Party in the U.S.A.: One week out

10/26/20 • 29 min

Here we are in the final stretch. In just seven days, millions of Americans will head to the polls and elect the next president of the United States. Elamin calls up Sabrina Siddiqui, national politics reporter for the Wall Street Journal and Toluse Olorunnipa, who covers the White House for the Washington Post. They go through the biggest stories of the past week, including Thursday night’s presidential debate, and Trump’s sudden obsession with Joe Biden’s son Hunter. They also check in on what’s happening in key swing states, and what the strategy is for the Biden and Trump campaigns in the final days of the race.

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Showdown in Parliament

Yesterday marked exactly one year since the last federal election... and yesterday, Canadians were nearly sent to the polls once again. After the Conservatives put forward a motion in the House calling for a special committee to examine the WE Charity controversy, Liberals said they would make the vote on that motion a matter of confidence, meaning the minority government could have fallen. Okay, yes, that’s a lot to wrap your head around — but Rosie and Elamin are here to answer the big questions, like: What are opposition parties doing to pursue the WE affair? Why did the Liberals put their minority government on the line for this? And how did we get so close to the brink of a snap election? Plus, the two also shine a light on the federal government’s role in the Nova Scotia fishery dispute. MPs stayed up late on Monday for an emergency debate focused on the newly launched Mi'kmaw lobster fishery in Saulnierville, N.S. and the increasingly violent opposition to it from non-Indigenous commercial fishers. Rosie and Elamin take a look at what surfaced in that debate, and what next steps the feds may consider.

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What can pandemic elections tell us?

Four elections in under four days — whew. Voters in British Columbia, Saskatchewan and two federal Toronto ridings all headed to the polls this past week, and incumbents were largely rewarded across the board. B.C. Premier John Horgan and Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe were handed majorities, while the federal Liberals held onto those two Toronto seats. But is there more to glean from these somewhat expected results? Rosie and Elamin dig deeper into the numbers to look for the kind of signs federal politicians might be keeping an eye on... as they prepare to watch a whole other election south of the border. How is the federal government preparing for what could unfold next Tuesday in the U.S.? Plus, the two dissect the latest Conservative motion to stir up the House of Commons this week. It wasn’t a confidence matter, but it still had lots to do with government transparency — specifically, how the Liberals have been handling the COVID-19 pandemic. What does this latest scuffle suggest about the state of cooperation in Parliament?