Rapid-Fire Politics: Manitoba election, PBO, and quantum questions

With voters in Manitoba dumping the NDP after almost 17 years and putting Brian Pallister and the PC in power with a big majority, we’ve decided a special mid-week version of Rapid Fire Politics is in order.

What signal does the Manitoba election send to both Conservatives and the NDP across the country? On a federal level, does this now make Justin Trudeau’s desire to put a national price on carbon more difficult, as Pallister joins Premier Brad Wall as a Conservative leader resistant to the idea?

Related:Manitoba picks Brian Pallister in an election of attrition

Also on the docket: Parliament’s budget watchdog has issued a new report on the real cost of the Liberal promise to take the age of eligibility for Old Age Security back down to 65, from 67. There are 11 billion reasons to pay attention to their report and to the good work of this office, and we’ll take a close look.

Finally: Did the media overplay Justin Trudeau’s explanation of quantum physics because it looked pre-planned, or is it naive to think that anything a leader does at a press conference is truly spontaneous?

Related:Experts try to explain quantum computing in 35 seconds

Ottawa bureau chief John Geddes and columnist Evan Solomon light up a rapid-fire debate on the mid-week agenda.