Open Sources Guelph - July 30, 2015

Things are about to be serious. All the political world (in Canada at least) is toying with the possibility that the 2015 Federal Election may starts as soon as this coming Sunday. That's fine. Eleven weeks of campaigning can be brutal, but we here at Open Sources Guelph we can handle it, and this week we'll continue the prep work by talking about the serious, and not-so-serious, issues that have popped up on our political radar this week. Senate reform, and big candidate news occupy the first half, while some new ugliness south of the border and the future of getting hither and yon make up the back half. So what specifically will we be talking about his week? Let's find out.

This Thursday, July 30, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz  and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:

1) Can't Someone Else Do It? Prime Minister Stephen Harper decided that nine years after his first mandate he was going to pick up the baton of senate abolition again. The difference this time? He's putting it on the Premiers and territorial leaders to lead the reform while he, himself, absolves himself of further senate appointments. Well, that was easy. Except how is a man who can't even show up to the regular Premiers' meetings be expected to co-ordinate with them in reorganizing the government while prompting a constitutional crisis?

2) Adams Out; Chow In. After a lengthy and bitter fight, former Conservative cabinet minister Eve Adams lost to Marco Mendicino for the chance to represent the Liberals in the Eglinton-Lawrence riding of Toronto. Adams gambit in crossing the aisle seems to have come to not, and many are questioning whether it was a good idea for leader Justin Trudeau to embrace her so warmly. Meanwhile, Olivia Chow is hopping back into Federal politics, and is running against Liberal incumbent Adam Vaughan in an attempt to reclaim her old - though now reconfigured - seat. Can Chow make a political comeback?

3) The Bad and the Worse. The unfortunate death of Sandra Bland from an apparent suicide while in police custody has brought more protests from Black Lives Matter, as the ugly specter of institutional racism in the country's police forces is raised again. But is the case involving Bland so cut and dry? Meanwhile in Lafayette, a gunman killed two people in a movie theater, a case that raises more questions about how a man with a history of mental health issues got his hands on a gun. Why do these things seem to keep happening?

4) The Uber Revolution. The ride sharing service Uber arrived in Guelph, K-W and London last week, expanding an empire that's been greeted with joy and anger in cities around the world. How those cities will react to Uber is still a question, but for cabbies in Toronto, who've been fighting the encroachment of Uber for the better part of a year, they're now taking the struggle to court. But can the march of progress be slowed and stopped by litigation?

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