The Boys talk the first NDP leadership debate, Twitter kerfuffles, Daughters of the Vote, Jason Kenny, and parliamentary reform. Young New Democrats of Canada treasurer Gwen Moncrieff-Gould cohosts.

Link to mentioned Star piece: https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/03/17/why-niki-ashtons-use-of-beyonc-lyrics-isnt-about-cultural-appropriation-paradkar.html

This week, Etienne and Laurent knock out this week's inside-the-Bubble stories, before sitting down for a long, informative interview with (friend of the show) Dr. Paul Wilson.

Dr. Wilson began his political career in the early 1990s, when he joined the Reform Party's research office. He left politics in 2001 and returned in 2006 to serve as a policy advisor to several ministers and the Prime Minister. Since 2011, he's been teaching at Carleton's Political Management Program. He's also a lovely guy.

In Etienne's absence, Laurent manages to record an interview with two of this year's Parliamentary Internship Programme cohort, Ryan van den Berg and Claire Sieffert. Bonus: the time Jennifer Robson accidentally called Jean Chretien a terrible boss to his face.

The PIP would like me to let you know that it is a non-partisan, work-study programme supported by public and private sponsors. Ryan also wants me to let you know that although the PIP is a non-partisan program, that does not stop people from applying if they have partisan experience!

(NB: there is really annoying vacuuming going on around 20 minutes in. Sorry!)

The Boys respond to their critics, discuss an important opposition tactic and the Canadian Taxpayers Federations' Teddy Awards, give an NDP leadership update, and their impressions from this weekend's Manning Conference, the annual meeting of Canada's small-c conservatives of all kinds.

Corrections: MPs are entitled to four Order Paper Questions each, not five.

Staffer. Public affairs pro. Talking head. Fantasy baseball champion. This week, the Boys interview the legendary Rob Silver.

Also, stick around for reader mail and a sneak peek at what's coming next.

This week, the Boys explain the structure of Cabinet, Canadian-US relations, a motion on Islamophobia, and finally get to talk about the NDP leadership race.

This week, the Boys return to wrap up or continue a few stories: the Billionaire Island Caper peters out (until the Commissioner reports), Nick Kouvalis loses his job, and Kevin O'Leary gets ratfucked by the CBC. We also fondly remember electoral reform, which was a loose end for the Trudeau government in the Mafia film sense of the phrase. You'll be missed.

The Staffer Story Vault also gets cracked open for the first time.

The Boys discuss the Conservative Party leadership race - the rules, the polls, the contenders. Also, Justin Trudeau, Boy Wonder, gets himself into hot water yet again with the revelation of a 2014 vacation to Billionaire Island - the Boys bring in an expert to sort things out,

This week, the Boys interview Dr. Jennifer Robson, a former political staffer, ex-civil servant, voluntary sector veteran, and current professor at Carleton University. We talk benchmark tax systems, universality vs. means testing, and Canada's tax credit architecture, a Lovecraftian edifice of impossible geometry that can drive those who behold it mad. Etienne and Laurent then discuss fear and loathing on the Prime Minister's Magical Mystery Tour.

The Boys return from winter holidays tanned, rested and ready to take on Justin Trudeau, Boy Wonder, as he tries to solve the Mystery of Billionaire Island. Also features daring expeditions into the darkest Jungles of Conflict of Interest, the treacherous waters of the Cabinet Shuffle, and the smoking crater of Canadian punditry.