[HaraKiriBlade]

Hi,

I don't know how I should be asking these questions and if I'll get the answer I want.

I was reading today's tabloid and ran into some sentences that, I sort of know and sort of don't. OK let's say I don't, otherwise I wouldn't be asking questions. I have boldened out areas of the questions. Here they are...

1. McGuinty's office confirmed the Ottawa huddle last night after weeks of trying to secure a date with the prime minister.

OK I guess I can replace the word 'huddle' with 'conference', but that would change the feeling, or nuance the sentence gives. What is the word 'huddle' suggesting? it's some kind of meeting but when you hear the word, what kind of meeting or conference do you imagine? am I making any sense here?



2. "I'm going to stay focussed on our priorities, our concerns, and our particular campaign and that's for fairness in dealing with the $23-billion gap," he said.

Let me give some background information on this sentence for those who don't live in Canada and don't follow its (their?) politics. (Just so to help you better understand what I'm trying to ask) Ontario's premier, Dalton McGuinty, is claiming that the province of Ontario pays $23 billion more in taxes to the federal government a year than it receives back in various transfers and services, thus the $23-billion deficit he's talking about.

Now for the actual question, I know every word in the sentence no.2, but the meaning of the whole sentence doesn't come clear to my mind. I guess if I try to interpret the sentence it would be something like, "it's only rational to stay focused on the issues mentioned, to deal with the $23-billion deficit". It's 'that for fairness' part I don't quite get. Can anyone clarify this for me? I want answers from several people, the more the merrier, so that I get to see different thinking logics, different ways of understanding from different people. And that would really help me understand the sentence.


Oh and the last question that just came to my mind; I wasn't planning to put this question here. What is merry-go-round? I thought I knew the meaning until the tabloid I read everyday parodied the word: money-go-round. The word was used in an article that criticizes (the?) government spending.


Like always, if you can go through the whole post and find any grammatical mistakes please correct them for me, and it would do me a huge favor. Thank you very much, your works are greatly appreciated!