The West Block

A number of Indigenous leaders were in Ottawa this week speaking out against Bill C48, a bill to see a moratorium on ships carrying oil from anchoring off the northern British Columbia coast.  What do these leaders want and why are they planning to ask the United Nations to help?

Guests: Chief Raymond Morris, National Chiefs Coalition ; Calvin Helin, Eagle Spirit Chiefs Council

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We begin the show this week with the federal provincial showdown at the First Minister's meeting in Montreal, what is dividing Ottawa from its provincial counterparts?  Then we take a look at the RCMP arrest of a Chinese executive with Huawei, what does this mean for relations between China, Canada and the U.S.?

Guests: Dominic LeBlanc, Intergovernmental Affairs Minister; Scott Moe, Saskatchewan Premier; David Mulroney, Canada' s former ambassador to China

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This week we talk to two MPs on the hill about the controversy surrounding a fellow MP plus the recent report outlining the costs for asylym seekers crossing into Canada illegally.  We then talk to a former state department official about the escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine.  

Guests: Peter Schiefke, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Border Security and Organized Crime, Michelle Rempel, Conservative Immigration Critic; Stephen Sestanovich, Columbia University; John Ivison, National Post ; Daniel Leblanc, Globe and Mail

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Alberta's Finance Minister says the federal government does not understand the economic crisis his province is facing due to the ailing oil industry.  Ottawa says that is not true...we'll get both sides of this story.  Plus what are the dangers journalists face in the middle east?

Guests: Bill Morneau, Federal Finance Minister; Joe Ceci, Alberta's Finance Minister, Ayman Mhanna, SK Eyes Centre for Media and Culture

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Hundreds of thousands of Syrians have died since the civil war began over seven years ago and many more have been displaced.  What more should the west be doing to help Syrians?  Here's your West Block bonus podcast.

Guest: Kenan Rahmani, Syrian Campaign Policy Advisor

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