It's a busy week in Ottawa.
There's the federal budget, of course. There's the possibility International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda will be the first cabinet minister cited for contempt of Parliament. And there's a pending call by an opposition-dominated Commons committee to find the Harper Conservatives in contempt for failing to fully disclose cost estimates for its tough-on-crime agenda.
And looming above it all is the possibility the government will fall, launching us into an election campaign and to the polls in May.
To help us wade through it all Power Play host Don Martin and a number of other guests, including Liberal Trade Critic Martha Hall Findlay, as well as political experts Scott Matthews and Kathleen Lahey, answered readers' questions in a live chat.
You can replay what was said below.
Live Chat Guest Lineup:
Don Martin: Previously a national affairs columnist based in Ottawa, Martin wrote regularly about federal politics for The Calgary Herald and the National Post with a special eye on western issues of interest to his favourite province, namely Alberta. He has spent the last 30 years covering politics, starting with Calgary city hall and moving to the provincial legislature before heading to the nation's capital in 2000. He authored the bestseller "King Ralph" in 2002, a biography on the life and times of Alberta Premier Ralph Klein, and in 2006 published Belinda on the private and political life of Belinda Stronach.
Martha Hall Findlay is serving her second term as MP for Willowdale and is the Official Opposition Critic for International Trade. She is a member of the House of Commons Standing Committee on International Trade, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Government Operations, an associate member of the Standing Committee on Finance and a member of the Leader's Advisory Committee on Economic Strategy. Ms. Findlay is a lawyer, businesswoman and entrepreneur. Prior to her election as an MP to the House of Commons, Ms. Findlay was a candidate for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada in 2006.
Scott Matthews is an assistant professor in the Department of Political Studies at Queen's University and studies elections, voting behaviour and public opinion in Canada and the United States. He is also Co-Director of the Canadian Opinion Research Archive at the Queen's School of Policy Studies.
Kathleen Lahey is an expert on taxation and tax policy, and can discuss corporate tax cuts. She is the author of several books, including The Taxation of Women and Corporate Taxation. In her current study of federal budgetary policies, she has found that Canada's recent tax cuts -- including successive corporate income tax cuts -- have significantly impaired Canada's fiscal capacity as compared with other highly-developed countries, and have also contributed directly to expanding income gaps between low-, middle-, and high-income taxpayers.
