Open Sources Show Notes for Thursday May 5, 2016

This week on Open Sources Guelph, the general theme is dysfunction. In Quebec, some chaos has been created in the provincial legislature with the sudden resignation of a major party leader. In Ottawa, mystery was created as a suddenly unsullied senator returns to work still under a cloud of uncertainty. And here in Guelph, one of the persons mentioned in the kerfuffle last week at council will try to get back on track in doing the good work for the city. This week, we’ll do what we can to overcome internal strife and talk the issues.

This Thursday, May 5, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:

1) PKP K-O. In a surprise announcement Monday, Parti Québécois leader Pierre Karl Péladeau announced that he was stepping down as party leader, and leader of the Official Opposition, a little less than a year after the party chose him. Péladeau cites family reasons for the cause of his sudden resignation, but with less than half of the current mandate left before the next provincial election, he leaves the party in a precarious position. But can the departure of PKP, a controversial figure since the moment he stepped on to the political stage, end up being a net asset for the PQ?

2) Duff Enough! After two long years, Sen. Mike Duffy returned to the senate this week having been cleared of all 31 charges in his corruption case. To say there was a lot of interest in Duff’s first day back in the office is something of an understatement, but what’s the now re-instated senator going to do now? Is he going to start collecting housing expenses again? Push for back pay? Ask to rejoin the Conservative caucus? And how does Duffy’s acquittal affect other senate cases before the court? We’ll scan the Senate!

3) Allt There is to It. As part of our ongoing quest to host all the members of Guelph City Council on the show, we welcome back old friend Phil Allt, city councillor in Ward 3. Allt is a first-term councillor, but one that has made a big splash in the last couple of weeks, speaking out about dysfunction behind the scenes on council and pushing to make the horseshoe a more cohesive unit without all the infighting. Obviously, we’ll talk to Allt about all that, plus his advocacy for transit, and his weekly breakfast townhalls at Breezy Corners. How is “The Philosopher” fairing in the seat of government? He’ll give us the straight scoop.