It’s about being ready to serve the public

Midway through his party’s winter caucus, Michael Ignatieff threw open the doors to the media yesterday afternoon and delivered a rather passionate speech about Liberal priorities (home care, pensions, education), saying it’s not about being ready for an election, it’s about being ready to serve the public. Also, they are united by their love for the country. It even had a bit of humour, as he mimed being afraid of Russian airplanes and said he felt a bit sorry for the lonely Harper from those political ads. Suffice to say, it was a pretty passionate speech, done without script or teleprompter, and yeah, it’s feeling more like an election.

While he’s focused on Making Parliament Work™, Harper has apparently decided there’s no need to sit down with Jack Layton about the budget, seeing as how Layton has already made his position quite clear. It seems to me that this is a pattern with Harper. The past two years, Liberal finance critics have said they were prepared to sit down with Harper about the budget and he refused – only to then criticize them in question period about their lack of suggestions for the budget.

As it happened, yesterday was also Jack Layton’s eighth anniversary as NDP leader.

Aaron Wherry wonders if Harper is trying to frame the ballot question in the next election as who loves Canada more – he or Ignatieff? Wherry also managed to dig up that quote Ignatieff made back in 1990 where he supposedly called the flag a “passing imitation of a beer label,” which wasn’t so much the case as it was an argument about the irony inherent in modern patriotism. In the same paragraph Ignatieff talked about British soccer hooligans with Union Jack underwear. But when did context matter in attack ads?

New Environment Minister Peter Kent is rejecting the key recommendations of the National Round Table on the Environment and Economy. Try and look surprised.

Here’s a look at the funds being considered for arena spending around the country, and possible loopholes for the public-private partnership fund the government set up.

There are concerns that the proposed laws to make citizen’s arrests easier could lead to increased vigilantism.

Egale Canada has put out an appeal to get people to write their MPs about speeding up the progress of Bill C-389.

And lovers of hot soldier boys and girls, brace yourselves – it seems that the Canadian Forces are getting fatter, and they’re drinking more these days. But don’t worry – Peter MacKay says they’re still in better shape than your average Canadian – and they have the willingness to shape up.