Tony Clement promises that budget cuts won’t put Canadians at risk, though there are already some disputes about that with the closure of rescue centres in Newfoundland and Quebec City. Not to mention the longer-term damage because of cuts to things like the long-form census. Public service unions, meanwhile, are preparing to take their fight against the cuts across Canada – but we’ll see how much success they have when the government simply legislates any actions they take away, à la CUPW and the postal strike.
The man behind Rob Ford’s campaign in Toronto is looking to start a Tea Party-esque “Respect for Taxpayers” movement, creating a permanent political campaign, and hopes to eventually take it national – where the permanent campaign really hasn’t stopped for the better part of a decade. Bob Rae, meanwhile, talks about the Liberals fundraising enough to keep up the permanent campaign, so that when they find a new leader in 2013, they can immediately fight back against the inevitable attack ads that will attempt to frame that new leader.
Closing off their tour of Canada, Prince William and Kate hit Calgary and donned the famous white hats and wowed the crowd. In other monarchist news, here’s a look at Harper’s evolution from a small-r republican to a fan of the monarchy and his gift to the Duke and Duchess – a 1939 copy of Maclean’s, which was a souvenir issue for George VI’s visit to Canada. Maclean’s has the magazine pages scanned for that trip down memory lane.
And in case you missed it, here is the John Baird story that got a few tongues wagging today. Enjoy!
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