At the “Three Amigos” summit in Mexico, things indeed seemed a bit frosty heading into it, as Harper refuses to lift the visa restrictions on Mexicans, and Obama won’t speed along the Keystone XL decision – a decision which got a whole lot trickier as a judge in Nebraska has struck down the Governor’s approved route for the pipeline, which could mean yet more delays for the project. It does, however, sound like common standards on greenhouse gas emissions may be on the way for Canada and the US. Also agreed to at the summit were a continental transportation plan, more joint research, more security agreements, and a working group to ensure the conservation of the monarch butterfly.

The 700 MHz spectrum auction results were announced yesterday, and while the Big Three telecom companies expanded their holdings, Quebecor-owned Videotron bought spectrum blocks out west, which could mean that it is on the road to becoming a fourth national carrier, which might prompt some more competition to help lower prices. The auction also netted $5.2 billion for the federal treasury, which might mean that it could wipe out the deficit this year. Might.

As the Liberals prepare for their policy convention in Montreal, PostMedia gives five things to watch for. And while the Conservatives were hoping to use Justin Trudeau-branded rolling papers as one of their disruption tools, a Toronto smoking lounge is running with the idea and is doing good business selling them. CBC profiles Trudeau’s inner circle, including the woman running to be party president this weekend.

Rosie Barton goes to the Bare Fax Gentlemen’s Club to speak to Senator Patrick Brazeau, and it’s a fantastic bit of narrative journalism.

Aaron Wherry recaps the past couple of days of arguments in the retired General Leslie affair. That the Conservatives’ arguments don’t have a logical endpoint is probably going to be a problem for them. Those suggesting that Leslie’s daughter benefitted from the sale of the house can be assured that she didn’t work for the company until four months after the sale, and there are more details about the sale of that house, including the sharp appreciation of its value in the years that they owned it. Andrew Coyne cautions against trying to say that Leslie should have had better political judgement when he took the benefit because it implies that he was seeking a political career back then – an assertion that only reinforces the Conservative paranoia that everyone, be it generals, Bank of Canada governors or Supreme Court justices, are out to get them.

More people who study the complex issue of voter turnout are taking exception to Pierre Poilievre’s assertions that Elections’ Canada’s get-out-the-vote campaigns aren’t working, or are having a negative effect, as Poilievre defends the change in the elections bill that would limit such future campaigns.

Boeing is anxious to know if the government will actually hold a full-blown competition to replace the CF-18s, or if the government will stick with the F-35s, no matter how much more advantageous the Super Hornets would be for Canada’s purposes (not to mention that they’re twin engine fighters, which is kind of important for patrolling the Arctic). This while Diane Finley announced the creation of a new analytics institute to help guide future procurement processes.

First Nations groups in Quebec and Labrador are seeking judicial review of the Conservatives’ new First Nations education plan, before the bill has even been tabled in the House (which I’m pretty sure you can’t do since there’s nothing to actually review).

The federal government is suggesting that Ontario could use its share of the Building Canada Fund to help pay for the development of the Ring of Fire region, which I’m sure is going to go over like a lead balloon, considering the infrastructure demands that the rest of the province is already facing.

It looks like the Experimental Lakes Area will be set to reopen in the spring, but there is still the sticking point of the liability issue as they work out the transfer agreement.

The Hill Times has more details about the compliance agreement that Ted Opitz has entered into with Elections Canada over his nomination race in 2008.

That former Canadian general has finally been released from an Afghan jail.

And professor David E. Smith, the foremost expert in Canadian political institutions, weighs in on Justin Trudeau’s Senate move, and declares it to be practical and achievable change.