It’s been a summer of high-profile trips to the Arctic by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and a much-ballyhooed — nearly cross-country — bus trip by Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff.
There are already mumblings about a fall election and politicians are jumping on every issue they think will increase their popularity with voters.
Local opposition MPs Gerry Byrne and Judy Foote finished the summer by getting new posts in the Liberal shadow cabinet.
Byrne is responsible for tourism — putting one of his favourite targets Marine Atlantic in his official sights and Foote is deputy House leader ... a plum post for someone relatively new on the federal scene. The provincial political scene hasn’t been as bubbly.
A few issues have kept some cabinet ministers in front of the cameras but it’s been mostly sun, garden parties and barbecues for our provincial representatives.
There is no talk of when — or if — the House of Assembly will open in the autumn. There are plenty of issues to be tackled but they may have to wait for a late winter session to be addressed.
One thing is for sure, with a provincial election set for late next year, we’ll see more of politicians scrambling to win a comfortable seat than we want before long.
