Ep 187: The railroad to normalcy
A look at the various plans to reopen Canada and a study into freight and commuter rail on Vancouver Island.
PolitiCoast · Ian Bushfield, Scott de Lange Boom
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Show Notes
Politics continues in a pandemic as MPs meet virtually for the first time and all the media wants to talk about are the views of each MP's home that we got a glimpse at. Then we look at the steps various (non-BC) provinces have announced to reopen their societies. Finally, there's a new study out looking at the costs of restoring the old Island Rail tracks from Victoria to Port Alberni and Courtenay.
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Photo credit: Flickr/BCGovPhotos
A transcript will be available soon at politicoast.ca
Links
Segment 1: Politics in Lockdown
- Mute buttons and decorating tips: the House of Commons stumbles through an online session
- House of Commons meeting virtually on a platform described as a 'gold rush for cyber spies'
- Canada’s first ‘virtual parliament’: Here are the best, worst and eeriest MP backgrounds
- Federal deficit could top $252 billion, says budget officer
- PBO report [pdf]
- Conservative Party leadership race is back on, with Aug. 21 deadline for mail-in ballots
- Conservative leadership candidate ignores calls to apologize for attack on Canada's top doctor
- Scott Reid’s Twitter thread on leak
- Supreme Court moves Sask., Ont. appeals of carbon tax to September
- House passes $9B aid package after emergency student benefit boosted
- Students who collect emergency COVID-19 aid must attest they're looking for work
- Joint statement on memorandum of understanding on Wet’suwet’en rights and title
Note: After we recorded, it came out that the Wet'suwet'en elected council is strongly objecting to the MoU. We'll take a closer look next week.
Segment 2: Ending the lockdown
- Where we stand in Canada: Reopenings by province and territory from coronavirus lockdown
- Coronavirus disease (COVID-19): Outbreak update
- No plan to reopen BC schools yet, says education minister
Segment 3: Malahat a choo choo