Western Context

Liberal MP Leona Alleslev crosses the floor to Andrew Scheer’s Conservatives, Edmonton council wants the city to become a sanctuary city, and we look at a major BC transportation bottleneck. Also, we examine Julie Payette’s role as Governor General.

Download Now
Direct Download – 64 Kbit MP3 (Full Show Notes)

Duration: 51:43
Hosts: Shane and Patrick

• Liberal MP Leona Alleslev slams Trudeau, crosses floor to Tories
• Edmonton city council approves ‘sanctuary city’ status to aid undocumented immigrants
• Support us on Patreon
• No easy or cheap fixes for mayhem on Malahat, or other transit horrors
• Failure to launch: Inside Julie Payette’s turbulent first year as Governor General
• Word of the Week: Regal

Bernier’s new party is formed, a Syrian refugee is arrested for a Burnaby teenager’s murder, Jason Kenney strives for merit-based appointments, and the media has a narrative on all these stories. Also, we look at the history of the notwithstanding clause.

Download Now
Direct Download – 64 Kbit MP3 (Full Show Notes)

Duration: 1:00:45
Hosts: Shane and Patrick

• Maxime Bernier forms the People’s Party of Canada’
• Man charged with the murder of Marissa Shen
• Support us on Patreon
• All the Tory Ladies: Inside Kenney’s ‘obsessive’ drive to recruit female candidates for Alberta’s UCP
• Premier Doug Ford to use notwithstanding clause to cut size of Toronto city council
• Word of the Week: Permanent Resident

In BC we learn that improper disposal of cigarettes can cause major issues. Canada lost over 50,000 jobs in August, and the possible implementation of a handgun gun might not solve crime. Also, we correct Trudeau on his definition of the word entropy.

Download Now
Direct Download – 64 Kbit MP3 (Full Show Notes)

Duration: 49:29
Hosts: Shane and Patrick

• Saanich tent city residents ordered to leave after court grants injunction
• Canadian Economy Loses 51,600 Jobs and Trying to Build Big Projects in Canada
• Support us on Patreon
• Handgun ban would have ‘no impact,’ police union head warns
• Trudeau Mocked For Saying Diversity Is Leading To ‘entropy’
• Word of the Week: Entropy

The Federal Court of Appeal quashes the Trans Mountain Pipeline, what does this mean for Alberta, BC, and the Canadian economy? BC also projects a surprising surplus due to the housing sector, and we go over the current state of NAFTA negotiations.

Download Now
Direct Download – 64 Kbit MP3 (Full Show Notes)

Duration: 57:28
Hosts: Shane and Patrick

• Trans Mountain defeat threatens Justin Trudeau’s re-election story
• Alberta leaving federal climate plan over Trans Mountain decision
• Support us on Patreon
• B.C. maintains budget surplus, despite ICBC losses and wildfire spending
• Trump announces U.S.-Mexico trade deal to replace NAFTA, and says ‘we will see’ if Canada can join
• Word of the Week: Freebie

Maxime Bernier quits the Conservative Party before its convention, Alberta’s sole NDP MP doesn’t consider Trans Mountain to be an issue, Trudeau’s cabinet retreats to wildfire threatened Nanaimo, and Trudeau gets heckled and responds by crying racism.

Download Now
Direct Download – 64 Kbit MP3 (Full Show Notes)

Duration: 51:02
Hosts: Shane and Patrick

• MP Maxime Bernier quits ‘morally corrupt’ Conservatives, plans to start new party
• Alberta’s only NDP MP says Trans Mountain pipeline ‘not the priority issue’ with her voters
• Support us on Patreon
• Trudeau’s cabinet kicks off 2-day retreat focused on trade, wildfire response
• Trudeau unapologetic after telling heckler, ‘Your racism has no place here’
• Word of the Week: Secession

A John A. MacDonald statue is removed in Victoria, a Stats Canada report on Alberta jobs gives conflicting info, diplomatic troubles with Saudi Arabia raises questions of energy independence, and Maxime Bernier raises a discussion about multiculturalism.

Download Now
Direct Download – 64 Kbit MP3 (Full Show Notes)

Duration: 55:57
Hosts: Shane and Patrick

• City of Victoria to remove John A. Macdonald statue from front steps of city hall
• National unemployment rate falls to four-decade low; Alberta’s numbers are less rosy
• Saudi Arabia withdrawing students from Canadian schools, suspending flights
• Maxime Bernier criticizes Liberals for ‘extreme multiculturalism’
• Word of the Week: multiculturalism

A special episode where we rundown major electoral systems in use today. We have a look at first past the post, all the methods of proportional representation, and we cap it off with a primer of the American Electoral College.

Download Now
Direct Download – 64 Kbit MP3

Duration: 46:23
Hosts: Shane and Patrick

• First Past the Post
• Forms of Proportional Representation
• The Electoral College

BC government projects requiring unions inflates cost, Canadians are united against the federal government’s carbon tax, and Trudeau’s nanny receive a wage increase. Also, the full story and unanswered questions regarding the Toronto Danforth shooting.

Download Now
Direct Download – 64 Kbit MP3 (Full Show Notes)

Duration: 50:07
Hosts: Shane and Patrick

• NDP rules could boost Pattullo Bridge replacement by $100 million
• Carbon conflict: two-thirds of Canadians say provinces should have the final say on pricing
• Support us on Patreon
• Feds set wages for nanny caring for Justin Trudeau’s kids
• Islamic State claims responsibility for Toronto mass shooting, yet provides no evidence
• Word of the Week: union

Trudeau shuffles his cabinet and creates a border security minister, many provinces now oppose Trudeau’s carbon tax, and Alberta’s NDP is equalizing and diversifying K-4 education. Also, Vancouver’s False Creek is teeming with raw sewage and E coli.

Download Now
Direct Download – 64 Kbit MP3 (Full Show Notes)

Duration: 40:49
Hosts: Shane and Patrick

• Trudeau cabinet shuffle brings new faces, several changes for run-up to 2019 campaign
• Trudeau’s carbon tax looks pretty much dead now that most provinces are out
• Support us on Patreon
• In new social studies curriculum, there’s no such things as Albertans
• Call for clean swimming water in Vancouver’s False Creek falls flat
• Word of the Week: Sanitary

Policing a Saanich tent city is costing residents over $700k, Italy is blocking the EU’s ratification of CETA, the media misreports the value of sold Crown land in BC, and the federal government’s spending follies on glasses, name changes and cushions.

Download Now
Direct Download – 64 Kbit MP3 (Full Show Notes)

Duration: 40:54
Hosts: Shane and Patrick

• Saanich council approves $700,000 to police homeless camp
• Italy won’t ratify EU free-trade deal with Canada: deputy PM
• Support us on Patreon
• New report confirms former BC government sold off surplus real estate too cheap
• ‘Just outrageous’: Government spends $24k on 86 cushions for Mexico City embassy
• Word of the Week: Appraisal