Open Sources Show Notes for Thursday June 9, 2016

Let’s talk elections this week. Who’s running them, who’s taking part in them, and how some people want to change them. This week on Open Sources Guelph, we will dive back into the U.S. Presidential Election, not for the last time, to talk about the end of the primary process, but maybe we should rename this segment “What stupid thing has Trump said now?” Meanwhile, a key Canadian political figure threw her support behind one of Mr. Trump’s rivals, while the federal government continues to dawdle about our own electoral reform ambitions. And in the end, we’ll discuss the Toronto by-election, where one good Ford might fill the shoes of another.

This Thursday, June 9, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:

1) Super Tuesday XII: So Very Tired. This topic is back by popular demand! The long and winding road of the 2016 Presidential primary season finally came to a close Tuesday with the last delegates counted. Donald Trump secured the GOP nod weeks ago, but now he’s tripling down on racist comments about how a judge of Mexican heritage can’t hear the Trump University fraud suit because of the Wall. You know, the one he’s going to build. Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton has secured the necessary delegates and is eager to secure unified Democratic support, but is Bernie Sanders going to let her?

2) Second Degree Bern. Like a lot of Canadians, NDP MP Niki Ashton is interested in what’s going on south of the border, but Ashton was more than just interested last weekend when she headed to North Dakota and campaigned on behalf of Senator Bernie Sanders. Ashton, like many others, were upset that foreign political consultants were brought in by both the Liberals and the Conservatives to shape their campaign strategies, so is it right that Ashton should embed herself in the electoral campaign of a foreign country? Would she feel right if a United States Congressman came up to Churchill to assist one of her rivals?

3) I Love That Word “Reform.” Last week, the Federal Liberals made a move to be more inclusive in their electoral reform efforts by giving up their majority on the committee and allowing the Bloc Quebecois and the Green Party to take part. Then a tape from the past surfaced of Foreign Minister Stephane Dion saying that the government should hold a referendum before any electoral reform is undertaken, a position that the government has bristled against. With less than a year to go until their self-imposed deadline for reform, can the Liberals pull it together in time to truly ensure that 2015 was the last federal election with First Past the Post?

4) Ford: The Next Gener-Nation? It’s only been a couple of months since the death of Rob Ford, but the City of Toronto wants those big shows filled, and the race has begun to see who will succeed him in Ward 2. A number of people have come forward to run in Etobicoke North, but the most well-known amongst the candidates is Michael Ford, nephew of Rob and Doug. Ford is 22 years old and was elected a school board trustee in 2014, but he resigned from that post so that he could replace his uncle as a councillor. The question is though, does this young man really have these big political ambitions, or is he being groomed? And will Ward 2 blindly vote for another Ford no matter his qualifications?