And they're off!

Stephen Harper's minority government has fallen, and a new election is on the books for May.  This time, there will be no distraction of an American election to the south.  The leaders cannot hope to fly under the radar, and, so far, with the spotlight on them, the two leaders of the front running parties have conducted themselves with all the class of a pair of hookers fighting tooth and nail for control of a street corner.  Ignatieff has called Harper a liar- you read that correctly, one politician accused another of being a liar- and Harper, in his opening statement, claimed that the opposition has forced this unwanted election on the people, and now it is "time for us Canadians" to make our choice- thus hitting the note his attack ads have been hitting for months, that Ignatieff is not a 'real' Canadian.  Way to keep it classy, guys. 

The government fell on the budget.  The opposition parties objected to several items tin the Harper Budget, saying this item does not give enough to this, or that one gives too much to them, and so on.  One item that was singled out was 35 billion for buying new planes for the Canadian military- the new American fighter.  None of then opposition parties want to spend money on arming the military.  I actually agree with Harper on this one- we need new planes.  The old Hornets are, well, old.  We have about eighty of them, but forty are mothballed and are being used as spare parts for the remainder.  Our air force is pathetically under equipped.  Had the Opposition argued that perhaps we should get different planes, they would have had a valid argument, but no planes at all?  Canada is virtually defenceless.  They would remove the "virtually" from that statement.

It will most likely get more savage as the campaign wears on. This one is for all the marbles for these Ignatieff and Harper.  Neither party accepts failure from their leaders.  If Ignatieff loses, he will be removed as leader of his party.  If Harper loses, or only wins another minority, he will be removed as leader of his party, as it will be obvious to the party that Harper cannot win a majority.  This election could spell the end of the political careers of both.  Now there's a consummation devoutly to be wished.