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.

THE HEADLINES

• 
  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