Also: The rough week ahead for the Senate
A worker carries a bench while preparing the Senate chamber on Parliament Hill in Ottawa October 10, 2013. Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper will outline his government’s agenda in the Speech from the Throne on October 16. REUTERS/Chris Wattie (CANADA – Tags: POLITICS) – RTX1469S
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, Aaron Wherry and John Geddes joined Cormac MacSweeney. The trio hashed out this week’s uproar over pension reform, sparked by the question period musings of Finance Minister Joe Oliver, who vaguely alluded to the government’s possible endorsement of voluntary contributions to the Canada Pension Plan. They also dissect the Senate’s objection to MP Michael Chong’s Reform Act, which received all-party support in the House of Commons—but has found opponents in the upper chamber. The panel also forecasts the week ahead for the Senate, which will likely be a rough ride thanks to a tough auditor general’s report soon to see the light of day.
ON A FAREWELL
Exit Peter MacKay, stage centre-right
ON BATTLE SCARS
MacKay wore them with pride
ON WANING PCs
The last PC leader leaves politics
ON PRIVATE LIVES
MacKay’s was lived in public
ON MALLEABILITY
What politicians will do for power
ON QP
Where MacKay fought his fights