This week we’re thrilled to welcome legendary broadcast journalist Amy Goodman. Her program, Democracy Now!, was one of the few non-Indigenous media outlets to provide sustained coverage of the Standing Rock camps protesting the building of the Dakota Access Pipeline. With a pro-pipeline president in the White House and a government in Ottawa that’s shown a willingness to green-light our own projects, Goodman weighs in on what we can expect going forward. Also, British Columbians and, well, the British, are both coming to grips with minority governments. And nobody seems entirely sure how they’re supposed to work. Philippe Lagassé, Associate Professor at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University provides some much-needed clarity.

Appropriation is the buzzword in the news this week, as a misguided editorial was followed by a white elite up in arms on social media. In the end, two prominent magazine editors were gone from their posts, and the debate about the under-representation of non-white voices in Canadian media got significant traction. But Commons is a show about politics, so we asked CBC columnist and head of TIFF Cinematheque Jesse Wente how appropriation is represented in the Canadian political sphere. Also, on the left coast, the Green Party is playing spoiler for the first time in Canadian history in the wake of the BC election, the federal Conservative Party is getting ready to choose their new leader, and Commons is throwing a Party to watch and analyze those results live. When somebody says ‘traditional values,’ everybody drink!

British Columbia had an election where everybody won - or at least got an 'I Participated' ribbon.

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne announced the rollout of a basic income trial. The program is to be introduced in three Ontario communities this summer, including Thunder Bay. This is widely seen as compensation for living in Thunder Bay. B.C. Premier Christy Clark gives a voter a succinct primer on democracy, while Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil trips on his shoelaces and accidentally drops his writ. In our feature interview, Ashley speaks with Bloodwatch.org founder and Executive Director Kat Lanteigne about her long fight for justice for victims of Canada’s tainted blood scandal, and why she believes the federal government and some provinces are inclined to roll back some of the regulations put in place following the Krever Report.

The scandals continue piling up on B.C. Premier Christy Clark's administration, yet it doesn't seem to be getting a ton of press.

Christy Clark gets written up in the NYTimes for accepting $50,000 from the BC Liberals. Justin Trudeau enjoys identifying with immigrants on occasion. Student activists pull the old bait-and-switch on Justin Trudeau. Kevin O'Leary enters the Conservative leadership campaign.