Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Grits claim progress in leader's chair
Say Ignatieff has earned support in nation, caucus
Michael Ignatieff, wife Zsuzsanna Zsohar at grill at Liberal caucus retreat in Baddeck, N.S., Monday. (MIKE DEMBECK / THE CANADIAN PRESS)
BADDECK, N.S. -- Michael Ignatieff is not only winning over ordinary Canadians, but members of his own party who may have had their doubts about him as a leader, Liberal MPs said Monday as their summer caucus meetings got underway.
Liberal MPs here are hailing Ignatieff's Liberal Express summer bus tour as a grand success and they say it helped inspire confidence within the party and has led to a greater sense of unity. Last year at this time, Liberals were divided over whether to trigger an election and there was discomfort among some members about Ignatieff's leadership abilities. Times have changed, Liberals are now saying, and the feeling of unity is "palpable," said MP Rob Oliphant.
"He's not only brought Canadians to the table, his own MPs are now 100 per cent behind this leader. It's quite amazing," he said of Ignatieff.
The Liberal leader arrived in the Cape Breton town of Baddeck early Monday evening and delivered a speech to a room packed with local Liberal supporters and MPs. He warmed up the crowd with a few anecdotes from his summer travels across the country, then delivered the campaign-style speech he has been giving almost daily in more than 100 communities since July.
He criticized Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government on a range of issues including the census controversy, the G8 and G20 summit costs and the veterans ombudsman, and he blasted the prime minister for his "I make the rules" comment following his ride on an ATV around an airstrip during his Arctic tour.
"Canadians make the rules," said Ignatieff to the energetic crowd. The Conservatives weren't Ignatieff's only target however, he also took a shot at the NDP, recounting how someone once told him the acronym stands for "no darn principles." He urged the party to support the long-gun registry, which is at risk of being compromised through a Conservative private member's bill.
"They've got to step up or they have no darn principles," he said.
Ignatieff told the crowd he has been encouraging NDP, Conservative and Green party voters this summer to "come on in to the big red tent," because the Liberal party is "at the centre of Canadian life."
While Ignatieff ended his speech by saying "It's time for a change in government" it didn't come across as the same kind of threat he so strongly issued at last year's summer caucus when he told Harper his "time is up."
Liberals have been saying they want Parliament to work and are hoping for a different tone from Harper and his government when the session resumes Sept. 20.
The Liberal caucus is meeting in Baddeck until Wednesday and the picturesque lakeside setting is adding to the upbeat mood of MPs here.
"The Liberal party feels very invigorated now and I think we've had an exceptional summer and I think there's a sense that we have got our mojo back as we go into the fall," said Nova Scotia MP Scott Brison.
-- Postmedia News
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition August 31, 2010 A3
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