I won’t pretend to understand how equalization works. I won’t pretend to understand if the “opt back” to the Atlantic Accord is the same or different than the original Atlantic Accord. I won’t pontificate on the pros and cons of side deals with the provinces. I won’t speculate on the legitimacy of the Senate holding up a budget, or of provinces suing the federal government.

But I will say that the optics of the atlantic disord we’re seeing right now are very very bad. One MP down. Another wavering. Peter MacKay butting heads with his boss. A non-blowhard Premier from Atlantic Canada going to war with Harper. Plunging poll numbers out east.

Remember how Atlantic Canada punished Chretien and the Liberals in 1997 over cuts to EI? I’m betting a few Tory MPs out east are feeling a little nervous right about now.