Brett Favre's debut with the New York Jets was (quite rightly, says this NFL fan) the big news in The Big Apple today but, there was little Canada, still hanging on to a spot on the home page of the online edition of the New York Times at 7 pm:
Mr. Harper is not charismatic and often appears irritated, particularly when he is challenged. But his personal approval ratings in pre-election polls are significantly higher than those of Stéphane Dion, the Liberal leader. Mr. Harper was favored as potentially “the best prime minister” by 50 percent, compared with 20 percent for Mr. Dion.
Mr. Dion, an accomplished academic, is entering his first election as leader. He speaks English awkwardly, and even speaking in French, his first language, Mr. Dion at a podium can sound as if he is still lecturing dryly on public administration and political science at the Université de Montréal.
The most striking negative prompting Mr. Harper’s decision is a deteriorating economy. Although high oil and commodity prices have so far prevented a significant slowdown, recent economic data suggests that Canada is now being dragged down by the problems of the American economy. [Read the rest]
The mighty BBC actually sent out an alert early this morning, letting its subscribers know that Obama vs McCain isn't the only high-profile political fight gripping North American polticos. We've got Harper vs Dion vs Duceppe vs Layton vs May and that was good enough to keep news about the Canadian election high up on BBC's site early this evening but the version up on their site at 7 pm Ottawa time noted only quoted the Harper handout at Rideau Hall and did not quote any other political leader, even though those leaders spoke a good eight hours ago:
Holding the election this year breaks Mr Harper's own fixed-date election law, something he had said was necessary to prevent prime ministers calling elections when polls indicated they were in a favourable position.
Mr Harper has made it clear he is running on economic issues and criticised the Liberals' plan to tax greenhouse gas polluters while cutting other taxes.
“Between now and October 14, Canadians will choose a government to look out for their interests at a time of global economic trouble,” Mr Harper said in a statement.
“They will choose between direction or uncertainty; between common sense or risky experiments; between steadiness or recklessness.”
The opposition leaders are expected to make their own addresses later on Sunday. [Read more]
News that Canada was in election mode also made The Times of India, The Christian Science Monitor, and, notably, Al Jazeera.
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