Each week, the Maclean’s Ottawa bureau sits down with Cormac Mac Sweeney to discuss the headlines of the week. This week, chapter two of the Trudeau government’s fiscal plan: the Liberals unveiled their new budget this past week, and Maclean’s Ottawa bureau chief John Geddes joins Cormac to examine the five top stories from the budget—and we also hear from Finance Minister Bill Morneau and former prime minister Paul Martin.

The government and the opposition are locked in a showdown over proposed changes to the procedures in the House of Commons, including scrapping Friday sittings, creating a prime minister’s question period, and limiting the options for filibusters. The parliamentary secretary to the House Leader, Kevin Lamoureux, joins us to defend the move.

Embattled Sen. Don Meredith has a new lawyer—and he’s getting rid of the race card defence. William Trudell speaks to me about the next steps in Meredith’s case, and whether or not the senator will appear before a committee that could try to expel him from the upper chamber over his sexual relationship with a teenager.

We finish the show with Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr reacting to the presidential permit granted to the Keystone XL pipeline. We also get up to speed on this week’s Ottawa Power Rankings, courtesy Maclean’s associate editor Shannon Proudfoot.

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The full episode

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Part 1. Bill Morneau defends his budget

Liberal Members of Parliament give Minister of Finance Bill Morneau a standing ovation as he delivers the federal budget in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Wednesday March 22, 2017. (Sean Kilpatrick/CP)

It’s chapter two of the Trudeau government’s fiscal plan: the Liberals unveiled their new budget this past week, and Maclean’s Ottawa bureau chief John Geddes joins Cormac to examine the five top stories from the budget—and we also hear from Finance Minister Bill Morneau and former prime minister Paul Martin.

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Part 2. The Commons fights over Commons reform

Bardish Chagger answers a question during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Tuesday, Feb.23, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

The government and the opposition are locked in a showdown over proposed changes to the procedures in the House of Commons, including scrapping Friday sittings, creating a prime minister’s question period, and limiting the options for filibusters. The parliamentary secretary to the House Leader, Kevin Lamoureux, joins us to defend the move.

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Part 3. Don Meredith’s new lawyer goes on the record

Don Meredith/Mitchel Raphael

Embattled Sen. Don Meredith has a new lawyer—and he’s getting rid of the race card defence. William Trudell speaks to me about the next steps in Meredith’s case, and whether or not the senator will appear before a committee that could try to expel him from the upper chamber over his sexual relationship with a teenager.

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Part 4. Jim Carr reacts to Keystone XL’s approval