February 8, 2008 This week, join Martin Stringer and his journalist guests: Joel-Denis Bellavance , Ottawa Bureau Chief for La Presse, and Susan Lunn , parliamentary reporter for CBC Radio. They'll discuss: The Afghan mission : The Government has tabled a motion to extend the mission beyond the February 2009 date agreed upon by Parliament. The government may declare the motion a confidence vote, which could trigger the fall of the government. How is this playing out, politically? Election scenarios : In addition to the motion on Afghanistan, which could become a confidence vote, the federal budget, expected on February 26th, is also a confidence matter. The government has also given the Senate Legal Affairs Committee an ultimatum of passing the "Tackling Violent Crime Bill" (C-2), or having it declared a confidence matter. Which will provoke a spring election? Will we have an election? How much does the government want one? The opposition parties? Martin will also talk with Nik Nanos , President of Nanos Research about his latest polling of Canadians' elections intentions. And Martin will discuss the week's events with his panel of MPs from the different parties.
