MacKay Joins the March out the Conservative Caucus Door

In a shocking news item this morning, Justice Minister Peter MacKay announced that he would not be seeking re-election in this fall’s Federal Election. It’s another sudden loss for the Harper government that is going into this coming election with a further diminished bench that includes the previously announced loss of former Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird and Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages Shelly Glover. Continue reading “MacKay Joins the March out the Conservative Caucus Door” →

Open Sources Show Notes for Thursday May 28, 2015

This week, Open Sources Guelph is going to try something different: back-to-back interviews! As luck would have it, the radio gods have gifted us with two insightful and locally-focused interviews on this week’s show, from the relevant and sensitive issues surrounding sexual assault awareness and prevention, to a pair of politicians questing to better understand the demands and limitations of public transportation in the Royal City. Continue reading “Open Sources Show Notes for Thursday May 28, 2015” →

Editorial Cartoonist Wins Journalist of the Year for Cirillo Tribute

The day after the fatal shooting on Parliament Hill, a cartoon by Bruce MacKinnon published in the Halifax Chronicle Herald, offered a small measure of comfort. The image of the bronzed soldiers of World War I, immortalized in the National War Memorial, climbing down off their pedestal and coming to the aid of Corporal Nathan Cirillo, said so much more than words ever could. It’s rare that a political cartoon can be so sentimental in emotion, and in an act rarer still, the National Newspaper Awards named MacKinnon their Journalist of the Year for his creation. Continue reading “Editorial Cartoonist Wins Journalist of the Year for Cirillo Tribute” →

Ad Wars 2015 – Part I

Today both the Conservatives and the New Democrats released brand new ads, and they make a pretty clear statement that the 2015 election campaign is now unofficially underway. The battle lines are drawn here between the governing Conservatives and the upstart NDP: you’re either going to vote for strong, steady leadership, or you’re going to leave behind cynicism and embrace morning in Canada. Continue reading “Ad Wars 2015 – Part I” →

Open Sources Show Notes for Thursday May 21, 2015

It’s legal trouble and potential legal trouble on this week’s Open Sources Guelph. Not against us (hopefully), but the defendants include a colourful cabaret of characters including the City of Hamilton, nearly a dozen misguided Montreal teens and perennial defendant Omar Khadr. Meanwhile, one wonders if we might soon see former members of the Progressive Conservative government in legal trouble since they’ve been having shredders work overtime at the Edmonton Legislature when the voters decided to hand the keys over to the NDP. One might say the old guard was flipping the bird to oversight, though fortunately for them they didn’t post it on Facebook. Continue reading “Open Sources Show Notes for Thursday May 21, 2015” →

Open Sources Show Notes for Thursday May 14, 2015

We’re chock full of surprises this week on Open Sources Guelph. We go from one surprise in the U.K., where the election went well for the incumbent but somewhat less well for everyone else, to surprise in Ontario where the guy least likely to succeed, succeeded, to surprise moves in Ottawa which may have a big impact on this October’s election. Somewhat less surprising is trouble with Ontario’s teachers, but what is suprising is that on a show co-hosted by the long-running host of CFRU’s The Working Week it took us this long to talk about it. Continue reading “Open Sources Show Notes for Thursday May 14, 2015” →

Him? Yes, Somehow, Patrick Brown is the Leader of Ontario’s PCs

Several weeks ago, I wrote about the chances of Barrie MP Patrick Brown becoming leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party and largely dismissed them. Surely, the PCs of our fair province wouldn’t go for the remix version of Tim Hudak over someone with the experience, tact, and legacy of Christine Elliott? I guess I don’t know Ontario PCs as well as I thought I did.

Winning handily by a margin of 61.8 per cent to 38.2 per cent, Brown now has the unenviable task of in just three short years rebuilding the PC Party in Ontario and making them election ready to unseat the ruling Liberals, who will likely still be lead by the Premier, Kathleen Wynne, in 2018. But the question is, can a federal backbencher with a decade-long career having seemingly done nothing to distinguish himself hope to combat two veteran provincial politicians on their own ground? Especially when he doesn’t have a seat in Queen’s Park yet? Continue reading “Him? Yes, Somehow, Patrick Brown is the Leader of Ontario’s PCs” →