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What are the odds? Odds looked good Chretien would not retire before November.


This has been an expensive day. Not a week ago, I took on an imprudent im·pru·dent  
adj.
Unwise or indiscreet; not prudent.



im·prudent·ly adv.
 amount of risk on the matter of the future of one Jean Chretien. You remember him, the guy who golfed with Tiger Woods Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled.  last year in exchange for a considerable amount of money put up by somebody else.

Anyway, the risk, of which I speak, was a bet on whether or not Jean would resign before Nov. 30, 2002.

It seemed not that long ago an impossible occurrence, or put another way a slam-dunk.

My position was clear. The guy was a boxer. The guy once lied about having appendicitis Appendicitis Definition

Appendicitis is an inflammation of the appendix, which is the worm-shaped pouch attached to the cecum, the beginning of the large intestine. The appendix has no known function in the body, but it can become diseased.
 to avoid an exam and when it came time to fess up Verb 1. fess up - admit or acknowledge a wrongdoing or error; "the writer of the anonymous letter owned up after they identified his handwriting"
make a clean breast of, own up
 or stay with the lie he had his healthy appendix taken out.

I reasoned this was not a man who would quit as prime minister just because most of the country including the Liberal party wanted him to.

Since making the bet, when I felt any doubt about the stalwartness of my prime minister, or the logic of my reasoning, I would happily visualize the 60-second video clip A short video presentation.  of my man choking a bystander by·stand·er  
n.
A person who is present at an event without participating in it.


bystander
Noun

a person present but not involved; onlooker; spectator

Noun 1.
 on national TV and realize the money which was at risk was as good as in the bank. This, of course, was before the third-quarter results were out indicating most Canadian banks, as they do every eight to 10 years were writing off hundreds of millions of dollars on goofy loans to far-off countries, and soon-to-be-forgotten Telcom stars.

Yes, just a few days ago my biggest problem was to choose a bank for my winnings that looked stable enough to get the job done.

I was not content to make a couple of bets at the bar, which is a normal and sensible thing to do when drinking and laughing and being silly. No, I followed up with the Sunday morning Sunday Morning may refer to:
  • "Sunday Morning (radio program)", a Canadian radio program formerly aired on CBC Radio One
  • CBS News Sunday Morning, a television news program on CBS in the United States
  • Sunday Morning (TBS TV series)
 discussion group (nominally organized to discuss weighty topics of the day from the electoral plans of the mayor to the virginity or otherwise of Britney Spears) wherein I took a moment out to ask each and every deep thinker if they would like to weigh in. Big spenders all, they did.

I am hoping to hold them off with a dazzling gambit. It is known as raising the stakes, which is a common strategy for addicted gamblers overcoming substantial setbacks.

Here is the gambit. Double or nothing Paul Martin will not be the next prime minister of Canada.

This approach has two things to recommend it. The first is that Paul Martin will not he next prime minister. The second, if by some strange confluence of events he is, I shall have delayed payment by almost two years, and I will be either completely broke or the stock market will have bounced back on the news that George Bush is likely to go down to defeat in the 2004 election year and I shall be able to afford my folly.

Back to Paul. What comes around What Comes Around is the 12th track on the record Paul's Boutique by American hip hop group the Beastie Boys. Released on July 25, 1989, it was produced and written by the Beastie Boys and the Dust Brothers.  goes around.

Paul has many problems. No. 1, he will be 65 before he can become prime minister. This is known as the rat's revenge. For more information look under appendicitis.

No. 2, he will no longer have Jean Chretien to push him around. He will be a front-runner and the press will feel they have a moral responsibility to cut him to shreds.

No. 3, he is not such a big deal. During the Quebec referendum he was running around like a little boy screaming the sky is falling. Nobody much-noticed him as we almost lost the battle for Canada and it was the young turbot turbot: see flatfish.
turbot

Species (Scophthalmus maximus, family Scophthalmidae or Bothidae) of broad-bodied European flatfish, a highly valued food fish. It lives along sand and gravel shores.
 from Newfoundland who had the moxy to pull off the Canada Day celebration that turned, enough heads, at the last minute to turn the tide.

No. 5, John Manley will be just as good a finance minister as Martin, making Paul look just a little more ordinary.

No. 6, when you really listen to Paul Martin he does not really say anything; it is unlikely this is going to change dramatically.

No. 7, Liberals without Jean Chretien around will return to being Liberals. They will go for electability not sentimentality. They will say they are voting for Paul but they will vote for someone else.

No. 8, even the Liberal Party will tire of having a Quebec prime minister one day. This might be that time.

So there you have it. Clairvoyance clairvoyance (klâr'voi`əns), alleged power to perceive, as though visually, objects or persons not discernible through the ordinary sense channels.  itself.

Any takers?

Michael Atkins is the president of Northern Ontario Business Northern Ontario Business is a Canadian magazine, which publishes monthly in Greater Sudbury, Ontario. The magazine covers business news and issues in Northern Ontario.  
COPYRIGHT 2002 Laurentian Business Publishing, Inc.
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 2002, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

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Article Details
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Title Annotation:Jean Chretien
Publication:Northern Ontario Business
Article Type:Brief Article
Geographic Code:1CANA
Date:Sep 1, 2002
Words:749
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