Monte Solberg, the Conservative MP for Medicine Hat, Alberta and his party’s finance critic, jumped into the blogosphere yesterday. He’s got a Blogger-powered blog where he promises to do a little real-time politicking.
The blog is an exciting technology that will enable me to keep in touch with people in my riding and other interested Canadians,” Solberg said in a press statement. “Over the coming weeks and months, I look forward to providing real-time updates on developments that occur on the floor of the House of Commons and to provide additional insight into issues that affect the financial well-being of hardworking Canadians.”
In his first post, he talks about the budget planning process. The federal budget, to be delivered later this month, will be the first tabled by a minority government in Parliament in 25 years. And the outcome for that budget — it was Conservative Prime Minister’s Joe Clark’s government — was a failed vote, the fall of the government, and the end of Clark’s brief reign as PM.
So Finance Minister Ralph Goodale, Solberg says in his post, is actually consulting the Opposition before delivering his budget, something he never did before.
Solberg also notes that lobbyists, realizing that the Opposition, and the Tories in particular, have some real political leverage in this minority government situation, are thick as flies on honey at his office.