About those taxes (II)

Michael Ignatieff visits the University of Western Ontario.

Tax increases to improve employment insurance or to slash the deficit are not on federal Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff’s agenda during the recession, he insisted yesterday in London.

Dealing with both issues will be costly, but the time to do it is when the economy begins to recover, he said. “No one in their right mind wants to shut off the recovery by raising taxes in any form,” he said.

Ignatieff said the $80-billion deficit run up by the Conservative government troubles him. “No responsible politician looking at that number can excuse forever and a day raising additional revenue . . . No Canadian is going to believe you.

“Once recovery is underway and we are still stuck in a structural deficit, then we would need expenditure review, cutting back government expenditure.”