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Add another to the enemies list

Be careful what you say in public.

A member of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, Clark recounted a recent meeting of the high-powered, 150-company group. “We had a meeting two weeks ago, and almost every single person said raise my taxes. Get this deficit done,” Clark said during a question-and-answer session at the TD Ameritrade Inc. conference. He spoke about a prebudget consultation he recently had with Harper. “He doesn’t listen, but you get to chat with him,” the TD Bank chief executive remarked…

A day later, an email labelling Clark a rich supporter of Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff went out from the PMO to senior Conservatives. Entitled “Millionaire Ignatieff Economic Czar Calls for Higher Taxes,” the email pointed out that Clark had been one of several financial experts who attended a dinner last spring to provide economic advice to Ignatieff. “Yesterday, another member of Liberal party leader Michael Ignatieff’s so-called `economic brain trust,’ Bay Street banker Ed Clark, lectured Canadians from sunny Florida on our need to pay higher taxes,” the PMO note said. It went on to say that Ignatieff will use statements from “his well-heeled economic advisers” to justify massive tax hikes for “working- and middle-class Canadians.” The email ended: It’s been reported “that Michael Ignatieff’s Bay Street buddy Ed Clark earned $11 million in 2009. He can afford higher taxes. Can you?”

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