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september redux.

Back in April, Tory Premier Ralph Klein announced he would sign a letter of resignation in September. Later, it was clarified that it would be September 16. It’s now September 17 and no letter. Maybe he decided that he’s fine with 55.4% support?

But seriously, it really doesn’t matter if Klein sends in his resignation this week or next, the candidates for his replacement are in full gear ready to storm the ancient gates of Castle Klein. It will most likely start to get a little concerning for Tories if Klein hasn’t made his move by next week, as I’m sure they’d like to take a look at the official rules of the race (and for the race to begin on paper at some point).

I neglected to comment on it at the time, but I found the semi-conflict between Klein and former Premier Peter Lougheed a couple of weeks ago to be quite interesting. I thought it was pretty low of Klein to take a shot at Peter Lougheed – a man who has more solid policy and province-building experience than Klein could ever dream of having. Edmonton Journal columnist Graham Thomson had some interesting experts from Lougheed on his opinion of today’s Alberta on his blog.

Carolyn Bennett‘s withdrawal from the Federal Liberal leadership race and endorsement of Bob Rae wasn’t a complete surprise. I’d heard rumours that Bennett was going to drop out and I don’t find it totally surprising that she endorsed Rae (as this was part of the rumour). Interestingly, Bennett first unsuccessful ran for the Ontario Liberals against Tory Isabel Bassett in Toronto riding of St. Andrew-St. Patrick in the 1995 election which saw the defeat of Bob Rae’s Ontario NDP government.

Bennett’s withdrawal from the race leaves nine candidates left in the fight – Gerard Kennedy, Michael Ignatieff, Bob Rae, Ken Dryden, Stephane Dion, Scott Brison, Martha Hall Findlay, Hedy Fry, and Joe Volpe. Both Gerard Kennedy and Martha Hall Findlay launched new websites last week.

The New Brunswick provincial election is tomorrow! Unlike it’s provincial neighbour to the east (Nova Scotia), the political environment in New Brunswick is a near tie between Shawn Graham’s Liberals and Premier Bernard Lord’s Tories (poll results released on September 13 had the Liberals and PC’s polling at a dead heat of 46% with Allison Brewer’s NDP in a distant third at 7%). It should be very interesting to see what happens tomorrow night!

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