It’s another journey around the world on this week’s edition of Open Sources Guelph. Obviously, we start out in Ontario where Premier Kathleen Wynne tried to reset the clock, not to mention the agenda. Meanwhile, in Ottawa, the new NDP leader is dealing with his first big controversy, but will he have time to reset the clock before his next election? Speaking of elections, Putin won his, and Trump couldn’t be happier! And, to wrap up, we’ll talk about Canada putting a toe back into peacekeeping.
This Thursday, March 22, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
1) Game of Throne Speech. It’s not often that the business of government stops a couple of weeks before an election in order to hold a Speech from the Throne, but Premier Kathleen Wynne seems to be pulling out all the stops for this campaign! The throne speech promised more hospital funding, more home care funding, more funding for psychology and addiction programs, expanded OSAP benefits, and an expansion of dental and pharmacare benefits (the later of which not coincidentally promised two days earlier by the NDP). But can the Liberals sudden generosity and political theatrics stop a coming blue wave and the arrival of a new Ford Nation?
2) Down Singh. In what’s become the biggest test so far for new NDP leader Jagmeet Singh, he seems unable to escape questions about his feelings about, and interactions with, Sikh separatists. In fact, there hasn’t been this much talk about separatism in Federal Politics since they passed the Clarity Act! But seriously, the meter on this issue has moved from the slightly racist tinge of a question from CBC’s Terry Milewski, to a Globe and Mail report on a video that showed Singh an even supporting Sikh separation. So does Singh have anything to be defensive about, and does this so-called controversy hurt his political chances?
3) Russian Stressing. In one of the least surprising election results in modern political history, Vladimir Putin was re-elected as tyrant president of Russia. It was a foregone conclusion because Putin had already effectively sidelined anyone that could put up a plausible opposition, and if that wasn’t enough, he seemed to have people actually stuffing the ballot boxes on his behalf. (No, really, there’s video.) In the meantime, the noose tightened around Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election with new revelations about the role of Cambridge Analytica, while Trump called and congratulated Putin on his sham victory even though everyone on his national security told him not to! So now what on the Russia file?
4) Mali Coddle. After years of promises and investigations, the Government of Canada has decided to re-invest itself in peacekeeping by sending troops to Mali, an African country undergoing a vicious civil war. Canadian Forces will be providing logistical and medical support in the form of a helicopter air rescue and about 250 soldiers in all. So why so controversial? Well, it’s been years since Canada has undertaken a peacekeeping mission, and no matter where Canada is in the country, we’re talking about Islamic extremists, child soldiers, and all sorts of other traps that could lead to tragedy. Is this the right mission at the right time for Canada?
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.
Open Sources Guelph 