John Geddes – Maclean’s Magazine Ottawa Bureau Chief. Recession? What Recession?

As Harper and Ignatief battle it out, it becomes apparent that the economy will play a minimal role in the next election, writes Ottawa bureau chief John Geddes in this weeks issue of Maclean’s.

*UPDATE: A critical vote that could bring down the minority Conservative government has been tentatively scheduled for next Friday.

The so-called ways and means motion is usually a routine matter that signals an impending vote on a budget bill, but this time might very well act as the trigger that launches an election.

Conservative sources say the motion is likely to be introduced on Sept. 18, and as per parliamentary rules must be voted on immediately. Prime Minister Stephen Harper will have just returned from a trip to the United States, and would be ready to visit the Governor General and kick off an election.

 

 

Ciara Hunt – Editor-In-Cheif, HELLO! Magazine.

 

HELLO! Magazine is Canada’s only glossy-paged celebrity magazine. Released weekly, the publication is set apart from its American counterparts by it’s refusal to take the ‘low-road’, and insult or embarrass the celebrities it covers.

- What have been the highlights of TIFF so far?
- What is happening in the coming week of TIFF that we should watch for?
- HELLO!’s TIFF Party was Saturday night.

 

 

Nicholas Jennings – Writer, ‘This Beat Goes On’ & ‘Rise Up’

 

In 2006, the feature-length documentary SHAKIN' ALL OVER: Canadian Pop Music in the 1960s made a big splash. The film, based on Nicholas Jenning's book Before The Gold Rush, chronicled the birth of Canadian pop music in the 1960s.

Now the same creative team that made SHAKIN' ALL OVER - writer Jennings, director Gary McGroarty, narrator Jian Ghomeshi and production companies Amerimage in Montreal and Soapbox Productions in Vancouver - have once again collaborated to bring you two sequels that begin where the first film left off: THIS BEAT GOES ON: Canadian Pop Music in the 70s, and RISE UP: Canadian Pop Music in the 1980s.

THIS BEAT GOES ON and RISE UP will air on CBC Television on four consecutive Thursday evenings at 9:00 P.M. beginning August 27.

 

 

John “Flairboy” Garbutt – Producer, Q107’s ‘Derringer in the Morning’.

Johnny joins us from Chicago where he’s just seen the first North American stop on U2’s monumental and groundbreaking “360-degree” U.S. tour.

With more than 120 trucks transporting a stage that cost $40 million to build, U2's 360 Degrees Tour is being touted as the most expensive rock-and-roll expedition ever waged.

That 164-foot tall stage, dubbed the claw, and it’s 360-degree jumbo-tron touches down for two sold out shows at Toronto’s Rogers Centre this Wednesday & Thursday. Don’t have a ticket? Resellers reportedly have them for around $9,000 a piece.

 

 

Wendy Murphy – Former Prosecutor & Contributor, The Daily Beast.

 

Wendy specializes in the representation of crime victims, women and children. She also writes and lectures widely on victims' rights and criminal justice policy. Her expose of the American legal system, And Justice For Some, came out in 2007.
Why Jaycee Dugard should sue…

As bones are found near Phillip Garrido’s property, Wendy Murphy says the pundits are wrong: Jaycee Dugard’s family absolutely must sue the parole officers who could have saved her…

 

 

Tim Hudak – Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader.

 

High provincial taxes from the health premium to the looming HST are strangling middle-class families and killing jobs, Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak said yesterday in his first major economic address.

But when asked if he would get rid of the 13 per cent harmonized sales tax, Hudak was not as direct, saying the next Tory campaign "will be talking about lower taxes."

The Liberals bill the HST, a blend of the 8 per cent provincial sales tax and the 5 per cent federal GST, as "good economic policy" that will give businesses a competitive edge, said Hudak.

But he argues the HST is a $2.5 billion tax grab on middle-class families in the grip of a recession.
"My plan is to stop this tax dead in its tracks," Hudak said.

 

 

Linda Franklin – TheRealCougarWoman.com & Huffington Post Contributor.