25 years ago, as a student journalist, I remember writing editorials ridiculing attempts by then Prime Minister Brian Mulroney to negotiate teh Free Trade Agreement with the U.S. Now there are substantial -- monumental -- flaws with the agreement and with the way the U.S. has, ever since, tried to 'protect' certain measures.... Now, the U.S., though it signed an agreement at APEC in Peru saying it would not do so, is poised to do so, partly in retaliation for perceived trade barriers recently erected in China and in Europe: "There is no company that is going to benefit more from the stimulus package than Caterpillar, but I am telling you that by embracing Buy American you are undermining our ability to export U.S. produced products overseas," said Bill Lane, government affairs director for Caterpillar in Washington.   more »

And not only will they be dining there, Kenney will be presenting the restaurant's owner with the first ever "first ever "Minister's Award for Culinary Excellence in Multicultural Cuisine". I kid you not.

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"...My constituents are asking me why the Liberal leader is refusing to fire his top political aide, Warren Kinsella. Was Mr. Kinsella’s comment about tucking into a “Bowl of BBQ cat” at Yang Sheng’s here in Ottawa done in his ‘official’ role as Liberal party spokesman?"

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When I signed up for a Twitter account I couldn't, to be honest, envision how it might make me a better reporter but I had faith that, like a lot of other online tools I've used since I downloaded Netscape's Mosaic in 1994, its value as tool to help me improve the quality, efficiency, or scope of my newsgathering. Unlike Facebook, where I'm approaching 1,000 friends (many personal but most professional), I thought I'd restrict my Twitter "Follows" to key or frequently used sources -- political operators like Jack Layton or Gilles Duceppe or folks with expertise, like Michael Geist or Jim Carroll, that I've called upon many times over the years to help with my stories.

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... is Jack Layton. So says the new radio spots the New Democratic Party plans to begin airing today. One spot argues that everyday families were "counting on Michael Ignatieff" to stand up to Stephen Harper but "he failed" in his first test as Liberal Leader. Now, "Jack Layton's the only leader strong enough to stand up to Harper and get us through this economic crisis," a female announcer says.

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The grandly titled Standing Committee of the House of Commons on Foreign Affairs and International Development kicks things off with a meeting on Feb. 2 (why, that's just next week!... Indeed, the NDP, at least, is chomping at the bit to get the Natural Resources Committee going so it can grill witnesses from AECL, CNSC and NRCAN Minister Lisa Raitt about Chalk River.

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In news likely to make headlines on blogs only, we have learned that the Chinese Canadian Conservative Association is demanding that federal Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff fire Warren Kinsella for what they allege are some racially insensitive remarks about Chinese food.

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You are likely to hear politicians from each side advance a series of numbers from the budget that best supports their individual position. As you hear the spin war begin about the size of the deficit and the size of the stimulus package, the following might be helpful. Much of the following is based on the analysis of the budget by the economists at BMO Capital Markets . . .

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Two datapoints out this morning that might give us pause as the federal government prepares to release the hounds of spending. Bank lending is way up and consumer confidence is up a bit.

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Not that it takes much encouragement, but, as it's Sunday night and I don't have to report to work for at least another 10 hours, I'm pleased to enjoy an extra whisky in honour of the 250th birthday of Robert Burns: About 4.2 million Canadians claim heritage ties to Scotland, so it's no surprise that there are a dozen statues erected to Burns across the country.... My dad's dad hailed from Edinburgh; my mom's dad sailed from Greenock, near Glasgow, a month before the Titanic left Southampton and arrived in Halifax a few days after Titanic was supposed to have arrived in New York.

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