Wednesday, March 03, 2010

Wednesday Morning Links

A few pieces of reading material for those waiting on tenterhooks for today's throne speech. Or, for that matter, the NHL trade deadline.

- Murray Mandryk's column on the Sask Party's underfunding of watchdogs is definitely worth a read as a whole. But one vignette in particular should serve as an antidote to the claim that all governments treat accountability with equal derision:
But even more unnerving is the mistrust the Saskatchewan Party caucus seems to have for the independent officers of the legislature. That seemed to be the case a year ago when Sask. Party backbencher Mike Chisholm suggested that Provincial Auditor Fred Wendel shouldn't expect his funding increase to be automatically granted just because his budget was increased in the past by NDP governments.
- Toby Sanger highlights what happens when researchers look at P3s without a vested interest in hyping them.

- Hugh MacKenzie discusses the most important bubble on Canada's economic and political scene.

- In case I don't get back to the topic later today, the Gazette covers the latest from Rights and Democracy - featuring a government ramming through an appointment disapproved of by all opposition parties, as well as the firing of three employees for the "insubordination" of allowing a few facts to go public rather than simply accepting the Cons' spin at all times.

- The latest Lib infighting may actually be more significant than QMI's coverage makes it appear. It's one thing for criticism to be levelled at Michael Ignatieff by random Coderrites who don't figure greatly in the Libs' chances of improving their standing in Parliament, but Nancy Charest's 2008 run in Haute-Gaspésie – La Mitis – Matane – Matapédia made her the second-closest Lib to winning an extra seat in Quebec.

- Finally, Jeffrey Simpson nicely sets the tone for the new session of Parliament.

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