Grit leader gives armful of promises

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 31/03/2011 (5628 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff used his first stop in Winnipeg Wednesday night to promise homegrown rapid-transit plans for cities, a simpler residential school compensation system and even a better way to cope with elderly Alzheimer’s sufferers such as Winnipeg’s Joe McLeod.

Ignatieff became the second leader to set down in Winnipeg in the federal election campaign. Prime Minister Stephen Harper visited Tuesday night, but took no questions during his rally, not even from a room full of supporters.

In a contrast the Liberal leader plays up relentlessly, Ignatieff stood in a Rocky-style boxing ring in the middle of the Centre culturel franco-manitobain and fielded an hour’s worth of questions. They were mostly softballs and there was no real criticism from the 700 Grits gathered, but it was perhaps the first real discussion of issues Winnipeggers have witnessed so far this election.

Ignatieff was quizzed about everything from potholes to genome research. He promised action and money for nearly everything.

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Asked about urban infrastructure, Ignatieff said affordable housing and rapid transit are his top priorities. He said he’d sit down with every big-city mayor to come up with a local rapid-transit plan and a plan for infrastructure.

"We find out what’s the most important thing we can do to make Winnipeg really hum," said Ignatieff. "And then we do it."

One young man asked about electoral reform, some form of proportional representation "that represents the actual will of the people rather than this skewed system."

Ignatieff said he’s open to a conversations about electoral reform but Canadians need clarity about what might work better than the first-past-the-post system.

"It gets real fuzzy, real quick," said Ignatieff. "I am very hesitant to move off what we’ve got until I know what the heck we’re talking about."

Asked about veterans, Ignatieff hinted that a Canadian version of the GI Bill may be among his promises later in the campaign, some kind of education funding for soldiers once they leave the service.

In response to several questions about health care, Ignatieff said a new funding accord with the provinces must include some form of pharmacare for those unable to afford medication. And he pledged a national ‘brain strategy’ to deal better with people suffering from dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

Though he did not name him, Ignatieff referred to Joe McLeod, the elderly man accused of assaulting a fellow patient, who later died.

A man from Nelson House told Ignatieff that Indian residential schools created the most dysfunctional families in Canada and asked how the complex compensation system could be improved for elders.

Ignatieff said he was willing to extend the looming deadlines and simplify the process.

In his opening remarks, much of them in French, Ignatieff touted the politics of hope, Obama-style. He accused Harper of being about the politics of fear and division.

Liberal MP Anita Neville kicked off the event with a shot at Saint Boniface MP Shelly Glover, who earlier this week suggested Neville is "past her expiry date."

Neville said it doesn’t matter how old an MP is, only that they stick up for their constituents. She said the Tories failed to do that when several anti-gang programs lost their funding this spring.

"Every single Conservative MP in Manitoba was quiet," said Neville. "They were in meetings, they were unavailable, they were silent."

maryagnes.welch@freepress.mb.ca

Candidate update

THERE is still no Tory candidate in Winnipeg South Centre, despite early hopes the party could steal the seat from the Liberals.

Nearly a week into the campaign, the Conservatives have still not appointed a candidate in the riding held by Liberal MP Anita Neville. Winnipeg school trustee Joyce Bateman still dominates the rumour mill, and many expected a formal announcement Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the NDP still has six candidates to name, mostly in rural ridings. And the Liberals are short two. They recently named candidates in Kildonan-St. Paul and Portage-Lisgar.

The Greens are short four candidates.

Michael Ignatieff sound bites

On health care on remote reserves

"I don’t want to get off any more planes in northern Manitoba and as I get off a plane, diabetic amputees are getting on the plane to Winnipeg…We’ve got to ‘fess up and own up and get that fixed.

On Joe McLeod, the 70-year-old Alzheimer’s patient charged with assaulting a fellow patient, who died.

"It’s a painful subject in Winnipeg I understand… It certainly tightened my heart when I thought about it."

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On the bureaucracy-heavy Indian residential schools compensation program

"Let’s forget about the lawyers and the deadlines and let’s do this right… We’ve got to have process here and we don’t have a gazillion dollars, but let’s do this right.

On Tory MP Shelly Glover

"Canadians don’t have an expiry date but there is an expiry date for governments."