Federal Budget is released and the Liberals decide it isn’t worth forcing an election over.

Federal Minister for Women Helena Guergis celebrates International Women’s Day by announcing a Federal grant program designed to get more women elected to municipal governments…although don’t think about changing the words of “O Canada.”

Amazon.com wants more of a presence in Canada than just a .ca domain name.

A sin tax on pop? New York State thinks its a good idea.

Ottawa to become a little less ugly: Concrete barriers at US Embassy to be replaced.

Bob Chiarelli heading back to Queens Park.

One of the largest earthquakes in the history of South America hits Northern Chile... but they will be okay.

Prorogation has ended and Parliament resumes sitting with Stephen Harper to present the budget on Thursday.
Apparently he found this one particularly difficult to put together.

Putting the ghosts of Ipperwash to rest, the Ontario government agrees to hand over the park to Aboriginals.

Thinking about reporting on Taliban attacks in Afghanistan? Think again says the Afghan government.

Helena Guergis does not like PEI… or airport security.

Minimum wage increases hurt the poor?

New conflict of interest rules severely limiting the number of engineering consultants the City of Ottawa can hire.

I think the interview clears things up a little bit more, leaving a bit of a better scope of who is actually involved. It’s also pretty clear that there is some manner of organisation behind the group, and they aim to make it more than an umbrella title for a coalition of like-minded groups. While they aren’t going to run a slate of candidates, they are going to do some decidedly slate-like things and (I paraphrase here) endorse candidates that are willing to endorse their principles, and maybe even look out to find some people to carry the flag. It seemed pretty clear that endorsement will come with at least some organizational and volunteer support.

That’s a pretty big deal, especially if they are as organized as they make it sound. Unseating incumbent councillors is a daunting prospect, even if you have a group of dedicated and connected volunteers, but is certainly not impossible. The real advantage will probably be in open contests, of which there are at least three so far. Council candidates have a notoriously tough time trying to build profile, so being able to associate with a larger group of ideas can only help.

We’re still a ways off from the election, and it’s still a bit early to tell exactly what effect this will have at the ballot box. At this point, I think that its fair to say that they will be an important part of the campaign, and should make the council races a whole lot more interesting. Short of it being a spectacular failure,  I expect that we’re going to see more coordination like this in the future, and especially from those that disagree with what Our Ottawa ultimately advocates.

Our Ottawa is organizing a rally today at noon at City Hall to oppose the re-opening of the urban boundary, so if you are around you should go and check that out.

At 8:30, I’ll talk with Shawn Menard of “Our Ottawa”, an collective of community organizers that is looking to have its voice heard in the lead up to and during the coming Municipal election. ]

Canada’s last WW1 veteran dies. Gordon Lightfoot: still allive.

Transit Committee bumps stroller ban to full council.

Obama has a plan for the Great lakes: no Brodeur in it.

Quebec Finance minister muses that the era of something for nothing might be coming to an end.

Lansdowne design symposiums begin tonight!

On Tuesday, I had the pleasure of having Chris Page in studio to talk about his new album, “A Date with a Smoke Machine”. In a fit of absentmindedness, I forgot to record the first half of the conversation, so you missed out on him singing Summertime Out, which is a shame because it’s my favourite track from the album. Worry not, though, as you still get the second half of our conversation and another in-studio song.

The in studio performances sounded excellent, but the CD itself is even better: it’s catchy and personal and filled with the sort of songs that will get in your head and have you humming. Think of it as a sort of vaccine against the wretched CTV olympic theme.

The CD release show is next Saturday at Dom Polski SPK (Waverly near Bank), with Camp Radio and Year Zero opening.

Michael Ignatieff has priorities for this upcoming parliament. In a rare move for the Liberal Party he has actually made these public.

Non-natives are told to leave the Mohawk reserve of Kahnawake near Montreal.

Vancouver 2010: On now at a television near you.

An appeal in the case of Toronto 18 member Saad Gaya and maybe not from the side you would expect.

Get your very own “I slept with Adam Giambrone” pin today!

Family Day protests by people who want the province to pay for them to have a family to celebrate the new holiday with.

CFB Trenton gets a new commander for pretty obvious reasons.

CTV Ottawa’s studios go up in flames but thousands of historical broadcasts are saved by building supervisor.

First Saskatchewan, then Ottawa cut funding to the First Nation’s University and now it is closing its doors.

G7 Finance Ministers trek up to the Arctic for a weekend of winter fun.

The Conscription Crisis: Afghanistan version

Jack Layton is diagnosed with prostate cancer

In more Lansdowne related news, two Ottawa architects are chosen to design the site.

Now the medical isotope crisis has gotten really bad as the Dutch reactor goes offline.

She plays in Memphis in the near future, for those heading to Tennessee. She plays Ottawa again later in March.