Toronto Centre Liberals and New Democrats have spoken, and the Media Party has won out! Journalists Linda McQuaig and Chrystia Freeland have won their respective nominations for the NDP and Liberals respectively. As both have written about income inequality, and both want to muscle in on the debate over the “plight” of the middle class (which may not really exist, if the economic data is to be believed, but shh, don’t tell anyone because you’re trying to win those votes), but it will set up for an interesting by-election once it is finally called, and it will make for even more of an interesting 2015 when Toronto Centre gets split into two, and their challengers can try to claim one of the other nominations in the redistribution. Pundit’s Guide looks when those by-elections might be called, especially now that the Conservatives have set themselves up for acclaimed candidates in up to three of the ridings up for grabs.

Mexican officials are rapidly losing patience with our government as we continue to impose strict visa restrictions on Mexicans, without providing any kind of roadmap or timeline when they might relax, and without offering details when we insist it’s only until we fix our refugee system (which one presumes was about the creation of the “safe” country of origin list).

While in Algeria, John Baird spoke out against corruption, and put some distance between Canada and SNC-Lavalin, the Canadian engineering firm that has been embroiled in several ethics controversies, but which has been making an effort to clean up its corporate ethical culture.

The West Block has a look at the diminishing number of sitting days that provincial legislatures seem to be moving toward, most especially BC which will have sat for a whole 36 days this year. And seriously, guys, the excuse that the provincial capital is somehow to cloistered, or that you can only be efficient if it’s not sitting, is nonsense. You know what’s really efficient? Dictatorship, but we don’t seem to be rushing to go there.

After thousands of Montrealers protested against the “Charter of Values,” The Quebec Liberal leaders said that it would only become law over his dead body. So, good luck with passing that bill with a minority, Pauline Marois (though really, we all know that its about fighting an election over so that she won’t face questions on the economy.

On the advent of the publication of his e-book on Stephen Harper, PostMedia’s Mark Kennedy has a series of articles and multimedia pieces that look at aspects of Harper’s life – how politics changed him, his political awakening, his days in and out of the Reform Party, the minority years, and the Harper of today.

And Peter O’Neil writes about some of his reminisces of former NDP MP Svend Robinson, on the advent of the release of a book about Robinson’s life in politics.