Each week, the Maclean’s Ottawa bureau sits down with Cormac Mac Sweeney to discuss the headlines of the week. This week, we’re talking about the kids heading back to class. That’s right, Monday marks every parliamentarian’s return to the House of Commons as Parliament resumes for the fall. To discuss her priorities and her party, we’re joined by interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will actually be in New York next week, where he’ll lead Canada’s delegation to the United Nations General Assembly—and address other world leaders. We speak with a professor and author who says one of the motives behind Trudeau’s visit is to push for a seat on the UN security council.

The U.S. election campaign has shone a spotlight on health after Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, who was battling pneumonia, had to be held up by staff while leaving an event on Sept. 11. But what is driving the health debate: legitimate concern or sexism? Maclean’s senior writer Anne Kingston joins us to discuss.

We also speak with NDP MP Nathan Cullen about why he thinks Canadians need to see concrete proposals from the committee studying electoral reform, and we hear from the architect behind a proposed renovation to an historic Ottawa landmark that spawned a flurry of criticism on social media.

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The full episode

Part 1. Welcome back to Ottawa, MPs!

Monday marks every parliamentarian’s return to the House of Commons as Parliament resumes for the fall. To discuss her priorities and her party, we’re joined by interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose.

Part 2. Is Trudeau campaigning for a seat on the security council?

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will actually be in New York next week, where he’ll lead Canada’s delegation to the United Nations General Assembly—and address other world leaders. We speak with a professor and author who says one of the motives behind Trudeau’s visit is to push for a seat on the UN security council.

Part 3. Hillary Clinton fights sexism on the trail

The U.S. election campaign has shone a spotlight on health after Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, who was battling pneumonia, had to be held up by staff while leaving an event on Sept. 11. But what is driving the health debate: legitimate concern or sexism? Maclean’s senior writer Anne Kingston joins us to discuss.

Part 4. Needed: concrete electoral reform proposals

We speak with NDP MP Nathan Cullen about why he thinks Canadians need to see concrete proposals from the committee studying electoral reform, and we hear from the architect behind a proposed renovation to an historic Ottawa landmark that spawned a flurry of criticism on social media.

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