Sudbury Politics - The Show

The pundits are back on the Knowhere Pub patio and not even a late summer storm can stop them from taking on poll aggregators and seat projections. Jeff is a fan. Richard is not. Danielle is helping the rest of us make sense of it all. Don't miss this electrifying episode on week three of the 44th General Election.

Its week two of the campaign and the pundits are back on the patio, this time at Bill Crumplin's Knowhere Public House, to break down the shifts and the turns locally and nationally.  Despite an increase in the pace of the campaign, we have not yet seen the Sudbury or Nickel Belt candidates face off - that will come in Week 3. 

We are back together in person for the first time since the pandemic lockdown in March 2019 and enjoying the best a summer federal election can offer - a reason to grab drinks with political friends on a local patio!Week 1 of the Federal election in Sudbury and Nickel Belt was a bit of sleepy thing - we look at what the parties need to do to step up the game. Join us each week for Pundits on a Patio, our special series.

We're back for our third season! With federal politics in the air, Danielle Derochie takes the host chair alongside Jeff and Richard to give a comprehensive preview of the upcoming general election. Who is running? How do the national trends impact them? What do they have to do win? We explore these and more. 

Waabindaazijig – For Those Who Are Not Yet BornGo Leafs Go!!! This week features an eye-opening interview with Quinn Meawasige; Ojibwe from Serpent River First Nation, Indigenous Studies Professor, and #1 Toronto Maple Leafs fan. Rachel, Richard, and Jeff raise questions about Indigenous reconciliation, treaty rights, hunting and fishing rights, and land-based education and language, with Quinn responding to each with a mind-blowing history lesson that leads into an understanding of the issue today.First, we tackle the government’s priority of reconciling its relationship with Canada’s Indigenous peoples. Quinn explains his vision for the path forward, one that is centred on honouring the intention of treaties and creating space for Indigenous peoples so that they can be authors of their own narrative. He elaborates on the factors that perpetuate racism, including actions and words that non-Indigenous Canadians can use to break the cycle.Quinn then teaches us about hunting and fishing rights and how they contribute to both food security and food sovereignty in Indigenous communities through activities such as wild food banks and community hunts. As a way of learning from the current conflict in Nova Scotia, he highlights the importance of Northeastern Ontarians consulting with community members and understanding Indigenous peoples’ inherent rights, as opposed to treaty rights.Quinn describes the responsibilities stemming from these inherent rights, which includes those to the Waabindaazijig or those who are not yet born. He explains Indigenous peoples’ relationship to the land to demonstrate how land-based education creates a process for inter-generational healing, as well as the importance of Indigenous languages. Quinn leaves us with the notion that true reconciliation requires integration and nurturing over time.

Mike Morrice exploded into the Green Party's consciousness in the 2019 election, delivering a fully funded campaign with a determined and dedicated team and increasing the vote share in Kitchener Centre from about 1500 to 15000 votes. He placed the strongest second of any Green in Ontario (leader Annamie Paul received only 4000 votes in 2019). In the midst of a tough transition for the Greens, Mike is running maybe the most effective pre-election non-incumbent campaign across all parties in the entire country. Jeff and Richard explore new leadership, internal squabbles and doing politics differently with Green Candidate Mike Morrice (www.mikemorrice.ca)

Paul Lefebvre, Sudbury's MP is dealing with some major issues in his last few months as a federal politician. Caught in the crossfire over Laurentian University, while repping his government's covid response and a massive federal budget, Paul found time to sit down with hosts Jeff MacIntrye and Richard Eberhardt to explore those issues, and pass on some advice to his successor.

When the crisis at Laurentian began, Nadia Verrelli was on sabbatical from her position as a professor of Political Science. She's been watching as the University declared itself insolvent, then along with over a hundred colleagues, blindsided by the elimination of her job and the entire political science program. With the situation still growing in scope and impact, Nadia joins Richard and Jeff to look at the political response and political implications of the gutting of Sudbury's 3rd largest employer. 

LAURENTIAN UNIVERSITY: Surprising everyone including the deans, Laurentian University declared itself insolvent on Feb 1 2021. Since then the communications from the administration have been scant, the community has scrambled to organize, and some 132 lawyers have been involved in proceedings in federal court. This crash course in Insolvency Studies digs through everything we know and don't know about this situation. IS100: We talk to Alex Usher of Higher Education Strategy Associates about the financial crisis and how it came to be. IS200: Professor Reuben Roth and student Darius Garneau, who are helping to organize Save Our Sudbury, tell us about the ongoing community response. IS300: Guest host Josh interviews the team and brings us your questions, which we answer for extra credit. 

US POLITICS: We welcome back our special US correspondent Danielle! On the eve of the second impeachment trial of the 45th President of the United States, we talk about how it will work, what's the current state of play, and how Republicans are dealing with a cancer of crazy in their ranks. 

In this episode:SUDBURY COUNCIL: Coming from a bombshell that blew over KED supporters on Council, the hosts talk about an upcoming report which will lay out all the "options" for an event centre including ones on sites other than the Kingsway. What's happening and our analysis here.FEDERAL POLITICS: While Donald Trump was busy cleaning out the Resolute desk, Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole issued a statement asserting there is "no place for the far right" in his party. Later that week, the Conservative Party caucus voted to expel MP Derek Sloan. Was that all in a good day's work, or does the O'Toole have more to do to prove to Canadians that the Conservative party is, as he says, a "moderate, pragmatic, mainstream party". We discuss.COVID RESPONSE: Northern Ontario Covid-19 numbers have remained low compared to the south, leading more than a few Northerners and several regional politicians to call for a travel ban. Can we build a Covid wall around the north? Should we?

Election Night, the finale.....maybe...It’s been nearly two months since our US Election Night coverage began, and with the Georgia run-off now complete and two new Democratic Senators preparing to take their seats, the team is breathing a collective sigh of relief that there won’t be another US election for at least two years.Richard and Jeff are joined by Josh and special guest Danielle - our International Affairs correspondent - to unpack this from a Sudbury perspective. The story of the 2020 Presidential Election is quite possibly over after the confirmation of the Electoral College votes, however it’s the next chapter that has everyone on the edge of their seats wondering what happens next.What happens between now and inauguration, will it be the 25th or an impeachment for Trump and where does his final defeat leave the country, and perhaps most importantly how and where does President #46 (or #47) Joe Biden begin to rebuild.

Our second season underway, Rachel, Richard, and Jeff mix it up on the hot topics in national, provincial and local politics. In this episode the hosts talk about what to do with the MAGA-level extremists in political movements, about Erin O'Toole's interest in finding union votes, and what's happening to the Sudbury economy during Covid. 

Anyone who has watched our show knows that Jeff, Richard and Rachel love to talk. However, this week, things are different.In a special episode, the team is joined by Laurentian University student and BLM Sudbury activist Darius Garneau, who talks to us about his own experiences growing up in Sudbury, the BLM movement and how to address systemic racism in our community and across the country.This week we are listening, and we are learning.

As you may have noticed over the past few weeks, our team has been playing a game of musical hosts (and we’re not just referring to Jeff’s vocalizing), this week two familiar faces are back to make up for lost time and lost opinions.Many things have been happening at the local level over the past few weeks and Rachel and Richard are ready to break down and discuss everything that has been going oThe KED is back in the news and back on hold, and ironically enough, the most pressing question surrounding the KED (and the funding of other large projects) is the question that resulted in a Councillor storming from a meeting in what has become an all to familiar sight, through the nearest available open door. And in speaking of doors, as some of them begin to reopen across the province and in our City, Richard and Rachel dig into how this is going to happen here and what it means for the City’s bottom

No, we didn't start the fire....But we didn’t stop it either....With Biden officially clenching the Democratic nomination and the fires that have erupted in the US moving from an out of control blaze to a movement for change, people are thinking more and more about the upcoming Presidential election. As a follow up to last week’s blog post Fire,  Danielle and Josh join Jeff on a special episode of the show to talk about their experience working on the 2016 Clinton campaign in Mentor, Ohio.Jeff asks Danielle and Josh to bring life to the words and share their story about what made them decide to go to try and stop Trump, what happened while they were there, the lessons they learned and asks them the million dollar question, would they ever go back? (edited) 

On this week’s episode, after a week spent social distancing from the show and one another, Richard and Jeff are joined by Danielle who steps in for Rachel - to talk about the continued debate over what a re-opening in Ontario will look like and the fires that have ignited in the US and whether or not those sparks will begin to catch here at home.After putting a hardline in the sand on regional re-openings as the curve began to flatten, Premier Ford has apparently had a change of heart and is beginning to consider regional re-openings in light of new testing and case data, but what would that regional re-opening look like and what are the logistics of making it happen?And what about our neighbours to the south, amid a global pandemic a powder keg has been ignited with none other than the President of the United States fanning the flames.

As we enter month two or maybe it’s three (?) of the COVID-19 pandemic Canadians are beginning to sound like whiny kids in the backseat of a car on a VERY long road trip asking the question that is like nails on a chalkboard to any parent. ARE WE THERE YET?In Canada it seems that there has been a steady stream of emergency funding and constant reminders to stay apart since the month of March, but as the curve appears to be levelling off, provinces begin to re-open and social distancing fatigue sets in everyone is beginning to ask the same question, what are the actual rules? Are we still not supposed to be seeing our friends and families even though we’re now able to go shopping? As people begin to move around more freely and we enter the phase of the “new normal” is  social distancing so last week?Speaking of last week, and the week before that and the week before that, there has been a near constant stream of emergency funding benefits to various segments of the population, both for individuals and businesses. You could be forgiven for thinking that every person in Canada has received some sort of support and that these last funding announcements for seniors and students are the last of the emergency funding flows. But are they? Were the most recent announcements the last of the COVID cash or will we continue to wake up to Groundhog Day-esq funding announcements as groups of Canadians continue to fall through the cracks?Amid some slips of the tongue, on this week’s episode, Richard, Rachel and Jeff ponder these very things and talk about how having a basic income in place may have saved the government and taxpayers money and may have provided a wider financial safety net for Canadians instead of the current piecemeal approach and they try to define what social distancing actually means.

Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither is a good story...but what happens if there is no one left to even lay the foundation let alone build it?On this episode of our media series, the Fourth Estate we bring back our first guest to achieve “friend of the show status” and proud new recipient of the show’s first piece of swag, Mike Whitehouse.Media and politics are intrinsically tied together, it could be argued that one cannot exist without the other. Politicians and governments count on public support and reaction to the moves they make as a barometer of how successful they are. There is no question that public trust in the media and governments have begun to dissolve as legacy media outlets begin to disappear and are replaced with other alternative sources. So where does that leave us the citizen consumer? What and who do we believe and is there anything that can be done to stop the foundation of our traditional media outlets from crumbling beneath the ground they stand on.Mike brings a unique perspective to this series having worked for local media outlets and witnessing both it’s heyday and slow destruction before his move to politics.Mike joins Richard, Rachel and Jeff to talk about the erosion of investigative journalism and the void left behind. A void that is quickly being filled by the rise of the low hanging fruit, “citizen journalism” and unregulated sources to the top of the barrel.

Re-opening plans, gun control measures and choosing someone to lead a political party...these things may look like very different decisions, but they all have one thing in common. A cost, and a consequence.It’s week who knows what and god knows which month since social distancing measures were put into place by provincial governments and there may finally be a light at the end of the COVID tunnel. Many of the provincial governments are beginning the process of easing some of the restrictions and taking measures to re-open and re-start the economy. Premier Doug Ford has announced that Ontario will open as a whole in phases, while Quebec Premier Francois Legault has announced that his government will take a regional approach. COVID has affected every province differently each province has a different plan for how they intend to get back to the new normal but is one plan or approach better than another and at what cost to people’s health and the health of the economy.The right to bear arms is not a right that is entrenched in Canada, however the right to life, liberty and security of person is. Two weeks ago, tragically saw Canada’s worst mass shooting to date in Nova Scotia, where 22 people lost their lives. During the election the Liberals campaigned on a platform that included stronger measures for gun control including the banning of certain types of assault style weapons. Last week the Trudeau government made good on that promise and passed an Order in Council banning 1,500 types of military-style assault firearms in Canada, which has now re-ignited the debate over gun ownership and control in our country. The majority of Canadians want to see stricter gun control measures put into place, however there is a segment of our population that believes that these measures are uncalled for an are a punishment against responsible gun owners. Will this Order cost the Liberals some of their support and what are the consequences for not tackling the underlying issues of how illegal firearms get into our country in the first place?Two out of four opposition parties are technically leaderless and currently involved in a leadership race which to be honest, you may not have known about until this past week. Glen Murray has entered the race for the Greens, brining with him both government experience and name recognition, which could potentially save the Greens from fading into obscurity with the vacuum left by Elizabeth May. However, his past as a Liberal Minster responsible for the introduction of cap and trade in Ontario may come back to haunt him amongst the party faithful. So the question has to be asked, does his entering the race spell trouble for the other parties and offer a home to the disaffected?Speaking of disaffected, the Conservative Party of Canada’s leadership race is back up and running after a brief suspension and Peter McKay, who was once thought to be a shoe-in for leader has become a one man wrecking ball. Unfortunately, he’s been doing the most damage to his own campaign, and Erin O’Toole has been more than happy to break through the wreckage. With the backing of Jason Kenney and some media outlets, the race now has two horses  and a distinct right leaning presence. What is the cost of McKay’s blunders and could the party lose members as a consequence.Over the next few weeks, there will be many decisions made about how to get back to the new normal, who our leaders will be and how to keep Canadians safe, and many of us will read these headlines and articles in the media. But what if there was no media, or the media’s capacity to actually investigate and report was crippled to the point of non-existence. Unfortunately, this “what if” is becoming a “when”. On our next episode of the Fourth Estate we’ll look at the costs and consequences of our local media outlets crumbling around us.