And I want a pony, and a football, and a firetruck, and...

I am taking bets on who will be the first to demand the same deal Ontario got, based on their own bogus calculations of how much the rest of the country is ripping them off. At the moment, the posted odds are: Jean Charest: 3/2 Bernard Landry: 7/4 Jean Charest and Bernard Landry: 5/2 Ralph Klein: 3/1 Bernard Lord: 4/1 Lorne Calvert: 5/1 Gary Doer: 7/1 Gordon Campbell: 9/1 Gordon Campbell if the polls turn south: 2/1 Jacques Corriveau: 12/1 (hey, it's worth a shot...) First authenticated sighting pays $5.75-billion. Offer void after election day. UPDATE: We have a winner, and it isn't any of the above. The first premier to use Dalton McGuinty's deal as the pretext to demand more money from the feds is... Dalton McGuinty!

OTTAWA (CP) - Prime Minister Paul Martin, with an eye to a looming spring election, has cut a deal promising an extra $5.75 billion in federal financial support to vote-rich Ontario over the next five years. But Premier Dalton McGuinty, while he was happy to take the money negotiated at a nine-hour meeting with Martin on Saturday, signalled that he'll keep pressing for more.

But lest anyone think McGuinty is a whining ingrate, don't think he's just going to go crying back to Martin for another handout. No, no, no:

McGuinty said ... he'll be hedging his bets by taking his case to Conservative Leader Stephen Harper, who hopes to be in the saddle in Ottawa when the time comes to deliver on the promises. "As I indicated to the prime minister, I will now be approaching Mr. Harper and I'll be asking him about the agreement that we've just struck with the federal government," McGuinty said as he took time out from VE Day celebrations in Toronto. "The second step would be my next meeting with the prime minister - whoever that might be."

Isn't that lovely? A nice little bidding war, and the winner gets to pay for Dalton's re-election campaign. UPPERDATE: And the moderate, mainstream opening bidder is Peter MacKay, offering... exactly what the Liberals are offering.

While attacking the Ontario-Ottawa deal struck Saturday night as the act of a desperate prime minister, Conservative MP Peter MacKay said his party would honour it if they form the next government.

It's the desperate act of a desperate man, but don't expect us to do anything different. Great. That'll win a lot of votes...