CBC News Network’s Sunday Scrum panel is your destination for frank discussion and analysis of the week’s big political stories.
This week, we talk to our panellists about anti-racism protests in the United States and Canada, sparked after the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Wisconsin and continuing calls to defund police services.
The panellists also discuss how those calls led to the toppling of a statue of Sir John A. Macdonald during a protest in Montreal amid a reckoning over the former prime minister’s legacy.
Also on the program: a discussion of new Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole’s first week on the job, the spectre of a federal election during the COVID-19 pandemic and preparations for schools reopening during the crisis.
WATCH | Protests for social justice, police reform:
Anti-racism protests are taking place in cities across North America, with demonstrators expressing outrage over the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Wisconsin and calling for the defunding of police. 8:47
WATCH | Activists topple statue of Sir John A. Macdonald in Montreal:
A group of activists toppled a statue of Sir John A. Macdonald in downtown Montreal on Saturday afternoon in the aftermath of a protest calling for the defunding of the police force. 7:51
WATCH | Erin O’Toole’s first week as Conservative leader:
Our political panel discusses new Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole’s first week on the job and his pledge to address regional divisions in Canada and build a more inclusive political party. 4:14
WATCH | Federal election during pandemic?:
Elections Canada is ramping up its plan to run a pandemic election that might come as early as this fall — a plan that could include a two-day weekend voting period instead of the traditional one-day Monday vote. 7:29
WATCH | Are schools in Canada ready to reopen?:
The federal government announced this week it will transfer $2 billion to provinces and territories to help them with the safe reopening of schools, but some provinces are expressing concerns as cases surge in some areas of the country. 8:08
