This week on the show, we talk about Justin Trudeau’s town hall tactics, the PEI Cabinet shuffle and what it means for women, and sit down for an interview with Halifax-Needham MLA Lisa Roberts (NDP).
This week we tried something new on the podcast. We added a new segment where we unpack stories in Atlantic Canadian politics with a rotating co-host. This week Lisa Buchanan (also co-host of LOL UR GAY – A Gay Comedy Podcast) joins Mark to unpack some of stories in Atlantic Canadian politics last week.
Trudeau’s Town Halls, PEI Cabinet Shuffle and Women in Politics
In the first half-hour of podcast (0:00 – 28:00), Mark and Lisa explore the following stories:
- Justin Trudeau’s town hall tour of Canada. It started in Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia last week. Mark and Lisa discuss Trudeau’s public conversation style, and what his empathy and crowd-work mean for activists, advocates and Trudeau himself (4:00 – 13:20).
- PEI Premier Wade MacLauchlan’s shuffled his cabinet last week. Lisa and Mark explore how it’s being interpreted as a signal of an early election. We also discuss what ditching fixed election dates mean for women, and the fact that PEI has the lowest representation of women in cabinet in Canada (13:20 – 26:30).
Interview with Lisa Roberts
In the latter half hour of the podcast (28:30 – End), Mark sits down with Halifax-Needham MLA Lisa Roberts (NDP). Some of the things they talk about include:
- Lisa shares her big takeaway from our interview with former PC Environment Minister (and Church Minister) Mark Parent (30:20)
- Mark learns what superpowers Lisa has discovered she has as an MLA (33:40). Lisa shares how constituency concerns can better translate into legislation and policy change.
- Lisa shares how she focuses her efforts in opposition on amplifying the voices of the unheard. She talks about how she uses her public platform to shape the public consciousness on issues and how PTSD legislation is an example of parties working together to do important work (40:00 – 52:00).
- Mark floats the idea that the problem with legislature politics isn’t that it’s all theatrical, but that it’s pretty bad theatre (52:30).
