Liberal-NDP coalition (supported by Bloc Quebecois)
Dec. 1, 2008 to Jan. 28th, 2009.

It was with mixed emotions that the death of the Liberal-NDP/Bloc coalition was announced this morning in Ottawa.

NDP Leader Jack Layton, one of the founding members, seemed saddened by the dissolution of the agreement and declared that a new coalition has been born between Liberal Michael Ignatieff and Conservative Stephen Harper.

Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe, also a signatory, was less sentimental, declaring the proposal simply "defunct."

— Rosemary Barton

This time the technical problems are not our fault. That was the message from Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff's office this morning after his newser was delayed due to audio problems at the National Press Theatre.

In fact, the Liberal leader went out of his way to say "I'd like to thank the Press Gallery for this brief interruption."

The Liberals are a little sensitive about technical difficulties after the infamous video episode in December when then leader Stephane Dion was trying to reply to Prime Minister Stephen Harper's speech to the nation about proroguing Parliament.

— Susan Bonner

It's hard to imagine, but there was oft-photographed celebrity athlete Nancy Greene gawking like a tourist in the rotunda of the House of Commons.

The world champion skier was with relatives including her husband and son, snapping pictures and clearly enjoying every moment as a new senator for British Columbia.

Greene says there are "a lot of opportunities to look at issues quite deeply" in the Senate. But she admits that life will be different from now on.

Four pages.

About 700 words.

Roughly eight minutes.

That's all it took to re-open this session of Parliament with the speech from the throne read by the Governor General, Michaelle Jean.

The commissioner of Canada Elections wants to force the Conservative party to open its books.

The commissioner is looking into the party's advertising spending from the 2006 election and allegations that the Conservatives broke spending limits and the law through improper accounting practices.

In April of last year Elections Canada asked the RCMP to help raid Conservative headquarters in Ottawa to search for evidence. Investigators seized dozens of boxes of documents and copied millions of files from the party's computers.

But according to an affidavit filed in court, the Conservatives' lawyer claimed virtually all the documents were subject to solicitor-client privilege. Meaning everything had to be sealed.

There's an old hackneyed expression that folks who live in Alberta like to trot out every time there's a significant change in the province's (notoriously) changeable weather. It goes like this: "If you don't like the weather, wait a minute."

Sometimes politics feels like that.

Take Jack Layton, today, in his leader's speech to the NDP caucus.

Layton was talking about the upcoming Conservative budget (only eight more days!), and naturally folks were wondering just where the will NDP stand when it comes to voting for or against the Conservative government.

On April 16, 2007, Canadian author Yann Martel launched a rather one-sided pen pal relationship with Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Every two weeks, the man who penned "Life of Pi" sends Harper a book. Martel started posting poetry and prose to the prime minister after a well-publicized rant against what he perceived as a Conservative government bias against artists.

Over the last two years, Martel has sent 47 topical tomes. On the eve of the last election, Harper received "A Clockwork Orange" and after last summer's cuts to arts funding, Martel sent off "A Modest Proposal" by Jonathan Swift.

Count Jack Layton among the 80 per cent of Canadians who support Barack Obama (according to the latest EKOS / CBC News survey.)

Said to be inspired by the incoming U.S. president, Layton is making it part of the official caucus business tomorrow to watch Obama's noon speech on some plasma TVs at NDP headquarters.

Covering the first ministers meeting in Ottawa lends a whole new meaning to the concept of on-the-spot live reporting.

I am on a spot and I will report live as the premiers and the prime minister emerge from their meeting to talk to reporters.

But my spot is in another building altogether from where the country's leaders met.

Approximately one freezing city block away.

— Susan Bonner

Like much of the country, Ottawa is in the deep freeze. It's been about -30 all week but Canada's premiers seem oblivious to the weather.

The premiers arrived for their meeting with the prime minister in their toasty warm cars as a clutch of frozen reporters and camerapeople waited to scrum them.

Given the clime, one would think the premiers would whiz right by and not want to linger in the frozen air whipping up from the nearby Ottawa River.

But no! The premiers had a lot to say — about infrastructure, jobs, EI benefits, forestry, mining, training, taxes, and on and on.

Brrrrrrrrr. Though for Manitoba Premier Gary Doer, this is balmy weather. He was particularly loquacious.

— Julie Van Dusen

We are standing here in the foyer of the Chateau Laurier waiting patiently for the arrival of Canada's first ministers, also known as premiers, also known as members of the Council of the Federation.

They have come to Ottawa to offer their input into the upcoming federal budget and to have dinner with the prime minister.

Because reporters in the nation's capital don't see premiers (at least not all of them) as often as we might wish, the media accreditation table for the event hands out a handy paper with photos of all the premiers.

And so a new game is born: premier bingo.

Spot a provincial leader, mark it off on your handy list and see who can spot the most, the fastest.

Reporters have to find some way to pass the time.

— Rosemary Barton

Still no word on where Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his family will live while 24 Sussex Drive is undergoing renovations.

Government officials say it's not simply up to the prime minister to choose his home away from home. Much will depend on other considerations such as security.

The final decision is supposed to be left to the people who manage the country's public buildings.

Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff told the CBC's Rick Mercer this week that he had offered Stornaway, the official residence of the Opposition leader, to the Harper family during the renovations.

Government officials had no comment.

But with the Commons set to resume later this month with a Throne Speech and budget, the prime minister would do well to remember that the House is not a home.

— Chris Hall

These are difficult economic times and senior officials in the federal government want Canadians to know that the meeting between Stephen Harper and the premiers will be a frugal one.

That extends to the meals.

No five-course menu this time, the meals will be buffet-style.

The tab works out to $29.95 per person, with another $300 alotted for wine, at $22 a bottle.

Those same government officials say the cost of feeding staff members accompanying the leaders works out to just $19 per person.

And the journalists covering today's meeting? Coffee and soft drinks will be provided. But if reporters actually want to eat they will have to walk a block (in the -25 temperature) to the closest cafeteria at the Lester B. Pearson building.

— Chris Hall

Environmental groups think their green projects can help "surge" the economy back to health.

And they want Ottawa to pledge up to $2 billion in its January budget to do it.

RCMP investigators today interviewed NDP officials over allegations Conservative staffers illegally logged onto and taped a New Democrat caucus conference call.

Speaking on background, an NDP official said more than one RCMP investigator visited the party's headquarters Monday morning to discuss the allegations.