So Eddie, How Much Did Harper Pay You?

I can only imagine what the conversations between the PMO and Stelmach's office this past week must have been.

"Put Canada first and stop the nonsense,” the provincial Progressive Conservative leader told reporters in Edmonton Monday. “This is a time where we need sane, prudent leadership dealing with the bigger elephant in the room which is the global economic crisis. It's a real concern to all Albertans.”

He said he expects that “cooler heads will prevail” and that coalition talks will die by next week.

“I think it's just imperative that we move ahead with good, strong economic policies. Give us some predictability and some certainty in policies so that we can attract the investment that's necessary.”

However, he said his right-wing government already has a strategy in place to deal with a possible Liberal-NDP coalition in Ottawa. “But I'm not going to play the cards until such time and until we know who are dealing with and what the issues are.”

How blatantly partisan can you possibly be Stelmach? Did Harper pay you to come up with that drivel, or did you think it up all by yourself? But then again, Stelmach lives in Alberta where a bale of hay can be elected as long as it is nominated on the conservative ticket.

Does it strike anyone else as only mildly ironic that Stelmach's ire is directed at the opposition, not a Prime Minister who directed his government to play the most vicious of partisan games at a time when Canada's government needs to be focused on the economy?

Mr. Harper decided to play politics - he picked an exceedingly volatile moment to engage in a game of political chicken...and his bluff got called. Yes, he's backed down on some of the most volatile propositions, but at this point, can anybody trust him to actually do his job? Or does he believe that all he is responsible is political points - as if running Canada were some massive videogame where high score is all that matters.

[Update]
Just maybe, the rank and file of the CPoC will remove Harper as leader if they get bounced to the Opposition benches. It's time this bunch learned that politics really is all about compromise.
[/Update]