So much for the New New New New Spirit of Cooperation ...

You’d think the Prime Minister would want to wait until after Jim Flaherty’s meeting with NDP finance critic Thomas Mulcair - not to mention that discussion that he was so looking forward to having with Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff - before complaining that their parties’ respective budget recommendations are "extremely thin". Apparently, you’d be wrong.

Mulcair, as it happens, has a date with the finance minister later this afternoon. According to a Bloc Quebecois spokesperson, the party sees no point in holding further discussions with the government, as their proposal to address the economic crisis hasn’t changed since it was released in the leadup to the fiscal update. As for that Harper/Ignatieff confab, ITQ hasn’t been able to confirm whether it will, in fact, take place within the next few days, but with a First Ministers’ Meeting on the agenda for Friday, it’s fair to say that they’re cutting it awfully close.