Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff speaks to reporters on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Friday, Jan. 29, 2010.
It's no way to run a country, says Michael Ignatieff, when politicians can't seek advice from experts, no matter how they vote. The Liberal Leader is visiting Vancouver to watch Canadian athletes compete, but he isn't shy about returning to the controversy over his dinner last year with one of the country's top bankers.
TD Bank CEO Ed Clark raised the ire of Stephen Harper's Conservatives with a speech in the United States in which he said the Prime Minister wasn't listening to the overwhelming view of Canadian chief executives that tax increases are the best way to reduce a record deficit.
This prompted an internal Conservative e-mail titled "Millionaire Ignatieff Economic Czar Calls for Higher Taxes." In it they suggested that, because Mr. Ignatieff has met with Mr. Clark, he has a secret plan to raise taxes.
Mr. Ignatieff mused about tax increases last April but has since backed away from that. Still, the Liberal Leader was eager to discuss Mr. Clark, saying in an interview that the attack on him "totally crossed the line."
"I have dinner with Ed Clark once," said Mr. Ignatieff as he and his wife, Zsuzsanna Zsohar, were on their way to watch Olympic long-track speed skating. "Ed Clark comes to my house because he is one of our bankers, right? It doesn't make him a Liberal."
Besides, he said, he knows Liberals who meet with the Prime Minister.
"Honest to goodness we can't run a country like this. I have to talk to people. The Prime Minister talks to people. The Prime Minister has lots of people who I happen to know vote Liberal giving him advice. Why not? Do I have a problem with this?"
Mr. Ignatieff and Ms. Zsohar are in Vancouver, taking in a number of Olympic events; they attended Friday's opening ceremony, watched short-track speed skating Saturday night (Mr. Ignatieff said they cheered themselves hoarse) and they were to watch the pairs skating last night.
He is returning tomorrow to Ottawa, where his caucus has been working despite the Prime Minister's decision to prorogue Parliament until after the Games.
The prorogation issue is proving a tricky one for the Conservatives, who have seen their fortunes in the public opinion polls slide.
"We've got to make some new rules for prorogation, Mr. Ignatieff said.
"There is a universal feeling across the country that this prime ministerial power needs to be reframed, refocused - what is the prime minister's word? It needs to be recalibrated," he said, mocking Mr. Harper's explanation that he needed to prorogue Parliament to "recalibrate" his agenda.
Mr. Ignatieff said the Liberals will send the Prime Minister an "extensive" letter today outlining what they want to see in the upcoming session.
He says they are focusing on three specific proposals: boosting employment in the budget; working with the Liberals on a committee that would examine limitations on the prime minister's power to prorogue; and they also want to address environmental issues.
He would not say how he and his party will handle the March budget. "I have to read it first," he said.
How the leaders are faring
The Nanos Leadership Index measures public response to political leaders across three categories. It combines answers to three questions: which leader is the most trustworthy, the most competent and has the 'best vision for Canada's future?'
Stephen Harper / 85.4%
Jack Layton / 52.2%
Michael Ignatieff / 40.3%
Elizabeth May / 19.6%
Gilles Duceppe / 17.2%
The poll: a random telephone survey of 1,001 adults, considered accurate to within 3.1 per cent,
19 times out of 20
THE GLOBE AND MAIL / SOURCE: NANOS RESEARCH