Michael Bluth

Yes, they definitely will want to rag the puck on that one until the next election. Any lawyers out there know how long they can wait before appealing?

Yawn. Resignation/fired semantic hair splitting. Find one federal cabinet minister who was legally fired rather than resigning from cabinet....

That's right. No matter what the day the attacks will come. I understand that you would prefer the lameness of your attacks not be pointed out... Mature, such an ironic choice of word to be used in the context...

10% margins a nailbiter? Oh that's right. Because the riding is in Alberta? wtf does that mean? CPC candidates run up huge pluralities up here. Sure it's 'close' for an Alberta riding, but the outcome was never in doubt on election night. Therefore no nailbiter. Quit kidding yourself. The Libs and NDP have no chance of taking this riding. They have both convinced themselves they have a chance and will neatly divide the left-of-centre vote.

And look who started the thread. Hmmm, do you see a connection? Yeah, party politics is pretty incestuous. Basic human nature I guess. I know of a sister-in-law in an MPs constituency office. Know cousins of MPs who got jobs in Minister's offices. My guess is the Liberals and Bloc haven't pursued this one because of the glass houses in which they live. I wonder if the NDP parliament hill staffer union specifically excludes family relationships. Probly not...

Nail biters? Please define. In Jaffer's first race in 1997 he won a real 'nail biter'. Won by 2,951 votes and 5.9% of the vote. In the three elections since he has won on average by more than 5,100 votes and 9.9% of the vote. Really hurts the credibility when your posts are so disjointed from reality.

How odd you say that in replying directly to WDW? stating how he would complain about it if it happened. But the demeaning 'paranoid' comment is appreciated.

Paul Martin didn't, and he did a pretty good job of it. He was dubbed Mr. Dithers by the Economist for his style as PM and was noted for his strong track record as Finance Minister. Prentice would take the job and has the experience and track record of success to succeed. Childish and juvenile attitude towards our current and a former PM. So much for raising the level of the board. If Emerson doesn't commit to running again he'll be out. Brian Pallister has got to be at the top of the list. In the run up to the election naming one Minister for DFAIT (which is essentially what Emerson is now) could be the way to go.

The majority of the 'older' or more experienced MPs are from SK, AB and BC. It was a matter of geographic representation and not wanting to have a Western Canada heavy cabinet. There are a good five or six MPs from Alberta alone who arguable have the experience to serve in cabinet but aren't full ministers at the moment. (Ablonczy, Hawn, Jaffer, Kenney, Rajotte.) Could you imagine the howls from central Canada with eight? nine? ten? Albertans in cabinet?

Hypocrisy? Lack of time to bother to get to know candidates? If Stephen Harper had run on the policies Bill Clinton enacted as president: - Abortion should be safe, legal and rare (How dare how often abortions are prepared?) - Gays in the miliary (Why shouldn't homosexuals be able to tell who they are?) - Expanded the dealth penalty with his 1994 omnibus crime bill.... He'd be demonized as right of Attila the Hun. No consistency. Just plain hatin' or lovin' because of party name. No thought put into it...

It's a terrible deal. Do you think the NHL wouldn't be shown on network Canadian TV if it weren't for the CBC? CTV picks up HNIC and move the At Issue panel to CTV NewsNet and I'd take my $60 back in a heartbeat given the chance.

He'll get it, but youth always turn out in low numbers in the U.S. Appealing to a demographic with low historical rates of voting is a recipe for disaster.

Where ever you read that is wildly off the mark. Gotta present facts that are remotely close to reality if you want any credibility The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business represents biz schools around the world. They currently have member schools in over 30 countries. Including Canada, the US and the UK. Link

Just refuting the mischaracterization. It wasn't featured prominently on CNN. Guess when one wants to histrionically overstate a minor issue they are going to use misdirection when the first falsehood is pointed out.

Prominently? No prominently was Paul Martin being called Mr. Dithers by the Economist. To find the CNN story online, you have to go to CNN. com, then click on World. It's not prominent enough to be one of the seven 'top world stories'. It's the second story in the Americas section half way down the page. Yeah, real prominent.... I guess mischaracterization can stretch from poll results to the prominence of the way in which a story is being reported.

And the speculation begins. In today's Globe link Solberg up to Foreign Affairs? Interesting. Don't see it happening, but something to think about. Paradis at the big table is a bold move. Pretty young, but hey if he's up to the job... Guergis out? Another interesting move. Kenney's been solid. Like Ablonczy I fear he might be a victim of geography as a Calgarian. Moore sounds plausible. Especially if Emerson indicates he won't be running again. Minister for the Olympics and a full portfolio sounds right. Rajotte? Won't happen. No idea who Jane Taber talked to about this one. But Harper won't do it.

Really Topaz? You don't like Stephen Harper? I never would have guessed that from your extensive posts saying exactly the same thing. Bernier's gone. He was a f*ckup. Couillard will go back to the trailer she crawled out of. Harper learned his lesson. This entire issue could end up being a blessing in disguise. A re-invigorated cabinet could put the kinder, gentler face on cabinet many people feel is needed.....

Recently the Jewish community in both countries has shown signs of resenting being taken for granted. Joe Lieberman on the ticket with McCain could seal the deal with Jews and the Democrats in the U.S. Little by little Jews in Canada are becoming more appreciative of Harper's strong defence of Israel.

I'm sure more than a few readers here have the knowledge of corporate governance to understand how weak your claims are. It is in the best interest of an organization with a board of directors that the composition of the directors come from a cross-section of backgrounds and experiences. As the head of the province with the largest economy in the country Harris has exactly the set of experiences that any set of rational shareholders looks for as part of the team that governs how their investment is managed.

We can only hope Steph shows horrible judgement and chooses to force an election over this issue. Now that Bernier has resigned the Liberals just appear shrill. This time next week the country will have moved on.

Diane's primary problem is geography. Three full cabinet ministers from Calgary? Seems like a bit much.

With the resignation of Maxime Bernier there will have to be cabinet shuffle of some kind this summer. Harper will likely take this opportunity to present a new cabinet to the public in advance of the next election. Here are some possible moves... Prentice gets another promotion. Finance or Foreign Affairs? Flaherty gets moved somewhere. He'll definitely stay in cabinet. Industry? International Trade? Van Loan into cabinet and out of the House Leader's job. Possible promotions? Helena Guergis gets a full cabinet spot? Rahim Jaffer as House Leader? David Tilson takes over as caucus chair?

I believe the resignation was merited in this case. The fiasco with Couillard finally bit him in the arse. It will be interesting to see what she has to say in the interview tonight. My guess is he will run again in the next election. Beauce is a conservative and forgiving riding and he won more than 60% of the vote last election. They elected Gilles Bernier as an independent in 1993 as Campbell dropped his nomination because of the fraud charges he was facing. I'd suspect Bernier will be back in cabinet after the next election. His escort to the swearing-in ceremony will probably be dressed uhh... 'conservatively' next time around.

A little harsh, but the sentiment is correct. Those people will have to downsize in their retirement years, but it's not the end of the world. Hopefully they don't get sucked into those terrible reverse mortgages. Far too many people treat their houses like ATMs. The stories of people here in Alberta who took second mortgages on their houses because the 'value' appreciated so much and are now stuck with more in total mortgage than their house is worth are growing more and more. A slight downturn in the economy out here and you'll see a rash of foreclosures. Those are the people it's tough to feel sympathy for.

Plausible, but not the reason for Brodie leaving. He's going back to Western to teach.