Satire

It's Tuesday, November 15th.

Only 39 shopping days left until Christmas. And just four opposition days left to force a holiday election call.

Currently, party officials say they know how to cheer up angry voters -- Disguise election slogans as Christmas carols.

Okay, let's see what we've got here. "Deck the Halls with corporate tax cuts?" Oh, now that's not going to help.

"Oh come all ye faithful.. support public medicare?" Yikes. This could get ugly.

All right, how about this.
" Jingle Bells. The rhetoric swells.
And yet I have some doubt.
You've fought for weeks, on when to hit the streets.
But that's not what we care about"

This is The Current.

Election Panel – YES

It's always risky business---bringing down a government. And it's too soon to predict whether the opposition parties' gamble will pay off. But at least they've finally answered the question: "Will they or won't they?"

They will. The New Democrats, the Conservatives and the Bloc Quebecois have banded together to force the Liberals into an election campaign that could start any day now ... just in time for the holidays.

This morning we were joined by the leader of the pack. New Democratic Party Leader Jack Layton kept political junkies holding their breath last week as he weighed the pros and cons of toppling Paul Martin's minority government. This weekend he finally joined the Conservatives and Bloc Quebecois to present the government with an ultimatum: Call an election at the beginning of January or face a no-confidence motion in the House of Commons.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Paul Martin rejected the opposition's demands bringing Canadians one step closer to the polling booths. And Scott Hennig is the Alberta director of the Canadian Taxpayers' Federation and he was Edmonton.

Election Panel – NO

Well, you've just heard the arguments in favour of an early election call. We now turned to the people who are giving the idea of an early election a stiff thumbs down. Tony Valeri is the Liberal MP for Hamilton East-Stoney Creek and the Government House Leader. And Phil Fontaine is the National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations. They were both in Ottawa.

Listen to The Current: Part 1

(Due to various rights issues some segments may be edited for internet use)

The Current: Part 2

Election Call-In

It's November, there's a chill in the air, and Halloween orange is being replaced by shiny red and green tinsel. It's starting to feel a lot like ... an election?

It's been twenty-six years since Canadians last slid to the polls over the Holiday season. But in the wake of the sponsorship scandal it looks more and more likely that a Holiday campaign is upon us. In this half hour, we're opening our phone lines to find out how you feel about that. The question? Is it time for an election? Now, we don't do this too often here on The Current ... but when we do, we're eager to hear what you have to say. So we opened the phone lines to hear from you with your comments.

While we were waiting for some of those calls to come in, we thought we'd invite someone who studies public opinion for a living to give us some perspective on how Canadians are feeling about an election. John Wright is the Senior Vice-President of the Ipsos Reid polling firm and he joined us in our Toronto studio. Heather MacIvor is a political science professor at the University of Windsor and we reached her at her home this morning.

Listen to The Current: Part 2 (Atlantic Version)

Listen to The Current: Part 2 (Eastern Version)

Listen to The Current: Part 2 (Central Version)

Listen to The Current: Part 2 (Mountain Version)

Listen to The Current: Part 2 (Pacific Version)

(Due to various rights issues some segments may be edited for internet use)

The Current: Part 3

Who Owns the Internet

We started this segment with one of our producers, Bob Carty in an audio attachment he sent to our documentary editor Dick Miller about the situation in Tunisia. Bob's there to cover a major UN conference, the World Summit on the Information Society. But it seems Tunisian authorities are keen to keep some information from getting out. We aired more of what happened to Bob Carty and others covering the conference.

Tomorrow the nations of the world are gathering in that North African country to try to bridge the so-called "digital divide" - the gap between rich and poor countries - in particular, when it comes to information technology. They'll be discussing who really controls the Internet. And---as you just heard---they'll talk about how to ensure a new information society will respect free speech for all.

Bob Carty has been following these issues for several years as a producer for The Current, and also as a director of Canadian Journalists for Free Expression. He was in Tunis this morning.

Music Bridge

Artist: Les Paul
Cut: CD11 “Caravan”
CD: “American Made World Played”
Label: EMI
Spine #: 09463 34065 2 0

Last Word: Driving Music

These days, Paul Martin must be really feeling like he was born to run for office, and run... and run.... and run. Speaking of which, has it been thirty years since Bruce Springsteen released Born to Run? Maybe we ain't that young anymore---to quote a line from one of his most famous songs----Thunder Road. And to celebrate the album's thirtieth anniversary Columbia Records is releasing a remastered version of Born to Run. It hits stores today.

Newsweek has called it one of the greatest albums in rock and roll history. It's definitely considered a great album to drive to. In fact we got to talking here at the Current about driving music and the all-important stash you bring with you on road trips. Or which songs on the radio you turn up just because you are driving. There are the usual suspects: Anything by The Beach Boys, Smokey Robinson's Cruisin', Tom Cochrane's Life is a Highway. And you could add Cyndi Lauper's I Drove all Night, recently covered by Celine Dion, and, of course, Lucinda Williams' album Car Wheels on A Gravel Road.

But things seem to stall after the mid-80s. Except for Ms. Williams, it's difficult to think of relatively new, old-fashioned driving music. And if it's true---that the open road and our beloved automobiles---are dwindling musical muses, we thought it must say something about the changing relationships between people, the road, and their cars.

So we consulted an expert. Chuck Klosterman is a best-selling author, music critic, Esquire columnist, and senior editor at Spin Magazine. His latest book, Killing Yourself to Live, which comes out soon in paperback, chronicles a road trip Klosterman took to the various graves sites of rock and roll legends. According to chapter one, the most important thing about a road trip is the music. If you're in your car, we played Thunder Road for you after Chuck Klosterman's thoughts. So prepare to roll down your window and let the wind blow back your hair. Then again it is November. In Canada.

Listen to The Current: Part 3

(Due to various rights issues some segments may be edited for internet use)

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