I’m Just Not Ready to See This Ad Again

A new poll released today said that the people trust NDP leader Tom Mulcair to manage the economy better than any other federal leader. I saw the story this morning on one of the cable news channels, and while this should be concerning to the Prime Minister and his party, when the news went to commercial, what did I see? For the umpteenth time, it was “The Interview” ad featuring four Canadians deciding that Justin Trudeau is just not ready to be prime minister. Fair enough, but with each passing day, voters seem to be deciding that they’re also just not ready for four more years of Stephen Harper. Continue reading “I’m Just Not Ready to See This Ad Again” →

May Excluded from Two Federal Leaders’ Debates

The hornet’s nest kicked over by the Conservative Party opening up multiple bidders for leaders’ debates in the upcoming election has had at least one positive effect for Stephen Harper, Green Party leader Elizabeth May has been excluded from at least two debates now, the one hosted by the Globe and Mail and the other a foreign-policy debate hosted by Munk Debates. Continue reading “May Excluded from Two Federal Leaders’ Debates” →

Kory Teneycke Says that Conservative Ad is More “Truthful” Than the News

With the arrival and equally quick dismissal of HarperPAC this week, another big election story was missed as the Conservative Party of Canada launched an online ad meant to delegitimize Liberal leader Justin Trudeau’s plan to pull Canadian troops from the fight against ISIS in Iraq and Syria. Posting an online ad to YouTube is nothing new, especially with an election campaign waiting to begin this fall, but the controversy here is that the Conservative Party used sound and video from ISIS’ own media to make the case against Trudeau. You might think that’s in bad taste, or that it even contravenes provisions in the Conservatives’ own recently passed Bill C-51, but it’s okay because according to Conservative spokesman Kory Teneycke, they’re more truthful than the news. Continue reading “Kory Teneycke Says that Conservative Ad is More “Truthful” Than the News” →

MacKay Joins the March out the Conservative Caucus Door

In a shocking news item this morning, Justice Minister Peter MacKay announced that he would not be seeking re-election in this fall’s Federal Election. It’s another sudden loss for the Harper government that is going into this coming election with a further diminished bench that includes the previously announced loss of former Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird and Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages Shelly Glover. Continue reading “MacKay Joins the March out the Conservative Caucus Door” →

Ad Wars 2015 – Part I

Today both the Conservatives and the New Democrats released brand new ads, and they make a pretty clear statement that the 2015 election campaign is now unofficially underway. The battle lines are drawn here between the governing Conservatives and the upstart NDP: you’re either going to vote for strong, steady leadership, or you’re going to leave behind cynicism and embrace morning in Canada. Continue reading “Ad Wars 2015 – Part I” →

Open Sources Show Notes for Thursday May 14, 2015

We’re chock full of surprises this week on Open Sources Guelph. We go from one surprise in the U.K., where the election went well for the incumbent but somewhat less well for everyone else, to surprise in Ontario where the guy least likely to succeed, succeeded, to surprise moves in Ottawa which may have a big impact on this October’s election. Somewhat less surprising is trouble with Ontario’s teachers, but what is suprising is that on a show co-hosted by the long-running host of CFRU’s The Working Week it took us this long to talk about it. Continue reading “Open Sources Show Notes for Thursday May 14, 2015” →

Open Sources Show Notes for Thursday April 30, 2015

After taking a couple of weeks to do some special episodes about Earth Day and an interview with the Mayor, Open Sources Guelph gets back to talking about the issues, and there is so much to talk about. With elections abroad, elections at home, and elections still to come, there’s also the matter of social justice issues to consider, as our First Nations people and homeless populations face old problems that remain, as ever, unsolved. Continue reading “Open Sources Show Notes for Thursday April 30, 2015” →