Oh, Belinda

Well, one of the biggest bombs in recent Canadian politics is being dropped as I write, with Belinda Stronach's decision to cross the floor and join team Martin. Now the odds of a June election suddenly look remote. This may be the most astute political move she has ever made, or will ever make. She was in very real danger of losing her seat to the Liberals (I thought she would), and with a budget vote looming, it was inconceivable that her leverage would get any greater (witness the plum cabinet position, out of thin air). Furthermore, she had no chance of winning a Tory leadership race, which means that aside from some loyalty to the party that she once wanted to head (how old-fashioned), she had little reason to stay on. Talk about expediency and pragmatism; her father must be very proud. In the press conference, which is still going on now, Martin called Stronach "gutsy." Change that "sy" to "less", and that's about right. Still, the Tories are going to have to do some serious soul searching, when two high-profile leadership candidates from their own party (Mr. Brison) cross the aisle in such a short time span.

PS And as a side note, something I should have considered before: What is Peter McKay going to say about this? Oh, to be a fly on the wall...