No Talking Points:  Season One, Episode Four

Thursday March 18

Moderator: Janet E Silver

Participants: Kady O’Malley, iPolitics | Alex Boutilier, Toronto Star | Alex Ballingall, Toronto Star

This week we drill down on what’s going on inside the Conservative party as delegates gather virtually for a three day convention. How united is the party and what does CPC leader Erin O’Toole need to do to bring members together? Then COVID one year on, how prepared was the government for a pandemic and lessons learned going forward? The trial of the two Michaels detained in China, Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, is set to begin within days. How is that unfolding?

And what to expect next week in the House of Commons.

No Talking Points:  Season One, Episode Three

Thursday March 11

Moderator: Janet Silver

Participants:Kady O’Malley, iPoliticsAlex Boutilier, Toronto StarTonda MacCharles, Toronto Star

This week we take a look the polls and vaccine rollout.  Then, next week the conservatives will hold their virtual policy convention.  Conservative Party Leader Erin O’Toole says his party is united and ready to lead, yet some of the infighting suggests otherwise.  What is happening within the party and is it as united as O’Toole suggests?

Plus a quick preview on what to expect in the coming days on the Hill

Welcome to No Talking Points, a show about how politics and government really work. Unscripted straight talk from the folks who cover the Hill at iPolitics and the Toronto Star.

When the House is in session, we’ll be here every Thursday to break down the politics, the policy, and the players behind it all.

Season 1 Episode 2: Pharmacare/ Vaccines/MAiD latest plus Biden and TrudeauModerator: Janet Silver, iPoliticsChattering class: Kady O’Malley, iPolitics | Alex Ballingall, Toronto Star | Jacques Gallant, Toronto Star

The NDP’s universal pharmacare bill is overwhelmingly defeated in the House of Commons, we’ll break-down the politics behind that defeat. Why is the Prime Minister referencing the constitution when he is questioned about his support of the bill? Then, polls show the liberals are taking a hit with the vaccine rollout plans – what will it take for them to turn that around? And, Bill C-7 (aka MAiD), the medical-assistance-in-dying legislation – what Senate amendments is the House of Commons willing to accept? The clock is ticking, what happens next? Plus, U.S. President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau held their first bilateral meeting on Tuesday, virtually. What can the U.S. do for Canada to help secure the release of the two Canadians detained in China? And what did the two leaders pledge in terms of specific actions on the environment? Finally, a look ahead at what’s on the radar from our Process Nerd.

No Talking Points - a show about how politics and government really works. Unscripted straight talk from the folks who cover the Hill at iPolitics and the Toronto Star.

When the House is in session we’re here to break down the politics, the policy and the players behind it all.

Season 1 Episode 1: Vaccine rollout, MaiD and China.

Moderator: Janet Silver, iPolitics

Chattering class: Kady O’Malley, iPolitics | Alex Ballingall, Toronto Star | Jacques Gallant, Toronto Star

Why are vaccines taking so long? Will every Canadian who wants a jab be able to get one by September as the Prime Minister has promised? Then Bill C-7, aka MAiD. Medical assistance in dying legislation passed in the Senate Wednesday evening with five amendments that include an advance directive and allowances for people suffering from mental illness. Will the House approve the amendments? Plus – the opposition has been calling on Ottawa to take a tougher stance against China. Why is the government so reluctant to call out Beijing's human rights abuses? And a look ahead at what’s on the radar from our process nerd.

iPolitics journalists Charlie Pinkerton, Janet Silver and Kady O'Malley are joined by Elliot Hughes, Summa Strategies senior adviser and ex-policy adviser to former finance minister Bill Morneau, to react to the federal government's fall economic statement.

While the coronavirus pandemic may have slowed ever so slightly over the summer, the political drama facing the Canadian government did not.

There’s a new opposition leader. That leader’s in isolation, after contracting COVID-19, making him one of two federal party leaders in that position.

On the other side of the aisle, there’s a new finance minister, who took over the post just weeks before the organization at the centre of the controversy leading to the previous finance minister’s abrupt exit from public life announced it was packing up shop in this country.

And that’s just been what’s happened since mid-August.

Parliament, which hasn’t held normal, routine sittings since March, is scheduled to get back to something approaching business as usual on Wednesday, when a much-anticipated throne speech will mark the end of prorogation and kick off an indeterminate period of governance for the Liberal minority.

iPolitics journalists Charlie Pinkerton and Kady O’Malley, iPoliticsINTEL editor Ciaran McCullough and Earnscliffe Strategy Group partner Yaroslav Baran make up the latest edition of Minority Report, to discuss the fall sitting.

In the return of the (un)official Minority Report panel, iPolitics' Charlie Pinkerton and Kady O’Malley are joined by Samara Centre for Democracy senior research associate Paul Thomas and Earnscliffe Strategy Group principal Yaroslav Baran, who was also a longtime aide to former prime minister Stephen Harper and a chief of staff to both a Conservative Government House Leader and Government Whip.

This second instalment of Minority Report focuses on the role of leaders in the House of Commons. After talking about what they've observed in the first non-sitting month of the new Parliament [02:01], the group discusses the position of the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and if new appointee Pablo Rodriguez is up to the task [06:46]. They also touch on former House leader Bardish Chagger's bad rap.

Then the group talks about who will be the opposition House leaders and what their jobs will entail [14:51].

The conversation takes a turn to topics that include how the House rules could change in this Parliament [18:16] and what's to be expected in the election of the Speaker of the House of Commons [24:36], the importance of House leaders' meetings [27:31] and the power of the new 'post-caucus,' 'black box of mystery,' 'wildcard' Senate in this government.

Finally: Storytime. Baran, O'Malley and Thomas all share stories indicative of effective House leadership [34:31].

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With their memories of the election campaign quickly fading, Mainstreet Research president and CEO Quito Maggi and iPolitics reporter Charlie Pinkerton welcome Mainstreet's vice president Joseph Angolano and the president of its Quebec division Luc Fortin to discuss the polling firm's post-election study.After first touching on why some (albeit very few) riding polls conducted during the campaign turned out to be inaccurate come election day [1:50], they launch into a discussion on Mainstreet's post-election polling, including what it heard from voters about their thoughts on the amount of policy-focussed discussion during the campaign and their tendency to vote strategically [9:50]. Fortin adds more from the survey about the campaign's oversized impact on Quebeckers' votes [14:20].Finally, the group ends the show with a lengthy discussion about what Mainstreet heard from voters about Scheer's future as the Conservative leader [16:00].

Two days out from the 2019 federal election, Mainstreet Research president and CEO Quito Maggi and iPolitics reporter Charlie Pinkerton sit down with Reliq Health chairman and former Conservative MP for Westlock–St. Paul Brian Storseth and Summa Strategies senior advisor Elliot Hughes to discuss the result of Canadians' votes.First on the docket is: The inevitability of the Liberal minority [2:20]. The group then chats about what to expect from this new version of the Trudeau government [09:00].Maggi, Storseth and Hughes talk about how their experiences working in government differed in minority and majority scenarios [15:45].Lastly, is Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer's position safe [21:20]?

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In this special political thriller podcast, Minority Report, iPolitics reporters Charlie Pinkerton and Kady O’Malley talk minority governments with Samara Centre for Democracy senior research associate Paul Thomas and Earnscliffe Strategy Group principal Yaroslav Baran, who was also a longtime aid to former prime minister Stephen Harper and a chief of staff to both a Government House Leader and Government Whip.First, they break down why Canada’s parliamentary system operates the way it does [02:00]. Then they take a look at the makeup of Canada’s newly elected Parliament and talk about why all this coalition government talk is hogwash [06:40].Next is a look at confidence motions (what is one and what isn’t) and how they can bring down a government [13:30]. Then they discuss how the Trudeau government will maintain the confidence of the House of Commons [19:45], before talking about how the operation of the House will change, as well as how the committee scene is different in a minority scenario [24:00].And finally, where do Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Liberals go from here [38:00]?