When the Prime Minister's Office put out the PM's schedule earlier this week it indicated Stephen Harper would be spending all his time in Ottawa.

That changed suddenly last night with the announcement that Harper will be travelling to Prince Albert, Sask., tonight.

Interesting.

It means Harper will be heading straight into the political storm that has been swirling around the heads of his primary opponents, the federal Liberal party, much of it centred in and around Prince Albert.

Liberals there are emeshed in an internecine spat over the candidate hand-chosen by Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion to represent the party in the March 17 byelection.

Bypassing the normal nomination process, Dion appointed Joan Beatty, a former Saskatchewan NDP cabinet minister, to run for the Liberals. Beatty, one of the first aboriginal women to make it to a cabinet position, is seen as a catch in many circles. But her appoiontment has infuriated David Orchard who had been campaigning for the nomination.

Orchard is a former Progressive Conservative diehard who ran for its leadership and famously negotiated a deal with Peter MacKay, the eventual winner. In return for Orchard's support, MacKay agreed never to merge the party with the Canadian Alliance. And we know how that worked out.

Orchard, a nationalist who fought tirelessly against the free trade deal in an earlier era, eventually joined the Liberals and supported Dion for the leadership.

Liberals in the remote northern Saskatchewan riding of Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River have been ranting and rallying against Dion's decision for days now. Because the riding is so far-flung, most of the actions have taken place in Prince Albert, the same city the Conservative prime minister will visit tonight.

The Conservatives clearly hope they can benefit from the Liberal squabbling and win the byelection. In the last federal election the Liberals won the seat by a mere 67 votes.