This calls for a celebration! That seems to be the news this week on Open Sources Guelph, because, as they say, every dark cloud has a silver lining. That dark cloud includes some violence in Spain over a vote of independence by one of the regions there, and the pitiful reaction of the U.S. government to recovery efforts in Puerto Rico. The silver lining? How about the fact that a federal party elected a visible minority as its new leader? Or the fact that the electoral reform fight is far from over?
This Thursday, October 5, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
1) Jagmeet Your New Leader. In one swift move, Jagmeet Singh was elected as the new leader of the federal New Democrats. With a decisive 53 per cent support on the first ballot, the Brampton MPP now has two years to get his party in fighting shape for the next federal election, and he’s going to do it in an unusual way by not running to claim a seat in the House of Commons. It’s a bold strategy, but it’s going to be a challenge for Singh to make news by not being in the Commons and seen going head-to-head with PM Justin Trudeau. What are the other challenges for Singh going forward, and is he, as the Toronto Sun said, Trudeau’s “worst nightmare”?
2) Catalan Keep a Referendum Down. “Do you want Catalonia to become an independent state in the form of a republic?” That was the question before the people that live in the Catalonia, one of four autonomous regions in Spain, and more than 92 per cent of the people that cast the vote agreed that yes, Catalonia should go it alone. That’s that, right? Hardly. There was Spain’s very violent reaction to the vote being held, the Spanish government’s insistence that the vote is illegal, and King Felipe VI himself saying that what’s happening in Catalonia is “outside the law”, even as Carles Puigdemont, the leader of Catalonia’s government, says that independence effort will move forward starting next week. What’s next in this very contentious and sensitive situation in Spain?
3) Updates in Fair Voting. Just when you thought electoral reform was over, you’re wrong! Yes, the issue is still in the news thanks to the B.C. government moving forward with reform for their provincial legislature, and Jagmeet Singh is saying that he plans on making reform a priority. Fair Vote Guelph’s Steve Dyck will join us to talk about the latest in electoral reform news, the status of Democracy Guelph’s efforts to promote Local Proportional Representation, and where the struggle goes from here. We’ll also talk about Fair Vote’s upcoming event Turning Parliament Inside Out, with two Parliamentary titans, Elizabeth May and Michael Chong.
4) The Disaster Artist. Nearly two weeks after a devastating hurricane laid waste in Puerto Rico, U.S. President Donald Trump did the only thing he could do: tweet angrily at San Juan’s mayor, and the “fake news” press that dare say that he wasn’t doing an awesome job addressing the disaster. More than that, Trump deployed the classic racist dog whistle about how the people of Puerto Rico wanted “everything done for them.” This while he was spending the weekend at his gaudy golf club in Bedminster, NJ, and while San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz was routinely seen assisting the recovery in waste high water. We’ll talk about all that, plus the latest worst shooting in the U.S. history in Las Vegas.
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.
Open Sources Guelph 