All eyes will be on Ottawa for the next few days leading up to Tuesday’s budget reading. It’s been a bit of an odd path to this budget. First we had an election that Harper called because he claimed that Parliament had become dysfunctional, which was true but largely because he and his people chose to make it so.

During that election, Harper either was blind to the fact that an economic tsunami was bearing down on the world or was deluded enough to actually believe that it would miraculously wash itself around Canada while engulfing our largest trading partner, the USA. He belittled the opposition when they spoke of the need to take immediate measures to offset the coming storm. He did note however that the stock market meltdown that was underway did provide some excellent buying opportunities. He didn’t seem to notice that those losing their shirt to create those opportunities, included Canadians.

More out of an inability of Dion to present himself as a viable alternative to Harper than anything else, Canadians, that is the 49% who decided to turn out to vote, once again gave more Conservative candidates their vote. Basically we gave what appeared to be the lessor of several evils the benefit of the doubt.

Parliament opens with much lip service given to ratcheting down the partisan nastiness that so dominated the last session and greater cooperation to make this session work. That lasted oh… a few days until the truly small man of confederation, Flaherty presented an economic statement to the nation that was extremely small on economic action and huge on partisan assault.

He set off a firestorm that led to the three opposition parties agreeing to set some of their own platforms aside in order to form an alliance that would see Harper brought down and a coalition taking control in the House in order to get on with an economic stimulus package. Harper responded by running in panic to the Governor General and convincing her to prorogue parliament in order to give him some breathing space to attempt come up with a budget that would be acceptable to the opposition and keep him in power.

While I didn’t like his lack of moral fibre, which is nothing new with him, at the same time, the pause wasn’t such a bad thing. If Harper learned from his blunder and actually started to work on behalf of Canadians instead of his partisan hacks like he’d done for almost three years. The Liberals upped the ante by reaching a consensus that Dion had to go and the best way to do that quickly was for the leadership to agree on Ignatieff as their most promising candidate. I’d have liked to have seen more of LeBlanc but Ignatieff was definitely a better choice than Rae.

So, the Conservatives for the last month have put on a great show of consulting across the country and are poised to present a budget that will decide their political future and more importantly shape how Canada weathers this recession (yes the same one that Harper declared wasn’t going to happen). We’ll know pretty much by Wednesday morning where things are going to shape up to head.

Ignatieff has had the wisdom to not set a tone of being determined to defeat the budget and thus bring down the government without actually seeing the budget. Layton, as always the pompous little peacock that he is, has pretty much decided the budget is going to bring down Harper because he wants Harper out. I want Harper out but this budget is (or should be) about more than partisan politics.

I was almost getting a sense that maybe, just maybe, the whole coalition possibility and the latest polls showing that people are warming up to the Liberals with Ignatieff at the helm would start to get Harper to drop some of his arrogance and actually start earning his keep as a national leader instead of a partisan leader.

I almost thought that might be happening until I heard the latest radio ads in which the Conservatives are trying to tell Canadians that important legislation is stalled in the House because of the Opposition. Once again that is a blatant lie. Legislation can’t be stalled in a House that isn’t sitting because of choices the Prime Minister made to shut parliament down. I really hate being lied to so blatantly.

Today I also learned that some are suggesting that Rick Hillier may be under consideration for replacing Harper as head of the Conservatives. Nice dream. Might even hold out some hope for the Conservatives. In the meantime, you think we can find some real leadership? Stay tuned.

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