On the Liberal-NDP New Deal

I will reserve my disdain for the Martin-Layton New Deal, as much of my sentiments have already been articulated elsewhere.

However, I will say that Layton likely comes out of this debacle the big winner. While his party has a massive credibility gap to overcome (remember the televised remarks last week when he argued that the Grits' conduct in the sponsorship scandal may have been "criminal"?), he has established his merry band of socialists as a parliamentary force despite not holding the balance of power and despite claiming policy victories that won't even be implemented because of the impending failure of this budget.

Now the NDP, withering in the winds of parliamentary obscurity a mere fortnight ago, stands to gain a number of seats from the Liberals as they've become players when they had no right to be.

And Martin? He should thank Jean Chretien for the ban on corporate donations to political parties, because public subsidies are the only way to fund a party that, with its New Deal, has declared war on the same Bay St. that once revered the Prime Minister as the Golden Boy of Canadian politics.