all important cabinet position he currently holds, and on top of that, he’ll be stepping down as Member of Parliament for Nepean. Forget the suddenness, this leaves Prime Minister Stephen Harper with a pretty big hole in his front bench, and a dependable minister who has been part of the Harper government from its beginning. Is there something more to Baird’s decision to leave politics so suddenly? Is his departure a bad omen for the Conservatives as we head into the 2015 election?
2) Just the Vax, Ma’am. As California copes with a growing measles epidemic, comes news that Toronto now has four cases – two children and two adults – and the only connection between them is that three out of four of the infected people didn’t have their vaccine. Many doctors are citing the anti-vaccination movement as reason for the outbreak, given the large number of parents who refuse to get their kids vaccinated based on the supposition that some vaccines do more harm than good, including a dubious link autism. California lets people opt out of mandatory vaccines, and it appears that people in Ontario aren’t exactly heading the advice of medical professionals either. Is this measles outbreak just desserts, or a sign of bigger health issues?
3) Harper Putting on Extra Security. Last Friday, Stephen Harper outlined new anti-terror measures in Bill C-51 including new powers for security agencies, more monitoring of the internet for terrorist sentiments, and greater secrecy in court proceedings. It didn’t take very long for critics to note their distaste for the new legislation believing it goes too far repealing freedoms in the name of protecting Canadians. Derrick O’Keefe, former editor of Rabble.ca and current editor of Ricochet Media, will join us to talk about the politics of protecting Canadians. You can read O’Keefe’s editorial on Bill C-51 here.
4) A Nickel’s Worth of Attention for a By-Election. Of yes, you don’t have to wait for fall to catch election fever, it’s going on right now in Sudbury. Granted, about the only thing at stake on Thursday’s be-election is who will represent Sudbury in Queen’s Park, but that doesn’t mean the race doesn’t have its own fascinating dynamic. Former NDP MP Glenn Thibeault is the frontrunner as the Liberal candidate, but Andrew Olivier, who was the Liberal candidate in last year’s general, is embroiled in a bribery scandal, accusing the Liberals of offering him a job if he agreed to step aside for Thibeault. No power will change hands, and Thibeault seems like a shoo-in, so why did this race get so dirty and attract the attention of all the party leaders?
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.
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