Here, reproduced under the Fair Dealing provisions (§29) of the Copyright Act from today’s National Post is an article discussing Ignatieff’s tactics:
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http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/politics/story.html?id=1059689
Ignatieff backs away from cliff
John Ivison, National Post
Published: Thursday, December 11, 2008
OTTAWA -Michael Ignatieff has mastered the vocabulary of politics, but not yet the body language. At a press conference to announce the dawning of the Age of Ignatieff yesterday, the new Liberal leader gave the game away after suggesting that he still supports the idea of a coalition with the NDP and Bloc.
"[Prime Minister Stephen Harper] miscalculated, with nearly catastrophic results for the country," he said, before giving a furtive glance toward his team of advisors, who were sitting nervously on one side.
What catastrophe would that have been then? A Liberal-led coalition under Stephane Dion, with the NDP's Jack Layton in Cabinet?
Mr. Ignatieff can threaten to vote no-confidence in January and bluster that he's still prepared to enter a coalition, in order to wring concessions from the government in the budget. But it is clearly not his intention to bring down the Conservatives, which will come as a surprise to his erstwhile coalition partners in the NDP, who still expect him to lead them into the promised land next month.
"The arrival of Mr. Ignatieff removes an impediment to the coalition," said the party's deputy leader, Thomas Mulcair, who pointed out that 160 MPs had signed the agreement, including the new Liberal leader. Dream on.
Mr. Ignatieff said that if the budget is, in his opinion, in the national interest, his party will support it.
Since Mr. Ignatieff said a team of Liberals will meet with Jim Flaherty, the Finance Minister, next week to submit ideas for a stimulus package, it would be safe to conclude that the budget will contain some measures the Grits can live with and the government will survive.
The new leader laid down what he called the "tramlines" for his party -- that is, nothing the Liberals will do will jeopardize national unity or fiscal responsibility. Since the Bloc is intent on shattering national unity and the NDP does not even know where fiscal responsibility lives, it is a good bet that this beautiful friendship will never be consummated. "We have different interests, different ideologies and different views," was how the Liberal leader characterized the relationship.
While Mr. Ignatieff's advisors chomped on fingernails as they looked on anxiously, hoping against hope that their guy wasn't going to blow it on day one, they do sit more comfortably than in days of yore. Back in the dark days of the 2006 leadership campaign, it was typical for media interviews, designed to correct the previous day's disastrous gaffe, to merely compound the agony.
But the Liberal leader has been in frontline politics for three years now and has learned the language appropriate for a political leader. Indignation, self-belief and resoluteness are in; anxiety, doubt and indecision are out.
He also understands the value of a heartwarming anecdote when you have nothing constructive to say on an issue. When he was asked about his plans for rural Canada, he launched into a rambling soliloquy about how he grew up in his uncle's barn in Quebec -- "born in a manger, no doubt," quipped one cynic.
Mr. Ignatieff's reminiscing capped yet another day of high drama on Parliament Hill. At noon, Liberals started spilling from their caucus meeting at which former leadership candidate Bob Rae had nominated his old college roommate as leader. MPs were in high spirits when they emerged. "I've never seen the party so united," gushed John McCallum. Which, frankly, isn't saying much.
Mr. Dion walked out, backpack slung over his shoulder, and wandered through the halls in apparent good humour. He said he wouldn't presume to offer Mr. Ignatieff advice. "He's a big boy," he said, as he left, presumably to clear his stuff out of Stornoway, the official residence of the leader of the Official Opposition. To add insult to injury, Mr. Dion also lost his chauffeur-driven car, which prompted him to say he would have taken the bus home if there hadn't been a transit strike in Ottawa.
Mr. Rae was the only Liberal who looked down in the dumps. He brushed by reporters without passing comment, a disconsolate, deflated figure, whose snowy locks blended into the backdrop as he wandered off Parliament Hill, apparently lost in thoughts of what might have been.
Copyright © 2007 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest MediaWorks Publications, Inc.. All rights reserved.
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I think Iggy (and/or his handlers) have finally got it right: ”nothing the Liberals will do will jeopardize national unity or fiscal responsibility.” That, effectively, rules out active cooperation (à la a coalition) with the BQ or NDP.
I also suspect that it will be Harper’s choice of election dates, after the budget passes, not Ignatieff’s.