Trudeau Makes Public Marching Orders to Ministers

As part of the move to openness, transparency, and all that stuff, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau released the mandate letters he gave to each member of his cabinet. What’s the big deal? The letter offers insight into what Trudeau wants and expects his executive to do over the course of this four year mandate, in terms of both the general tone of his government, and in terms of the specific goals for their ministries. So what does PM23 have in mind from now till 2019? Continue reading “Trudeau Makes Public Marching Orders to Ministers” →

Open Sources Show Notes for Thursday November 12, 2015

The honeymoon’s over this week on Open Sources Guelph. A little more than a week into the Trudeau-rific era, and Canada’s getting hosed by the TPP, approving the dumping of sewage into our favourite river, and what’s this we hear about the budget being in deficit before Justin Trudeau puts it into deficit? Yeah, it’s pretty rough out there, but not as rough as some people. Suicide rates are increasing amongst middle-aged white men, while in the United States, a middle-aged black man is killing his chances to become president with some creative re-writting of his biography. Continue reading “Open Sources Show Notes for Thursday November 12, 2015” →

Open Sources Show Notes for Thursday November 5, 2015

After taking a week off, Open Sources Guelph is now forced to talk about Justin Trudeau again. The new Prime Minister is “Designate” no more, and he revealed his first cabinet to an excited throng of over 3,500 people at Rideau Hall yesterday. Meanwhile, the countries going to hell in a hand cart. (Thank Justin.) Ontario’s got more than 99 problems and now has two new ones. Meanwhile, buying a house in certain parts of the country is getting more and more expensive, and money maybe having too much influence at one of Canada’s universities. Continue reading “Open Sources Show Notes for Thursday November 5, 2015” →

Your New Cabinet for the Government Is…

Today at Rideau Hall, the new cabinet of Canada’s 42 Parliament was sworn in along with the 23rd Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau. With 184 members to choose from, and a promise to have equal representation between all regions and gender parity, selection could not have been easy, but it was done. Now there are 30 new minister, each with daunting responsibilities as everyone is looking to the new government to immediately act on a myriad of issues. So who are these brave souls? Continue reading “Your New Cabinet for the Government Is…” →

Open Sources Show Notes for Thursday October 22, 2015

We did it! Open Sources Guelph survived its first election season, and now it’s time for the post-game analysis. Canada is back, said Prime Minister Designate Justin Trudeau, but what kind of Canada will it be now that the Liberals are back in charge, is it change we can believe in, or will they fall back on old habits? And what of the opposition parties, and our own new Member of Parliament here in Guelph? What is Canada going to look like in the next four years? We’ll prognosticate; you decide. Continue reading “Open Sources Show Notes for Thursday October 22, 2015” →

Canada Needs a Strong Right Wing Alternative, But Not Like That

In the last days of the campaign, Stephen Harper retired the attack ads for a simpler, more positive message. This election is not about me, he said, but as the result from Monday night’s vote confirmed, actually, it was a little bit about him. Making the campaign about him was just the way Harper wanted it, and it was his downfall as many commentators noted because while Justin Trudeau and Tom Mulcair leaned on their team, Harper always felt like a one man band. Now, in the aftermath of a blistering defeat, right-leaning Canadian politicos are wondering why, and they need only look to the man whose face and name had literally become synonymous with Canadian conservatism for the last 13 years. Continue reading “Canada Needs a Strong Right Wing Alternative, But Not Like That” →

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?” →