“I want to be someone who unites the country, and that includes the West.”
In a fascinating interview with the Regina Leader-Post, Michael Ignatieff says the threat of alienating the west persuaded the new Liberal leader to back away a coalition with the NDP. “You are, after all, looking at someone who turned down the chance to become prime minister of Canada, and I did so, in part, because I felt that it would divide the country,” Ignatieff told the Leader-Post’s Angela Hall just prior to addressing a gaggle of young Saskatchewan Liberals. Ignatieff goes on to more or less rule out a formal coalition with the NDP and basically says Canadians don’t want coalition governments period. “We’ve decided that we’re not comfortable with it.”