Each week, the Maclean’s Ottawa bureau sits down with Cormac Mac Sweeney to discuss the headlines of the week. This week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau toured the destruction in Fort McMurray and announced new employment insurance help for regions hit hard by wildfires. Cormac spoke with Veterans Affairs Minister Kent Hehr, the chair of a new cabinet committee handling the response to the wildfires in northern Alberta.

The federal government has taken the first step in fundamentally changing the way we vote in federal elections. The Liberals announced a committee that will study options for electoral reform, including proportional representation and ranked ballots. We speak with an expert who’s critical of the Liberal road map to reform.

The controversial assisted dying bill is expected to pass through the House of Commons in a matter of days. But it appears the Senate is poised to pose fundamental amendments to the legislation. We speak with Conservative Sen. Bob Runciman, the chair of the Senate committee that’s studying the bill, about potential amendments—and the prospect that legislators could miss the Supreme Court’s deadline.

Should the spouse of the Prime Minister be allowed to have more than one taxpayer-funded assistant? Sophie Grégoire Trudeau’s suggestion that she may need more staff to deal with demands on her time has sparked a debate on Parliament Hill. We look more deeply at the controversy with a professor who specializes in gender and politics.

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The full episode

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Part 1. Kent Hehr on Liberal plans to help Fort McMurray

This week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau toured the destruction in Fort McMurray and announced new employment insurance help for regions hit hard by wildfires. Cormac Mac Sweeney spoke with Veterans Affairs Minister Kent Hehr, the chair of a new cabinet committee handling the response to the wildfires in northern Alberta.

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Part 2. Electoral reform is coming to Ottawa

The federal government has taken the first step in fundamentally changing the way we vote in federal elections. The Liberals announced a committee that will study options for electoral reform, including proportional representation and ranked ballots. We speak with an expert who’s critical of the Liberal road map to reform.

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Part 3. Could Ottawa miss a Supreme Court deadline?

The controversial assisted dying bill is expected to pass through the House of Commons in a matter of days. But it appears the Senate is poised to pose fundamental amendments to the legislation. We speak with Conservative Sen. Bob Runciman, the chair of the Senate committee that’s studying the bill, about potential amendments—and the prospect that legislators could miss the Supreme Court’s deadline.

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Part 4. What do we expect of a prime minister’s spouse?

Should the spouse of the Prime Minister be allowed to have more than one taxpayer-funded assistant? Sophie Grégoire Trudeau’s suggestion that she may need more staff to deal with demands on her time has sparked a debate on Parliament Hill. We look more deeply at the controversy with a professor who specializes in gender and politics.

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OUR BUREAU’S TOP READS

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  Did the Liberals stack the deck?

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  ON SOPHIE
  What’s the role of a PM’s wife?

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  ON #PMPM21
  Paul Martin gets a portrait

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