"Through Budget 2007, this Government committed to the largest investment in infrastructure in Canada's history over an unprecedented period of time - $33 billion in new funding over seven years..."

"“As you know, I have been working to determine a course of action by the end of the year pursuant to which I could seek election to the Legislature. Details of that course of action will be finalized between now and the end of the year. Since I am out of the province until early in the New Year, and since the proposed resolution of this matter also involves others, we have fixed a specific date on which I will outline my plans and answer your questions..."

Things work a bit differently in St. John's, NF. There, the YMCA folks who want a new building can rely on the largesse of the federal government. The federal government, through the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, is spending 1.5 million of the tax dollars collected from people in Oakville and Orillia and Thunder Bay and elsewhere to build a new $11.3 million YMCA facility in St. John's. (At $11.3 million, that will be one sweet 'Y'!)

"...If the Liberal Party is to be actively involved in the budget process, the first thing the Liberal Caucus and all Canadians need to know is the true state of the government's books. Meaningful discussion and input requires honest budgetary numbers. The government's recent Economic and Fiscal Statement has presented many questions for which we need answers in order to proceed further . . ."

Want to get into the Senate? This is the guy (left) you've got to get by first. His name is Dave Penner, an energetic, no-nonsense guy, with a young family who hails from Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont. Penner is best known to journalists as the 'wagon-master' during the last few election campaigns....

OTTAWA - A young Stephen Harper was first swept into the House of Commons back in 1993 on a wave of often idealistic western populism that, among other things, demanded a Senate that was "equal, effective and elected."... In the economic and fiscal statement that prompted the current political crisis in Ottawa, the Conservatives proposed doing away with public subsidies of political parties because, as they said, politicians had to do their bit to cut costs in tough economic times.

Hill and Knowlton, a fairly well-connected public relations and lobbying firm, announced two new hires today: Ian Brodie, whose last job was Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Harper, and David Collenette, the longtime Liberal cabinet minister. Brodie, the release from H&K points out, will not be doing any lobbying, as per the Federal Accountability Act. Collenette is free from any such lobbying restrictions . . .

Michael Fortier won't be getting a call but I'll bet John Reynolds might get a look for one of the 3 BC Senate seats that are open: Prime Minister Stephen Harper is poised to name as many new senators as he can before Christmas, Canwest News Service has learned. There are 18 vacancies in the 105-seat Senate and Harper will try to fill as many of those slots as quickly as possible in order to put them out of reach of a Liberal-NDP coalition.

Liberals hope - and Conservatives fear - that Ignatieff can present himself as a transformational character, someone whose very personality reinvigorates the country's political life, in the same way that Pierre Trudeau or Barack Obama were agents of change.... Liberals hope - and Conservatives fear - that Ignatieff can present himself as a transformational character, someone whose very personality reinvigorates the country's political life, in the same way that Pierre Trudeau or Barack Obama were agents of change.

One thing the Liberals need -- say Liberals themselves -- is a policy convention. The last time the Liberals met to formulate policies was in Ottawa in March 2005. The keynote speaker on the Friday before the conference began was none other than a Harvard professor named Michael Ignatieff. He spoke about small-l liberalism and the state of the Canadian Liberal Party. Here's that speech ...