Maclean’s on the Hill: Cash for access, decriminalized drugs

Also on this week’s politics podcast: What can Canadians expect from Parliament this spring?

January 27, 2017

podcast

Each week, the Maclean’s Ottawa bureau sits down with Cormac Mac Sweeney to discuss the headlines of the week. The spring sitting of Parliament gets underway on Monday. From fundraising to marijuana to Donald Trump, the Trudeau government’s plate is full. We speak with Conservative House leader Candice Bergen about what to expect on Parliament Hill over the next five months.

The federal government is taking action to deal with the controversy around cash-for-access fundraisers. But an ethics professor tells us the proposed changes may just be window dressing.

We all know that the Liberals want to legalize marijuana, but one Liberal MP is now pushing the idea of decriminalizing all drugs. Nathaniel Erskine-Smith is here to explain why he thinks that’s the way to go.

Conservative leadership candidate Kevin O’Leary claims the path to victory for his party includes young voters, but pollsters say that doesn’t make any sense. Maclean’s associate editor Shannon Proudfoot discusses that and her weekly Ottawa Power Rankings, in which she tells us who’s having a good week and who’s having a bad week in and around Parliament Hill.

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The full episode

Part 1. Parliament returns

Pages and staff prepare the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada, December 2, 2015. (Chris Wattie/Reuters)

The spring sitting of Parliament gets underway on Monday. From fundraising to marijuana to Donald Trump, the Trudeau government’s plate is full. We speak with Conservative House leader Candice Bergen about what to expect on Parliament Hill over the next five months.

Part 2. Liberals pitch cash-for-access rules

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks with media at a press conference at the University of Winnipeg in Winnipeg, Thursday, January 26, 2017. (John Woods/CP)

The federal government is taking action to deal with the controversy around cash-for-access fundraisers. But an ethics professor tells us the proposed changes may just be window dressing.

Part 3. Which drugs should be decriminalized?

Medical marijuana plants grow in a climate controlled growing room at the Tweed Inc. facility in Smith Falls, Ontario, Canada, on Nov. 11, 2015. Construction and marijuana companies are poised to benefit from the Liberal Party's decisive win in Canada's election, with leader Justin Trudeau vowing to fund infrastructure spending with deficits and legalize cannabis. (James MacDonald/Bloomberg/Getty Images) — Medical marijuana plants grow in a climate controlled growing room at the Tweed Inc. facility in Smith Falls, Ontario, Canada, on Nov. 11, 2015. Construction and marijuana companies are poised to benefit from the Liberal Party’s decisive win in Canada’s election, with leader Justin Trudeau vowing to fund infrastructure spending with deficits and legalize cannabis. (James MacDonald/Bloomberg/Getty Images)

Part 4. Can Conservatives court the youth vote?

Newly announced Federal Conservative leadership candidate Kevin O'Leary leaves a television studio following an interview in Toronto on Wednesday January 18, 2017. (Chris Young/CP) — Newly announced Federal Conservative leadership candidate Kevin O’Leary leaves a television studio following an interview in Toronto on Wednesday January 18, 2017. (Chris Young/CP)