Can you feel that warm front of hope drifting up from Washington DC? No? Not yet? Well, regardless, here are a few random news stories that caught my eye today:
1) For anyone preparing for their SATs, here’s a handy word association to keep in mind: Sheila Fraser is to Paul Martin as Kevin Page is to Stephen Harper.
Today, Page answers the question on everyone’s mind – how long will it take Stephen Harper to undo all the economic gains the Liberals made during their time in power? You can read all the gloomy projections here.
2) The League of Below Average Prime Ministers Strikes Back! Fresh from their annual Christmas pilgrimage to the grave of Arthur Meighen, the League of Below Average Prime Ministers has decided to re-iterate their call for green infrastructure spending.
3) The Liberals are drafting their own budget up – it’s unclear as to whether this will be made public or if it’s a “just in case” document, but I like the optics of it. It shows you’re ready to govern and that you have a plan.
4) Not that they’ll need to implement it.
5) When I first heard that Iggy was spending his holidays finishing his book, I kind of had a “huh? remind me again why he was in such a hurry to take over?” reaction. But now that we know some details about the book, it’s clear it could be a very useful political document. One of the biggest knocks on Ignatieff remains his time outside of the country. And I think it’s a fair critique, since you want a leader who truly understands what it means to be Canadian running the show. Well, if Ignatieff can show he understands Canada in this book, it might go a long way towards easing some of the doubts that voters may have of him. At the very least, it will help him win the votes of the dozens of poli-sci students who will be forced to read it.
6) To drift off-topic for a minute, I must say that both BSG and 24 have been top notch since their January returns (although I could do with the constant monologuing about the pros and cons of torture use on 24…if I wanted that, I’d read a Michael Ignatieff essay. I kid, I kid.). Tonight, Lost is back with a vengeance. Woo!