The date of the budget, all politicians may find it hard to believe, is something that many Canadians are interested in because they are looking to Ottawa for little help in these nervous economic times. I personally know people who lost their job last week and have other friends who were laid off last month. Those folks were counting on the PM when he told reporters in Peru last week that he stood ready with "unprecedented fiscal action." A week later, his finance minister promised no new initiatives and, in fact, cut spending. To the newly jobless, a budget "just over 30 days" away is about 30 days too late.

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Like a lot of reporters, I spent a lot of time hanging around the foyer of the House of Commons Friday talking to politicians from all sides about the possibility of Stephen Harper losing the keys to 24 Sussex over his ecnomic and fiscal statement. At the end of a long day of political gossip, the prime minister himself came down to the foyer, made a short statement but, unlike just about every other politician that came into the foyer that day, refused to answer any questions from the 40 or so reporters gathered about. Here are some excerpts from some of the things we heard in the foyer Friday from those who would speak on the record. We have, below, Liberals John McCallum and Scott Brison, NDPers Paul Dewar and Tom Mulcair, and finally, the prime minister . . .

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Ok you Facebookers -- send 'em in and I'll post 'em here: I'm against the Liberal coup d'état | Canadians for a Progressive Coalition | I Support Public Campaign Financing . . .

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Government House Leader Jay Hill announced the following changes in the business of the House of Commons for next week: - The Liberal Supply Day that was designated for Monday, December 1, 2008 will be rescheduled for Monday, December 8, 2008 . . .   more »

Governor General Michaëlle Jean is out of the country right now on a state visit to some eastern European countries. Today, she's in Slovakia visiting a church and an art gallery and tomorrow she is in the Czech Republic where she has a series of events scheduled Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. On Thursday, it's off to Slovenia until next Saturday when she returns home. Of course, Mme Jean may be required back at Rideau Hall much sooner than that...

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So what are the Liberals thinking about for Monday? Pick one from the list below: Mr. Dion--THAT, in light of the Conservatives’ failure to recognize the seriousness of Canada’s economic situation, and its failure in particular to present any credible plan to stimulate the Canadian economy and to help workers and businesses in hard-pressed sectors such as manufacturing, the automotive industry and forestry, this House has lost confidence...   more »

In the wake of the widely leaked news that Finance Minister Jim Flaherty will propose doing away with the public subsidy of political parties, the federal Liberal caucus held an emergency meeting this morning in the Centre Block on the Hill. They're just breaking up now but there are suggestions that some are broaching the idea that it might be a good idea to send out feelers along the lines of a coalition government. In the 12-month period ending Sept. 30, the public subsidy -- $1.95 per vote received in the last general election per year -- made up about two-thirds of the revenue of both the Liberals and the BQ. For the NDP and Greens it was about half and for the Tories it was 35 per cent.

Here's Liberal Party spokesman Daniel Lauzon:

"We feel the current political financing laws exist to provide stable annual funding to political parties based on the level of support they earn. As such, they are crucial to a healthy democratic process.Though it’s not surprising that the day this government is plunging Canada into multibillion dollar deficit, the Conservatives are trying to change the channel, it’s indefensible that rather than introducing significant measures to address the economic crisis, Stephen Harper has instead chosen to use today’s Economic and Fiscal update to take a cheap partisan shot at his political opponents."

Flaherty will tell all beginning at 4 pm Ottawa time in the House of Commons.

"Never again will we allow the spectre of overspending to haunt this land," then Finance Minister Paul Martin said 1998. "Canadians have paid to see the movie ‘The Deficit'. They don't want to pay to see the sequel." Now, just over a decade later, Prime Minister Stephen Harper is bracing Canadians to watch that sequel. It's a remarkable turn for Harper who has fought against deficits and in favour of balanced budgets his entire political life. Indeed, he and other former Progressive Conservatives left the the party of Brian Mulroney in the early 1990s partly because of their disgust in his inability to rein in government spending and tackle the deficit . . .

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"In terms of the education job, I think we've done a good job at educating the public to the view that deficits are generally bad," Stephen Harper said Sunday. "We now may be in a period where we have to educate the public to a somewhat less simplistic view. There are occasions where deficits are not only not necessarily bad, they are essential."

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Here are some excerpts from then finance minister Paul Martin's budget speech on Feb. 24, 1998: "What I am about to say is something no Canadian government has been able to say for almost 50 years. We will balance the budget next year. We will balance the budget the year after that. And, Mr. Speaker, we will balance the budget this year." And here is Prime Minister Stephen Harper today ...

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