CHRIS WATTIE/Reuters
A few unrelated notes on Tuesday from deep inside a bunker in downtown Toronto:
* Monday, the National Post wrote a scathing editorial about aboriginal Ontarians obtaining an exemption for the HST. The Post blamed it all on Dalton McGuinty. "This is typical of the McGuinty approach ... the Ontario government has provided cover for aboriginal lawlessness while acting swiftly to control legal non-aboriginal protests ... so it would be wishful thinking for anyone to expect an equitable approach over the despised HST." Tough words. In today's Globe, we find out that Jim Flaherty was actually the hero (or villain, depending on your perspective) of the story and single handidly reached out to the Whitefish River First Nation to start the negotiations on the HST exemption rolling. While it is possible Flaherty is really an undercover agent for the Premier, I expect a retraction in the Post tomorrow morning.
* My friend Brian Lee Crowley's think-tank, The MacDonald-Laurier Institute, released a new study Monday calling on the federal government to - get this - actually expand its role through the adoption of a "Charter of Economics Rights" (what, provinces not growing their reach in the federation? Head...slowly...exploding...MEEEECHHHHHH!!!!). While this may sound wanky and like inside-Ottawa bureaucrat talk, the report actually could be turned into a brilliant retail political platform that could resonate with a wide swath of voters. For those of us who believe in a strong role for Ottawa as an essential part of what Canada is and needs to be, the report is a must read.
* Two weeks after news of the "Devil's Network North" broke, and there are ONLY two columns - in Metro and the Globe - in today's press about the coming end of time, a clear sign that Kory Teneycke's network is running out of steam and may have been a two-week fad not seen since Miley Cyrus's purity. If these trends continue, working journalists will be fully ignoring the network by 2019.
* In Ontario political news, the first poll in months was released this week (seriously, there are seemingly more public polls on the Thunder Bay mayoral race made public than the second largest government in Canada - why is that?). Ho, hum, despite entering his seventh-year in government, the HST and all the other noise, Premier Dalton McGuinty and his government have a decent lead.