Dave Rutherford

Courtesy of the Prime Minister’s Office, a transcript of Mr. Harper’s aforementioned chat with QR77 in Calgary.

From the print edition, my column for this week indulges what’s becoming an annual habit: I read transcripts of Stephen Harper’s year-end interviews to try to figure out what’s in his head. He thinks 2012 will be a banner year; so much so that he began his interview with CTV’s Lisa LaFlamme by volunteering his belief that previous majority prime ministers didn’t get a lot done. So I begin by surveying what those guys actually did; Harper plans to do more, which will serve as an excellent benchmark for what he does in 2012.

The industry committee is in the midst of another day of hearings on the census—you can view the proceedings online here. CP and the Globe have filed early dispatches. The Globe’s Steve Chase is also keeping a running account.

Kenney says the Tories won’t make a deal with the NDP

Colleagues Gohier and Wherry have more on the Great MTEP Cash Bonanza Giveaway Thing of Aught Nine.  First up, Deux Maudits Anglais has a summary of what seem to be the official talking points on Divers/Cite’s rejection, as delivered by an unnamed staffer in Industry Minister Tony Clement’s office:

Tony Clement did an interview with Dave Rutherford on Calgary’s AM770 this morning and addressed the Divers-Cite situation. Here’s a transcript of that conversation.