Open Sources Guelph - October 27, 2016

On Wednesday, Donald Trump took a break from the campaign trail to open his new hotel in Washington D.C., so if the Republican nominee for President doesn’t care about the election this week, then why should Open Sources Guelph? Instead, we’ll focus on other concerns, like why Justin Trudeau might not be a man of his word on electoral reform. We’ll also talk about another First Nations protest against another energy project closer to home, whether or not this European trade deal will go through in spite of one little place in Belgium, and if Ezra Levant is good enough to be recognized by the U.N. as a journalist running a journalistic organization. 

This Thursday, October 27, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:

1) Reform Bodies. When Justin Trudeau won with a huge majority last fall, many people wondered if the mandate might slake the Prime Minister's thirst for electoral reform. It turns out now that they maybe right. In an interview with Le Devoir, Trudeau suspected that the reason Canadians were so high on reform a year ago was because they were tired of the previous ruling party. Many have read that as a flip-flop, but the more pressing matter is whether or not the special Commons committee will come back with a consensus decision on exactly how Canadian elections will be reformed. Should pro-reform advocates by concerned that the dream might not happen?

2) Muskrat Stalls. In another one of those environmental protests that are overlooked till they’re too big to ignore, all eyes turned to Lake Melville where the Inuit community is concerned about a dam project that may have long-term negative health consequences for the nearly 2,000 residents in the area who depend on local fish and seal for their food and livelihoods. Some members of the community were protesting locally, and a few went to Ottawa and participated in a hunger strike to get their point across. For now it seems victory has been achieved by the protesters as Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Dwight Ball has promised an “independent expert advisory committee” made up of various stakeholders to monitor the project, but can they be trusted to look out for the First Nations’ best interests if they had to be shamed into doing it in the first place?

3) La Mayhem CETA. The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement once seemed like a slamdunk, but that was before some place in Belgium called Wallonia decided that they didn’t like the deal they were getting. Wallonia’s socialist Premier Paul Magnette didn’t like the assurances concerning the protection against an unstoppable tide of agricultural imports, or assurances that the invest court system being established could be impartial (or at least not openly in favour of the mega-corps). The whole affair left Federal Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland exhausted from trying to negotiate a trade deal being sunk by one small region of one small country. But is there a silver lining to this cloud? Might the Canadian government be about to get out of a trade deal that’s fairly unpopular with a trade weary public while not looking the ones at fault?

4) Better Than Ezra. The United Nations has drawn the line, at it is in front of Ezra Levant's The Rebel. Levant tried to get members of his team press credentials for the upcoming COP 22 climate change conference in Marrakech, but the UN said they only give creds to genuine media rather than advocacy groups or non-governmental organizations pretending they're media. Ouch. The situation's so bad that Levant has even turned to his other arch-nemesis  Justin Trudeau for help. It's been a tough year for Levant, who's also had to battle the Government of Alberta for press credentials, it's almost as if people don't like Ezra Levant and his deeply personal and acerbic approach to politics. But should they just let The Rebel  have its credentials, and should outlets be scrutinized and judged before giving out press passes?

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