No sooner did I post the entry below than Gilles Duceppe announced that the Bloc would support the government on the upcoming vote, saying that the changes to the proposed legislation are what they've been demanding all along. Good posture, given that there is nothing for them to gain in an election. So this leaves Ignatieff high and dry with his huff'n and puff'n to defeat the government, his "report card" on Harper's performance, and so forth. You don't learn parliamentary politics in the Halls of Academe. He is about as adept as his predecessor Dion. Poor Canada.

There has traditionally been, at the core of the Liberal Party of Canada, a cadre of quiet centrist insiders possessing considerable political savvy.These folk have kept the Liberal ship afloat and in government for much of the 20th century, people such as the former Senator Keith Davey and cohorts. If this group still exists, Michael Ignatieff is paying it no mind.

Iggy must be out of his depth, for he has painted himself into a corner with his threat to defeat the Conservative government at the first opportunity, come hell or high water and damn the torpedoes. He is flying in the face of public opinion which overwhelming does not want an election. Perhaps as a result he is slipping in the polls and it is thought that another election would leave us where we are with another Harper minority.

Enter Jack Layton, the only person Harper needs to save his reign. Given concessions on employment insurance, Layton will likely dash Iggy's threat, more to save himself than Harper, as the NDP would be squeezed out in a Liberal-Conservative slug fest. Duceppe and the Bloc are probably looking on with quiet amusement.

One thing which will turn off many voters are the tasteless attack ads beloved of the neo-con crowd. "Only visiting" and "He's only in it for himself". No kidding! Who is Harper in it for? one might ask. These ads are aimed at the mindless Conservative "base". Yahoos of the country, UNITE!! You have nothing to lose but your shirt.

The voting public is moving toward a preference for majority government. Too bad. A Harper majority is scary and an Iggy majority doesn't inspire any confidence on my part. Minority is best, it keeps them accountable, so leave it alone. Besides, it's more fun.

There he goes again. As I noted on my last posting, the majority of Canadians wish Brian Mulroney would just button his lip and go away, but he won't. Now he's telling us that his little romance with the devious Karlheinz Schreiber will not tarnish his legacy. He only made errors in judgment. It was merely an error in judgment to accept hundreds of thousands of dollars in brown envelopes in hotel rooms. It was merely an error in judgment to only declare the income six years later, after he had been found out. He broke "no laws or ethical guidelines". Apparently it was all ethical and above-board. He also tells us that we all make mistakes which we regret in later life, which is true of course, but I never had the chance to accept huge amounts of cash from an international fixer, so what do I know? Here is the article. You will note that he takes a swipe at Stephen Harper toward the end of the article, for lowering the rate on the GST which, along with NAFTA is part of his glowing legacy. He was surprised that Harper did not see the recession coming. Really? Did Brian see it coming?