The Duffy trial

The first week of the highly-anticipated trial of Mike Duffy is now in the books. The suspended Senator is facing 31 charges of fraud, breach of trust and bribery.

The strategies for both the Crown and the defense have now become pretty clear. The Crown is attempting to prove that Duffy broke and took advantage of the Senate's rules, even arguing the former broadcaster was not eligible to represent PEI in the upper chamber in the first place.

The CBC's Terry Milewski, Radio-Canada's Emmanuelle Latraverse, the former law clerk of the House of Commons Rob Walsh, and the Senate's longest-serving member Anne Cools help us break down the first week of proceedings and the potential political impact of the case.

Also on this week's show, with just months to go before a federal election and after running seven consecutive deficits, the Finance Minister is now promising to introduce balanced budget legislation. Joe Oliver also happens to have a budget, one he's already said will be balanced, coming up in less than two weeks.

Is that a smart policy move? Or is it purely about politics?

Former Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page argues it's all about politics.

Finally, under intense criticism from the Premier of British Columbia for what she called the "totally unacceptable" federal response to the toxic spill in Vancouver's English Bay, the government's Natural Resources Minister Greg Rickford responds by calling Premier Clark's response "premature." Rickford also says the spill shouldn't affect the ongoing debate over pipelines.