A few other odds and ends stories…

1. Nomination Watch – Richard Maaaahoney, quickly becoming the Ottawa Centre Bills, is set to go for the hat trick, along with three other Liberal candidates. Penny Collennette, Scott Bradley, and Isabel Metcalf are all vying for the nom according to the Hill Times.

2. Interesting news story on the bought headlines mini-controversy which has swept the internet.

3. If you’re getting excited about the next round of provincial elections, here are a pair of articles speculating about the upcoming Ontario and Quebec elections.

4. Harper is promising 1.5 billion to the provinces for the environment. I’m not sure how I feel about fighting climate change on an ad hoc, province by province basis and I really have no clue how this will work. Since every spending announcement should be taken in the context of next month’s budget and next month’s budget will be all about the “fiscal (im)balance” and launching Jean Charest’s campaign, I certainly don’t think one would be wrong to view this as part of the “fiscal (im)balance” “solution”.