By 2016, this Conservative government will have added $150 billion to the national debt and will still be spending at a rate higher than the Chrétien-Martin Liberals, even after inflation and adjusting for population growth. In other words, Canada in the years ahead may not be on as solid fiscal footing as it would like to be.

Many members of the elder generation have the unmitigated gall -- or better put, the chutzpah -- to tell those of my generation that they're "too young" to run for positions of political leadership, even though my generation seeks to clean up the mess that they made -- a mess that will affect my generation but not theirs.

The Tories won the 2011 election by appealing to Canadians' pocketbooks, the NDP's rise can be attributed to the lack of a clear Liberal message, and Jack Layton's popularity from beyond the grave. But what are the Liberals supposed to capitalize on? Two words: the economy.