Video hit

Many thanks to the communications SuperGeniuses (you guys really are worth your weight in gold) on the Eighth Floor. Your periodic pushes to have Dear Leader do as many scrums as humanly possible are a never-ending source of fodder for the bloggerating classes.

And special thanks to CBC for their public service in posting up raw video of the whole avail, not just the soundbites that make it to Here and Now. Monday's episode (DW 20091026: Just not on) contained a wealth of material, including this geographical puzzler:

Not only are they [i.e., Hydro-Quebec] trying to prevent us from taking our power from the island and transporting it somewhere else, they're now going to tell us what to do with our river. And that's just not on.

Houston, we have a new catchphrase! Coming soon from a cabinet minister, spontaneously reading script onto the airwaves of VOCM.

Birth of a stock-phrase

The number of editions of the House of Assembly's Hansard in which the phrase "on a go-forward basis" (with or without the hyphen) appears, by Legislature and Session.

Caveats: not all sessions were of equal length, and OAG(-)FB is, these days, quite often uttered more than once in the run of a sitting day.

Once again, Magical House of Assembly Elves, thank you for the retroactive addition of pre-www-era Hansards. That's some mighty useful work you've produced, on, um, a go-backward basis.

Word of the day: strategic

You have heard our government say on many occasions that we are striving to take control of our own destiny, we have put action plans in place and we have exercised wise and strategic financial management to position us for future economic growth.

We have taken equity stakes in our offshore projects; we have invested in strategic areas of growth; and we have risen above the detrimental actions of the federal government and stood strong in the face of adversity.

In the meantime, we have been working to secure maximum benefits strategically and financially from our recall power from the Upper Churchill project.

This is about our Province finally acting in a strategic manner and going through proper processes to wheel our power through our neighbouring Province of Quebec.