Joel Harden sets his sights on the Hill

It's a deal, wedding watch

ABOVE THE FOLD

The booze feud is over now that the LCBO and OPSEU have struck a deal (though it was touch-and-go for a bit). But first: JOEL HARDEN dishes on his heretofore elusive federal bid.

To wit: Back in March, the two-term New Democrat for Ottawa Centre handed in his paperwork for the federal nomination in the same riding. At the time, Harden wasn’t saying much about it.

Now, he’s in full-on campaign mode, launching a website and soliciting donations from card-carrying NDPers — but he’s not leaving the Pink Palace just yet.

“I’m very, very, very proud to continue serving as an MPP up until the time that the writs are issued federally — this job has been the honour of my life,” Harden told me over the phone.

That means no byelection (and if there happens to be a snap vote, there wouldn’t have been one anyway because it’s close enough to the general).

Harden said he’s been talking about his federal ambitions with party boss MARIT STILES “for months” and “a lot of people who would…