Open Sources Show Notes for Thursday January 26, 2017

So some staff happened this week. Too much stuff for a single episode of Open Sources Guelph, but since we only do one episode a week, that’s all you’ll get. So here’s what’s going down: a week full of American zaniness, the Canadian reaction on two key fronts, and some very serious talk about a year in First Nations affairs. We’ll try and decode all the official and unofficial things coming out of the White House, the fallout of how Donald Trump’s new direction affects Canada, and we’ll wrap up with an update about Aboriginal matters with our resident expert on Aboriginal issues.

This Thursday, January 26, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:

1) My Week with Arrogant. So how’s the first week of Trumpland going? Was it worse than you thought it was going to be? The first item up for bids from the new President of the United States was to fight the press over the actual size of the crowds that turned out for his inauguration. The fact Donald Trump would do this is unsurprising, the fact that he would do this in front of the memorial wall at CIA headquarters in Langley was somewhat more surprising. Later, he continued to perpetuate the lie that millions of people voted illegally in an election he won, signed a bunch of executive orders that made only hardcore conservatives happy, and took the first steps to build his wall, albeit at the American people’s expense. So now what?

2) Cash Pipe. Despite concerns, Trump’s arrival in the White House was actually a good news/better news situation for Justin Trudeau and the Liberal government. First, one of Trump’s unofficial advisors told the Trudeau cabinet that the upcoming NAFT-AH! renegotiations will be all about Mexico and not so much about Canada. Then, Trump signed an executive order to proceed with Keystone pipeline construction, which means mo’ jobs and mo’ money for the Alberta oil patch. Despite everything coming up roses, Trudeau still got slammed for confusing messages about the oil industry at a Calgary town hall, so was it a good first week of Trumpland for Trudeau and Company, or was it an okay week?

3) First Nation Problems. The year 2016 saw some signs of hope for Canada’s Indigenous communities, but it also showed that there’s still a long way to go. With Keystone coming, and approval of other pipelines in Canada, the First Nation’s community has got an uphill battle as compared to the all-powerful oil industry lobby, but closer to home there are still grave concerns about the rate of suicides on First Nations reserves and the fact that half the children living in poverty are Aboriginal. In other words, there’s still a long way to go in terms of nation-to-nation relations for Canada’s Indigenous people and the Government of Canada, and we’ll talk about the progress made and not-made with Métis writer and activist Paul Smith. You can read Smith’s recent Ontarion article on the subject here.