It’s the end of Leona Aglukkaq’s two years as Chair of the Arctic Council on Canada’s behalf, and well, there’s not a lot to show for it. That’s not much of a surprise considering what we’ve seen of Aglukkaq in any of her roles so far. As the Americans prepare to head up their turn as Chair, we’re hearing a lot about their priorities, much of it having to do with climate change – you know, that thing at Aglukkaq likes to scold provincial governments about while doing next to nothing on the file herself, while simultaneously taking credit for the reductions that Ontario achieved by shuttering their coal-fired electricity plants. Aglukkaq instead pats herself on the back for encouraging private sector investment in the Arctic, but we haven’t really heard much in the way of good economic news in the North – instead, we’ve heard much more about the skyrocketing food prices and the lack of political will to do much about Nutrition North, or even for the government to acknowledge that problems exist with it. Like so many things during her time in federal politics, Algukkaq seems absent even from the conversation, so you can’t even say that she’s more talk than action. I’m not sure why anyone might have expected this to go any differently.

Good reads:

• Rosemary Barton paints more of the scene of the Duffy trial, with some personalities we haven’t heard much about.
• Jennifer Ditchburn looks at the more than 70 current and former Conservative MPs who had Duffy appear at their events, and even more candidates did as well.
• One public sector union is going to court to stop the new “unduly invasive” security clearance process the government is implementing.
• Eve Adams puts on a good show of her nomination battle.
• The Globe and Mail tries to investigate Sgt. Doiron’s death in Iraq, and finds their efforts stymied on the ground.
• Susan Delacourt looks at Hillary Clinton’s YouTube campaign launch, and wonders if journalists will bother with leaders’ tours in the upcoming election.

Odds and end:

Despite the rumours of a comeback, Lawrence Cannon says he’s not going to run again.

Jennifer Robson gives us some statistics on federal budgets past.

Jen Gerson gives the lay of the land in the Alberta election.