It’s another week of dramatic developments here on Open Sources Guelph where we know drama! For instance, we talk about the climactic chapter of a provincial leadership campaign, and if you thought things were sloppy there, then you haven’t heard the news about a certain separatist federal party. Back in Trumpland, that ship is sinking faster than usual, while in Hamilton, it looks like they had a G20 meeting without the meeting (if you know what we mean). Our donuts will never be the same.
This Thursday, March 8, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
1) PC Bug. Taking a week off from the topic last week, we didn’t get a chance to talk about the PC leadership race post-Patrick Brown, but just because Brown is gone, it doesn’t mean he took the fuster-cluck out of the race with him. Even though voting is now underway for the new leader, tales of confused olds trying to vote online, and access information arriving late in the mail have been plentiful. It’s enough to make you wonder if the March 10 announcement of the new leader is going to be the end of this difficult and trying period for party members. We’ll talk about the latest and speculate about the results.
2) Attack the Bloc. Martine Ouellet is not a name many people know, but those that do know her seem to not want anything to do with her. Ouellet, who does not have a seat in the House of Commons, saw 7 of 10 members of her caucus walk out on her leadership, and the party, to sit as independent MPs. They said that Ouellet’s leadership was akin to driving a car into a wall at 200 kilometres per hour, and that’s in regards to her separatism at all costs approach to politics. Wait a minute though, isn’t that kind of the point of the Bloc Quebecois? Has the separatist movement finally run its course if the Bloc isn’t about independence anymore?
3) Steel This Tariff. President Donald Trump was at it again. After a hard week that saw his son-in-law under the gun, and a trusted advisor leave the White House, Trump, apparently in a fit of pique, decided to raise tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports. Or did he? Some Trump allies sold their stake in the metal business a week in advanced, but the point is the effect this might have on an already volatile economy. Sensitive NAFTA negotiations became even more tense because Canada is the number one importer of steel and aluminum to the United States, so can this situation be resolved, or is this another nail in the coffin of free trade in the Trump era?
4) Locke Down. A group called the “Ungovernable” took to the streets of Hamilton Saturday night, but they were not there to party. On Locke St., a famously gentrified area of the city, a group of about 20 black-clad rioters broke windows, threw rocks, stole things, and threatened anyone that crossed their path. Naturally, attention turned to the anarchists’ book fair at the local high school, but are Hamilton police and officials missing the bigger issue? Some on Locke St. say this eruption of violence has been threatened for months, so why haven’t the powers that be in Hamilton done anything to quell the sentiment? And is all this just about random $#!% disturbers looking for a bad time?
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.
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