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Speak Up

It appears in a week's time we may have a new person leading this country.

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The political maneuvering in Ottawa over the past few days has been intense. Backroom secret meetings, concessions, agreements, political posturing, a coalition deal — we've seen it all.

And there likely will be more to come.

We have to ask the obvious question — what is going to happen to our country? What kind of government will we have leading us through tough economic times?

Will this coalition work? Will Stephane Dion prove to be an effective leader? Will NDP Leader Jack Layton let Dion lead without interfering? And will the Bloc Party hold up its end of the bargain for 18 months?

Only time will tell.

But first we have to get to next Monday when the non-confidence vote is expected to take place.

Will it take place? The Conservatives are indicating something is in the works that may stop this out of control political ride.

We have to ask if it is too little, too late. We have to ask if Prime Minister Stephen Harper has already done irreparable damage by not providing a plan to stimulate the ailing economy. The plan the minority government presented included slashing government funding and taking away subsidies to political parties.

Where was the infrastructure money? Where was support for the auto and forestry industries? Stephane Dion says all this will be done if the coalition has the opportunity to govern the country.

So what's next? Who knows? All we can say is hang on for a bumpy ride.

New jobs

An announcement yesterday of 165 new jobs for Miramichi comes as good news for the region. DEW Engineering has received a $600,000 loan guarantee to expand its facilities and hire more people to work on three new contracts.

This is the first announcement for our region since September. And it's not the big one that government has been hinting at for months. The last one was a $300,000 loan guarantee to Sunny Corner Enterprises.

We know it sounds greedy, but what is next? When will we hear something about the UPM site? What about the sale of the Weyerhaeuser mill?

Miramichiers have been patient over the past few months waiting to hear news about the jobs. We are holding our own but of course we want more. That is just human nature.