Don’t for a moment imagine Stephen Harper in a yellow leather jumpsuit, but imagine the same result as the double feature films. The PM wants to kill the private member’s bill.

Props to Dan McTeague, who wrote a private members bill that put the Government’s budget out of their spending league. McTeague had his private member’s bill read for the third time this week and it received a whomping round of support from all three opposition parties. One might ask, how did the the Conservatives let this one slip through the voting cracks? Math, simple math. The Tories did not have the man power in the house the day of the last reading is really what it boils down to.

The real kicker from a policy and historical view is that this was a private members bill. Private member bills don’t usually see the much light of day and are about as in-depth as “The recognition that all kittens are cute” result. This bill was just the opposite, allowing families saving for their children’s educational futures to place up to $5,000.00 into a savings plan that closely resembles an RRSP. The cost to the government is estimated at $900 million dollars.

From a wonk’s point of view there are a number of routes that could see the government bury those noses in procedures and squash it because of oppositions not being able to play with taxes and the like. But why would you want to kill it? There is 900 million reasons the current government can think of we’re sure.

This government has made friends with a large portion of the Canadian taxpaying public buy slicing the GST twice, and personal income tax cuts. Killing this bill is not consistent with their public policy and would end up killing their own trust with Canadians. The focus here should be on where $900 million could be offset from to see the RESP bill through. If the government really gets hip-deep in the strategy for the situation they will find a pot of Liberal initiated programs ripe for the offsetting. Social programs beware, should the Tories wake up and smell the opportunity your fiscal days may be numbered (pun intended).

Social program spending versus good old tax cuts, sounds like an old Tory idea that may be given new legs for this situation specifically. The Wonk has done some preliminary number crunching and has found one direct match for the budget to remain in balance with cutting in mind. Need we say more?

Famed NDP member of parliament Thomas Mulcair was in search of his temper this week after a minute long fracas in the house. Mulcair’s temper went AWOL after some heckling from the Tory side, specifically from Gerard Keddy.

Mulcair was in the middle of explaining why a deportation order was in need of suspension when he flicked off like a light switch at the peanut gallery down the rows. “Climbing over rows of chairs”, and “spitting” almost as though Mulcair was going to “attack” said Keddy. Cooler minds prevailed (thankfully, we think) and not further incidents were recorded.

The famed part of Mulcair’s career comes from the fact that he is the NDP member in the once Liberal kingdom of Outrement. Made a co-Deputy leader of the NDP (move over Libby Davis) and used as a door-jam for any chance of NDP expansion in the province of Quebec, much has fallen on the shoulders of the newbie member and it’s starting to show.

While we believe that his temper was eventually found, we are looking forward to more desk and chair climbing from the member, a socialist G.I. Joe is a rarity anywhere, let alone Ottawa. The Wonk’s only advice, stay away from John Baird, you wouldn’t like him when he’s angry.

What would make our Canadian medicare system better? We know we want the system, we know we need access to the system, so what could be done to the current system to address its’ areas of issue?

When you visit your family doctor (if you have found one), the emergency room or a scheduled appointment with a specialist, the first concern has always been timing and access. The concern has traditionally stopped after the patient walks out the door of the medical office and will start up again once access becomes a need.

As Canadians, we like to think we have a more responsible social awareness of programs like medicare and what they provide. What if we were to expand that responsibility beyond just the access stage and gave some attention to the stage that occurs after you’ve walked out of the office? Responsible Canadian Medicare occurs at every stage of the process, and doesn’t stop once you have left.

Canadians should have more visibility to the process after the visit. How much does the visit cost as a draw on the system? Was the value of the visit true to that draw? The cost and the value of the visit isn’t the end all be all judgment of the system, nor will it affect all those who use the system to think twice before creating an unnecessary draw on the system. But what would it do for those who use the system and respect it in a responsible way?

We hear the words “not for profit” associated with Canadian Medicare in almost every breath when mentioned. But we understand that there is money that changes hands for every transaction completed. How would knowing the costs of services offered by doctors affect your next visit? Would you go without any additional thought, or would you second guess the value of a consultation versus the costs?

Here’s a secret at The Political Wonk, when we have heard what there is to hear about stories in the media, our eyes glaze over. And the next thing you know we are playing paper doll dress up in Photoshop with an elected leader.

That time of eye glazing has come and gone, and, well, someone got dressed up because in the middle of our meditation we realized that Stephane Dion is not only holding back a country from a federal election, but he’s holding back a wonk’s required once-a-year migration to Ottawa for all things policy and procedure.

The federal Liberals have abstained from more than their share of confidence matters now but not before turning the verbal volume to 11 on the dial. It seems that either Dion doesn’t have the gut for the push or maybe it’s the fact that Harper can play him like four-armed drummer, beating out whatever result he wants. Hold on a second though, Harper hasn’t exactly been the best of the best when it comes to strategy lately (read: Chuck Cadman) seeming to fall and expose his weakness to Dion almost bi-weekly. Dion, get the guts.

The appeal to Stephane Dion here is to decide. Decide whether or not your team can take the Harperites down at the polls. Pull the trigger, any trigger, election or prop-up, any one will do, but please decide. The annual wonk migration is approaching, where a weeks worth of policy discussion, question period and senate debate watching occurs. Without a definate decision the migrating wonks will be displaced and potentially pay too much for a plane ticket that was just on sale.

So, Stephane for the sake of the nation and the wonk migration, please decide. Are you an opposition or not?