In the midst of the financial meltdown, one man, apparently, stands alone calling for more deregulation. While anti-government George Bush buys up banks and insurance companies, former Fed chair Alan Greenspan admits he was "partially wrong" in his hands-off approach towards the banking industry, and the crisis has caused right-wing French President Sarkozy to virtually denounce capitalism.

Yet, while everyone else is demanding the rogue financial industry be brought to heel, B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell is actually pushing for even more financial deregulation right across the country.

Was the federal election just a bad dream? After five weeks of fear and loathing, disappointment and disbelief, Canadians woke up to election results that were hardly different than when the election started. Most of the commentary since has been about numbers and pro-Harper media spin. The man who is claiming a new "enhanced" mandate actually received 168,737 fewer votes than last time but garnered an additional 19 seats. The turnout, at 59 per cent, was the lowest in our history, which means that the Harper Conservatives will govern the country with the support of fewer than 23 per cent of the eligible voters. Democracy in Canada has seldom seemed so corrupted or so unrepresentative.

Television screens have recently been filled with furious nurses,threatening to go to the United States because of unbearable workingconditions and stagnant wages. So who in their right mind wouldencourage nurses to leave Canada at a time when there is a nationalnursing shortage?

Greed, apparently, is still good. Or so we would have to conclude by Bay Street’s tax-cut cheerleaders who are falling over themselves to say that Canada will almost certainly have to copy George Bush’s tax cut package. If not, the consequences will be grave, Canada will suddenly be less competitive, investment dollars will flow south, yadda, yadda.

That these people can argue this with a straight face is amazing only if you discount the power of the rich imagining themselves getting even richer.

For all the talk of a dysfunctional House of Commons, what has transpiredover the past few weeks is precisely the opposite.

Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has said repeatedly in recent weeks that the Canadian economy is “the strongest it has been in a generation.” His obvious pride in this situation prompted The Tyee to interview the minister to explore the government's policies that led to this development.

Tyee: Mr. Flaherty, you stated recently that the economy is the strongest it has been in a generation.