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Speculation about Jim Flaherty’s future heats up

We've used this space before to broadcast rumours about Jim Flaherty's future.

Two years ago, a Sun News columnist mused that Flaherty would leave federal politics to replace Tim Hudak as the leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservatives.

Last year, Flaherty's illness — a skin disease which has led to side effects such as facial swelling, difficulty sleeping and weight gain — had all of Ottawa wondering if he was up for the job of managing the country's finances.

This week, there are a whole set of new rumours about Flaherty leaving politics. This time, journos are basing their assumptions on the finance minister's behaviour.

Here's an excerpt from Chantal Hébert's column in the Toronto Star:

"If anything the latest Conservative budget has rekindled the debate over the minister’s future and — deliberately or not — Flaherty himself has been pouring fuel on the fire.

In pre- and post-budget interviews he was also uncharacteristically noncommittal as to whether this was his last budget. He also seemed more inclined to discuss his legacy and the watershed moment that the 2008 global economic crisis was in his tenure than the actual 2014 budget and its aftermath."

Others were doing their prognosticating based on Flaherty's decision to go 'off-script', this week, on the topic of income splitting.

Income splitting — the process of shifting income recognition from a high tax bracket spouse to a lower tax bracket spouse — was a cornerstone of the Harper Conservatives' 2011 election campaign. They said that they would introduce that legislation once the budget was balanced in 2015.

But now, as explained by the Globe and Mail, there seems to be a rift between Flaherty and other cabinet ministers on the issue.

"I’m not sure that over all it benefits our society," Flaherty told a business audience, on Wednesday morning.

"I think income splitting needs a long, hard analytical look."

Tea-leaf reading analysts are wondering aloud if Flaherty's candor is due to his imminent departure from Parliament Hill.

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And finally, Maclean's Aaron Wherry noted that, during Question Period on Wednesday, it was Prime Minister Harper — not the finance minister — who uncharacteristically fielded the majority of questions about the budget.

"The peanut gallery rife with speculation," Wherry wrote.

Certainly, those in the Ottawa bubble have been known to create their share of bad rumours and have erroneously amplified quiet speculation.

But maybe, this time, there's something to these rumours?

(Photo courtesy of the Canadian Press)

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