The pundits are back on the Knowhere Pub patio and not even a late summer storm can stop them from taking on poll aggregators and seat projections. Jeff is a fan. Richard is not. Danielle is helping the rest of us make sense of it all. Don't miss this electrifying episode on week three of the 44th General Election.

Its week two of the campaign and the pundits are back on the patio, this time at Bill Crumplin's Knowhere Public House, to break down the shifts and the turns locally and nationally.  Despite an increase in the pace of the campaign, we have not yet seen the Sudbury or Nickel Belt candidates face off - that will come in Week 3. 

We are back together in person for the first time since the pandemic lockdown in March 2019 and enjoying the best a summer federal election can offer - a reason to grab drinks with political friends on a local patio!Week 1 of the Federal election in Sudbury and Nickel Belt was a bit of sleepy thing - we look at what the parties need to do to step up the game. Join us each week for Pundits on a Patio, our special series.

We're back for our third season! With federal politics in the air, Danielle Derochie takes the host chair alongside Jeff and Richard to give a comprehensive preview of the upcoming general election. Who is running? How do the national trends impact them? What do they have to do win? We explore these and more. 

Mike Morrice exploded into the Green Party's consciousness in the 2019 election, delivering a fully funded campaign with a determined and dedicated team and increasing the vote share in Kitchener Centre from about 1500 to 15000 votes. He placed the strongest second of any Green in Ontario (leader Annamie Paul received only 4000 votes in 2019). In the midst of a tough transition for the Greens, Mike is running maybe the most effective pre-election non-incumbent campaign across all parties in the entire country. Jeff and Richard explore new leadership, internal squabbles and doing politics differently with Green Candidate Mike Morrice (www.mikemorrice.ca)

Paul Lefebvre, Sudbury's MP is dealing with some major issues in his last few months as a federal politician. Caught in the crossfire over Laurentian University, while repping his government's covid response and a massive federal budget, Paul found time to sit down with hosts Jeff MacIntrye and Richard Eberhardt to explore those issues, and pass on some advice to his successor.

When the crisis at Laurentian began, Nadia Verrelli was on sabbatical from her position as a professor of Political Science. She's been watching as the University declared itself insolvent, then along with over a hundred colleagues, blindsided by the elimination of her job and the entire political science program. With the situation still growing in scope and impact, Nadia joins Richard and Jeff to look at the political response and political implications of the gutting of Sudbury's 3rd largest employer. 

LAURENTIAN UNIVERSITY: Surprising everyone including the deans, Laurentian University declared itself insolvent on Feb 1 2021. Since then the communications from the administration have been scant, the community has scrambled to organize, and some 132 lawyers have been involved in proceedings in federal court. This crash course in Insolvency Studies digs through everything we know and don't know about this situation. IS100: We talk to Alex Usher of Higher Education Strategy Associates about the financial crisis and how it came to be. IS200: Professor Reuben Roth and student Darius Garneau, who are helping to organize Save Our Sudbury, tell us about the ongoing community response. IS300: Guest host Josh interviews the team and brings us your questions, which we answer for extra credit. 

US POLITICS: We welcome back our special US correspondent Danielle! On the eve of the second impeachment trial of the 45th President of the United States, we talk about how it will work, what's the current state of play, and how Republicans are dealing with a cancer of crazy in their ranks. 

In this episode:SUDBURY COUNCIL: Coming from a bombshell that blew over KED supporters on Council, the hosts talk about an upcoming report which will lay out all the "options" for an event centre including ones on sites other than the Kingsway. What's happening and our analysis here.FEDERAL POLITICS: While Donald Trump was busy cleaning out the Resolute desk, Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole issued a statement asserting there is "no place for the far right" in his party. Later that week, the Conservative Party caucus voted to expel MP Derek Sloan. Was that all in a good day's work, or does the O'Toole have more to do to prove to Canadians that the Conservative party is, as he says, a "moderate, pragmatic, mainstream party". We discuss.COVID RESPONSE: Northern Ontario Covid-19 numbers have remained low compared to the south, leading more than a few Northerners and several regional politicians to call for a travel ban. Can we build a Covid wall around the north? Should we?