Each week, the Maclean’s Ottawa bureau sits down with Cormac Mac Sweeney to discuss the headlines of the week. The spring sitting of Parliament gets underway on Monday. From fundraising to marijuana to Donald Trump, the Trudeau government’s plate is full. We speak with Conservative House leader Candice Bergen about what to expect on Parliament Hill over the next five months.

The federal government is taking action to deal with the controversy around cash-for-access fundraisers. But an ethics professor tells us the proposed changes may just be window dressing.

We all know that the Liberals want to legalize marijuana, but one Liberal MP is now pushing the idea of decriminalizing all drugs. Nathaniel Erskine-Smith is here to explain why he thinks that’s the way to go.

Conservative leadership candidate Kevin O’Leary claims the path to victory for his party includes young voters, but pollsters say that doesn’t make any sense. Maclean’s associate editor Shannon Proudfoot discusses that and her weekly Ottawa Power Rankings, in which she tells us who’s having a good week and who’s having a bad week in and around Parliament Hill.

Subscribe on iTunes today or play below.

The full episode

Part 1. Parliament returns

The spring sitting of Parliament gets underway on Monday. From fundraising to marijuana to Donald Trump, the Trudeau government’s plate is full. We speak with Conservative House leader Candice Bergen about what to expect on Parliament Hill over the next five months.

Part 2. Liberals pitch cash-for-access rules

The federal government is taking action to deal with the controversy around cash-for-access fundraisers. But an ethics professor tells us the proposed changes may just be window dressing.

Part 3. Which drugs should be decriminalized?

We all know that the Liberals want to legalize marijuana, but one Liberal MP is now pushing the idea of decriminalizing all drugs. Nathaniel Erskine-Smith is here to explain why he thinks that’s the way to go.

Part 4. Can Conservatives court the youth vote?

Conservative leadership candidate Kevin O’Leary claims the path to victory for his party includes young voters, but pollsters say that doesn’t make any sense. Maclean’s associate editor Shannon Proudfoot discusses that and her weekly Ottawa Power Rankings, in which she tells us who’s having a good week and who’s having a bad week in and around Parliament Hill.

OUR BUREAU’S TOP READS

• 
  ON CASH FOR ACCESS
  Trudeau’s ‘window dressing’

• 
  ON POWER
  Welcome back, Harper

• 
  ON YOUTH
  O’Leary wants their votes

• 
  ON TRADE
  What ‘Buy American’ means

[widgets_on_pages id=”Politics”]