Ottawa

Hard talk

From Michael Ignatieff’s scrum after QP today.

Question: Speaking of narratives, how are you going to respond when the negative ads come out?

Michael Ignatieff: Ah, the negative ads.  I’m trembling in my shoes, I’m quaking.  Look, again it’s part of the same story here.  The Prime Minister backed us off a cliff, caused a parliamentary crisis with uncontrolled partisanship before Christmas.  The Canadian people said stop this.  Wake up!  Grow up!  Do you jobs!  And doing your job means passing the budget, working together, putting aside partisanship.  I’ve had to swallow stuff in this budget I’m not crazy about but I’ve done it because the government, this economy needs stimulus urgently.  To repeat, we’re in the middle of the most serious crisis in a generation.  Let’s act, you know, as if we understood that.  That’s what I’ve been saying. 

They try these foolish partisan ads.  It doesn’t seem to me to create the climate that will allow us to work productively together.  But am I worried about it?  Of course, I’m not worried about it.  They can say what they want about me.  And I do my job, my problem is I want them to do their job.  Thanks a lot. 

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