Western Context

BC’s economic future looks unstable, Alberta experiences record population growth, and Justin Trudeau isn’t giving his cabinet ministers mandate letters. Also, a post by Pierre Poilievre about First Nations gets misrepresented by the Liberals and media.

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“I speak for myself as an aboriginal, I’m not a people of pain, we want businesses, we want to own homes, we want to get ahead with our own independence, we don’t want government handouts.” – Elder Manitok Thompson on a positive future for Indigenous People in Canada.

Duration: 52:20
Hosts: Shane and Patrick

• B.C. finance report flags deep economic downturn in 2024
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• Alberta’s population is booming, but that comes with challenges for some communities
• Federal ministers still lack mandate letters, two months after majority shuffled
• Pierre Poilievre called out for Truth and Reconciliation Day photos with Inuk elder
• Word of the Week: Truth

Trudeau performs a cabinet shuffle, the media highlights private Alberta medical clinics charging member fees, and problems at BC Ferries continue. Also, a TD report shows how immigration is fuelling unaffordability.

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“A cabinet of 39 is not a serious decision-making body. As cabinet gets larger, moreover, the ministers get smaller. In a cabinet of 12, every minister is a player. As you pass 20, they start to blur together. By the time you near 40, they look like ants.” – Bloc Quebecois leader Yves-Francois Blanchet on the size of Trudeau’s new cabinet.

Duration: 53:45
Hosts: Shane and Patrick

• Trudeau overhauls his cabinet, drops 7 ministers and shuffles most portfolios
• NDP calls for probe into how many medical clinics are charging ‘member’ fees in Alberta
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• B.C. Ferries running out of excuses
• Canada’s Immigration Policy Driving Housing Unaffordability, Higher Rates – TD
• Word of the Week: Shuffle

Trudeau shuffles his cabinet while denying he wants an election, politicians are under fire for travel while Canadians do the same, and John Horgan wants to deny inter-provincial travel into BC. Also, Trudeau has put us at the back of the line for vaccines.

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Duration: 45:03
Hosts: Shane and Patrick

I have lived the Canadian dream; I am the son of a cabinet maker who had the opportunity to serve as a cabinet minister. — Navdeep Bains

• Trudeau says he has no plans to trigger an election as he shuffles key cabinet positions
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• Alberta MLA mired in travel scandal ousted from caucus for absenteeism
• B.C. premier seeking legal advice on feasibility of inter-provincial travel ban
• Ottawa chose not to exercise option to buy 16 million more doses of Moderna vaccine

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.

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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
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• 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