Open Sources Guelph - August 13, 2015

Welcome to Week 2 of the 2015 Campaign. If you're not tired of the election yet, get ready because Open Sources Guelph is going to recap the week and the major issues before diving headlong again into the murky and messy topic of U.S. race relations as we mark a sad anniversary and events that seem constantly to be repeating themselves.

This Thursday, August 13, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz  and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:

1) Campaign: Week #2. Justin Trudeau showed up to the debate with his pants on. Thomas Mulcair got protested by anti-pipeline activists at his book launch. Stephen Harper announced his intention to stop Kathleen Wynne's Ontario Pension Plan. On the surprisingly busy August campaign trail, there was no shortage of announcements, attacks and controversies to address, including our belated analysis of that Maclean's debate and how the rest of the campaign schedule might play out. And there's still two months left in the campaign...

2) The War on the War on ISIS. Stephen Harper hammered the opposition hard this week by embracing one of his key issues: national security and the War on ISIS. At an event in the GTA, Harper reaffirmed his commitment to the war and his intention to bring more Iraqi refugees to Canada, all the while chastising Thomas Mulcair and Justin Trudeau for promising to pull Canadian Forces out of the region. The opposition meanwhile called Harper's stance more campaigning on fear, and happily pointed out that the Conservatives are more than happy to use ISIS propaganda in their own campaign ads. Will ISIS be the wedge issue Harper is hoping for?

3) The Wright Stuff. The long awaited testimony of Nigel Wright began Wednesday at the trial of Mike Duffy. The former Chief of Staff for Prime Minister Stephen Harper is the star witness in the trial of the disgraced Senator, and politicos are excited about the rare chance to glimpse inside the typically secretive and controlling PMO. But will the Wright testimony be as huge as people think? Will it poke a hole in Harper's re-elections ambition? Is there anything left to learn about the ordeal?

4) Ferguson: One Year Later. A year after Michael Brown was gunned down by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, protesters gathered again to remind everyone that Black Lives Matter. What was meant to be a peaceful demonstration again fell apart as a state of emergency was declared, and fanning the flames of the situation is the recent arrival in Ferguson of the militia group the Oath Keepers. Meanwhile, Black Lives Matter protesters are targeting the presidential race to get their message out, as more examples of police being quick on the draw continue to come in. Has anything changed in the last 365 days?

Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.