August 31, 2009

Today's summer guest host was Susan Ormiston.

It's Monday, August 31st.

Alberta is now projected to run a record deficit of seven billion dollars.

Currently, the Alberta government is expected to pay a heavy political price for this and might only get 80 percent of the vote in the next election.

This is The Current.

Doer

For nearly 24 hours last week, Gary Doer was on his way to a quiet -- or at least quiet'ish -- life. After ten years as the Premier of Manitoba and 21 as the leader of the provincial NDP, he had announced that he would be stepping down. But he wouldn't say what he'd be doing next. The next day, we found out why. Gary Doer is now Canada's next Ambassador to Washington. And he was in Winnipeg this morning.

Afghan Election - Abdullah

Afghanistan's citizens made their way to polling stations a week and a half ago, but the results are far from clear. According to the latest tallies, President Hamid Karzai is close to achieving 50 percent of the vote in Afghanistan. The number needed to avoid a runoff vote.

As of Saturday, with a third of the ballots counted, Karzai was reported to have 46.2 percent of the vote. His closest challenger, Abdullah Abdullah, has 31.4 percent but both complain of fraud by their foe.

This morning we were joined by Hamid Karzai's main opponent, Abdullah Abdullah. He's an ophthalmologist who worked with the mujahedeen to resist Soviet and Taliban rule in the 1990s. After the Taliban were removed from power in 2001, Abdullah Abdullah was a key player in the new government. He served as President Hamid Karzai's foreign minister for five years. He was in Kabul.

Afghan Election - Gannon

As the fight over the election results continues, Kathy Gannon says it is unlikely that Afghanistan will change all that much ... no matter who wins. Kathy Gannon has spent 21 years covering Afghanistan and Pakistan for the Associated Press. She is also the author of I is for Infidel: From Holy War to Holy Terror. She was in Washington.