Each week, the Maclean’s Ottawa bureau sits down to discuss the stories behind the week’s stories in our politics podcast, On The Hill.

They also gather in the OMNI studios to talk about the stories that matter. This week, Paul Wells and John Geddes join Cormac MacSweeney to talk about the government’s divisive anti-terror legislation, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau as an underdog heading into the next election campaign, and Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s focus on global maternal and child health.

THE HEADLINES

• 
  ON ROCK BOTTOM
  Is the 41st Parliament a lost cause?

• 
  ON REFORM
  Michael Chong’s bill passes the House

• 
  ON TRUDEAU
  The Liberal leader is an underdog

• 
  ON GATES
  The billionaire on global progress

• 
  ON KEYSTONE
  What of Canada-U.S. relations?

• 
  ON MAIN ESTIMATES
  They aren’t just wild guesses