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Ignatieff vows to fight F-35 'all the way'

Untendered plane purchase 'undemocratic,' he says

By: Jen Skerritt

Posted: 10/8/2010 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

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Michael Ignatieff (foreground) takes a question during town hall session Thursday. (BORIS.MINKEVICH@FREEPRESS.MB.CA)

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HOURS after Prime Minister Stephen Harper touted the controversial purchase of F-35 fighter jets at Winnipeg's Bristol Aerospace plant, Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff was at a North Winnipeg school calling the deal "undemocratic."

The fact that the two were in Winnipeg on the same day was mostly coincidental, but Ignatieff devoted part of his Open Mike tour at Tyndall Park Community School to blasting Harper for focusing on "planes, prisons and photo-ops," and not the issues that matter most to Canadians, such as rising debt, secure pensions, and support for aging parents.

He told a crowd of 150 people that Harper failed to explain why the contract for the fighter jets wasn't tendered, and why the country needs to spend $9 billion on planes.

"That's undemocratic and I will fight it all the way," Ignatieff said, adding:

"We've got a government that I don't think respects the institution of democracy."

The point of the tour, and the jabs, Ignatieff said, was to make Canadians are aware of the stark contrast between the Liberals and the Conservatives and that there is an alternative to the current government.

Winnipeg is the second stop on Ignatieff's Open Mike town hall tour, where audience members can pose any question to the Opposition leader and he also takes questions from Canadians across the country via a live online feed.

It comes on the heels of his summer bus tour of 160 communities across the country.

For two hours, Ignatieff answered questions from Winnipeggers about the long-form census, pension plans, poverty and generic drugs. He said the idea is to let people know they have a choice in the next election, and to elaborate on what they will get if they choose the "red door" or the "blue door."

He used the platform to call the Liberals the party of evidence, reason and science, and not simply "ideology," like the Conservatives. Ignatieff said the Liberals plan to introduce a private member's bill to restore the long-form census, and that it will be an issue in the next election.

He told the crowd his party supports investing in initiatives that help middle-class families and family care to stem the "tidal wave" of health-care issues that will arise as the population ages.

He will be at the Winnipeg Harvest food bank Friday morning.

"This is about creating clear contrasts. Manitoba is a hugely important battleground in the next election," he said.

"The key thing is to get alternatives. For instance, planes, photo-ops, attack on the census, attack on the minority rights of the francophone community versus a party that says, 'Let's stand up for middle-class families."

jen.skerritt@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition October 8, 2010 A6

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