Why is Stephen Harper Campaigning Like Howard Hampton?

Going into the final week of the 2015 election, it seems as though the pressure may be finally getting to Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The Conservative leader was in Kitchener today doing campaign-y things like going to KW-Oktoberfest and taking in a Kitchener Rangers OHL game, but in between that he wanted the voters in a strategically vulnerable area for the incumbent government to know just what exactly a Liberal government, if elected, was going to cost them. To do that, Harper made the unusual decision to become a prop comic at the dawn of the last week of the campaign. Continue reading “Why is Stephen Harper Campaigning Like Howard Hampton?” →

Guelph to Rally Against Voter Suppression

As advanced polls are underway this weekend, showing big student turnout and long lines directly attributed to confusion over the new rules under the Fair Elections Act, we wonder about whether or not there will be some kind of repeat of the events of 2011 (ie: Robocalls). So to add fuel to the paranoia (however justified), Fair Vote Guelph is organizing a Rally Against Voter Suppression for the coming week. Continue reading “Guelph to Rally Against Voter Suppression” →

Open Sources Show Notes for Thursday October 8, 2015

This week, Open Sources Guelph is giving thanks for an active and engaged electorate who are wanting to make smart decisions concerning who to vote for this Federal Election. Our gift to you this Thanksgiving weekend is the sixth in our series of candidate interviews, and this one is no turkey. We will be stuffing so many issues into this discussion, you won’t have room for dessert. This week’s show will be no sack of potatoes, unless they’re sweet potatoes, because the show will definitely be sweet! Continue reading “Open Sources Show Notes for Thursday October 8, 2015” →

Facepalm Moments on the Campaign Trail

Approaching Day 70 of this federal campaign, and with less than two weeks to go, it was inevitable that things were going to get silly. Coming the day after the announcement of the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal, and its very serious implications for Canadians and Canadian economy, it seems like a number of Conservative candidates, including the Minister of National Defense himself, is looking to shake things up with a bit of foot in mouth. Continue reading “Facepalm Moments on the Campaign Trail” →

The TPP is a Done Deal, But Now What?

After years of careful negotiating, and a weekend of touch-and-go final detailing, 12 Pacific Rim countries agreed in principle this morning to the makings of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the largest free trade agreement in global history knocking down trade barriers for 800 million people and about 40 per cent of the world’s economy. Conservative leader Stephen Harper was pleased with the deal saying, “This deal is, without any doubt whatsoever, in the best interests of the Canadian economy.” Great! So what’s in it? Nobody outside the governments that negotiated it know. Continue reading “The TPP is a Done Deal, But Now What?” →

What’s in a Niqab?

And to think, when this campaign started some 17 years ago, we thought it was going to be all about the economy, Duffy, and whether or not you’ll ever be able to get to vote without having to fight through an army political operatives. What a difference 60-plus days make. Now it seems that the race is all about whether or not the government should have the ability to tell a statistically nearly non-existent group of people what not to wear at citizenship ceremonies, and that’s just how the Conservatives like it. Continue reading “What’s in a Niqab?” →

Open Sources Show Notes for Thursday October 1, 2015

The election started with New Democratic Party leader Tom Mulcair being the heir apparent for the Prime Minister’s Office, but this week on Open Sources Guelph we’re wondering a more local-focused question: can an NDP candidate overturn the 22 year Liberal Party dynasty in the Royal City. We’ve had the Liberal candidate on the show to tell us why we should stay red, and this week’s its the NDP’s turn to tell us why we should like some Orange Crush. Continue reading “Open Sources Show Notes for Thursday October 1, 2015” →