Parliamentary theatre resumes next week (Sept. 21) so let's take a look at the preoccupations of each party.

Liberals: After a summer of bleeding taxpayers dry and ignoring the plummeting loonie, polls still point to enduring public support.

Liberal backrooms are buzzing about the unofficial leadership race. Allan Rock will become more visible as he fights at the Cabinet table for more healthcare money.

He should cherish this role after being hung out to dry by Martin and others during last spring's hepatitis-C fiasco. In the background, Newfoundland Premier Brian Tobin continues to quietly organize by criss-crossing the country.

Other potential trouble spots for Liberals include internal divisions over pay equity and the Prime Minster's recent comments on fiscal policy that will surely anger traditional tax and spend Liberals.

Reform: After a summer of self-inflicted gunshot wounds, most notably from a few pension flip-floppers, Reform is trying to recover.

Reform must keep ownership of its agenda for fiscal change (debt reduction and tax cuts). Experience points to a Liberal penchant for expropriating the most salient planks of Reform policy and successfully marketing them as their own.

Attention will also focus on the United Alternative initiative. If it succeeds, challengers to Mr. Manning's leadership will probably emerge, and if it fails, challengers to his leadership will also emerge.

Bloc: Buoyed by the Sherbrooke by-election victory, the Bloc will focus on the forthcoming Quebec election.

They will blame every job loss, plant closure, dead sparrow, hail storm and ingrown toenail on the feds. Gilles Duceppe will also seek out every opportunity to undermine the feds and drive a wedge between the tenous alliance of Jean Chretien and Quebec Liberal leader, Jean Charest.

NDP: After a caucus retreat this August, the NDP announced that it has abandoned its fortress Canada rhetoric in favour of a more centrist approach. This has already caused friction between the party and its bagmen (read: organized labour).

But this battle will be overshadowed by a concerted attack on the financial services sector. Look for the NDP to fight a valiant battle against bank mergers. Will they win Not likely, but they will increase their profile.

Tories: Speaking of profile, the federal Tories are in desperate need of help. During the last session they squandered their limited opportunities in question period with mainly regional and trivial questions.

Also, the leadership race has failed to engage Canadians. Holding your inaugural debate in a province where you received six percent of the vote in 1997 was no mark of genius.

Meanwhile, senior Tories are fretting that the "open" leadership selection system has been hijacked by Maude Barlow's poster boy, free trade opponent, David Orchard.

In this type of process, membership sales point to the value and currency that voters give to the ideas of various candidates. Orchard's success points to a lack of success amongst other candidates. Campaigns based on nostalgia, platitudes and run by people whose "great futures are behind them" point to more fundamental problems for the federal Tories.

Issues: Healthcare, bank mergers and the 1999 budget are the big items for this session of Parliament. In past weeks, we noted that the biggest issue facing the country is over $1 trillion in unfunded healthcare liabilities. As for the budget, a five to ten billion dollar surplus is
anticipated. Next week we will lay out our action agenda for the fall session.