Last year, he ended the era of bickering between the provinces! What will Jim Flaherty deliver this year?

Truth be told, I was following NHL trade deadline closer than this today and won’t be able to read budget reports until later tonight. Until then, it’s an open thread.

RANDOM THOUGHTS:

-Dion calls it a “watered down Liberal budget” and “one mile wide and one inch deep“. Hmm… Either way, I don’t think there was anything in this budget that could easily have been turned into an election issue, even if the Liberals wanted to go to the polls.

-Andrew Coyne, surprise, surprise, thinks there’s too much spending.

-1.2 billion in regional development, 2 billion for infrastructure, and 500 million for transit, is smart politics, since it will let Harper tour swing seats across the country announcing projects over the next year.

-Allowing all Canadians to, for all intents and purposes, put aside $5,000 from their annual income tax-free every year, could be incredibly expensive in the long run. It should also play well to middle class voters.

-I’m really not sure why the Tories don’t try to cut off the opposition on the environment. If they could neutralize that issue, there would be little left for the Liberals to attack them on. And, as Gordon Campbell has shown, it’s not hard to be environmentally conscious in a revenue neutral way.

-Paul Wells weighs in on his topic of choice.

-Hossa to the Pens, Richards to the Stars. Discuss.