An election is coming -- soon

Amazingly, my prediction came true.

Bob Rae and Martha Hall Findlay are in the House of Commons.

And Stéphane Dion's days as leader of the Liberal Party are numbered.

There's just no way the Grits can continue to prop up the Tories. And Dion can't afford to have Rae in the House for too long, tearing a strip off the government far more effectively than Dion has been able to up until now.

Bob Rae should have been elected leader back at the last Liberal leadership convention, and that is about to be brought home once he gets the chance to go after the Harperites directly on issues in his foreign affairs portfolio. Do you think anyone on the Conservative side of the floor can hold a candle to Rae on issues involving human rights and the intricacies of Canada's international responsibilities? Possibly the Prime Minister. Possibly. But since he won't be answering Rae's questions himself most of the time, the government front benches better get ready.

People can say what they like, but Bob Rae is a guy who's been around a long time and has a lot of knowledge and experience on files important to Canadians. His is a fresh approach within the Liberal Party -- he is free of any taint from the sponsorship scandal and has successful rehabilitated his image after his rocky tenure as an NDP premier of Ontario. I'm not in love with the guy but I think he's ten times better than Dion and at least three times better than the ineffectual Michael Ignatieff.

Neither of those guys would feel comfortable with Rae getting too much face time in the nightly news.

Bob had been conveniently seatless up until now, so Ignatieff had the floor to himself to play the "compare and contrast" game with the leader. People know now what they're missing with Iggy -- and it's not much. Since Rae is a far more gifted politician than either of those so-called Liberal leaders, it won't take long for his talents to become apparent now that he has a platform from which to speak, in front the cameras, where he can bash the government directly.

Put the three of them in a line and watch them go for awhile. Rae starts looking really good, really fast. That must scare the crap out of people who don't want the new guy to take over after Dion flames out. Better to confine his skills to use on the campaign trail in Toronto Centre rather than allow him to increase his profile before a national audience in the House.

Given all of that, I figure we'll vote by Canada Day. Stay tuned.