Beyond The Commons

Aaron Wherry covers all the goings-on in and around Parliament Hill. Follow Aaron on Twitter: @aaronwherry

Categories: Beyond The Commons, Capital Read

A week and a half in the public life of Michael Ignatieff

by Aaron Wherry on Wednesday, February 3, 2010 9:00am - 80 Comments

Suggesting new constraints on a Prime Minister’s power to request prorogation? Pitching specific measures to deal with unemployment? Promising to restore funding to Status of Women Canada? Talking of a national strategy on brain disease? Proposing Senate reform? Committing himself to child care? Speaking sharply about the Karzai administration? And now preemptively opening discussion on potentially contentious questions of foreign policy?

What, precisely, has gotten into the leader of the Her Majesty’s loyal opposition?

Tags: abortion, Afghanistan, Alzheimer's, child care, contraception, daycare, dementia, foreign policy, Hamid Karzai, house of commons, Michael Ignatieff, Parliament, prorogation, Prorogue, proroguing, Senate, Senate reform, Status of Women Canada

More by Aaron Wherry

catherine

When Harper said he wanted to focus on women's health, I immediately wondered if Harper would adopt the same agenda regarding birth control and foreign aid as George W Bush did. Will agencies be required to be against contraception and/or abortion to receive funding? Who knows? Perhaps Ignatieff's stand will get Harper to clarify his own position on this.

Too often, Canadians just don't know what our current government's agenda is. Harper seems to operate under the assumption the less we know the better.

http://intensedebate.com/people/Thwim Thwim

In that assumption, he's correct.. at least to his own personal situation.
http://intensedebate.com/people/LynnTO LynnTO

I think you may be on to something there, catherine. Now that Iggy's articulated his position – albeit in that slightly restricted regard to foreign aid – on abortion, Harper may be asked to do the same. In which case, his choice is to alienate a social conservative base…or garner stink-eye from a whole bunch of social moderates whose votes are up for grabs.

http://intensedebate.com/people/SeanStok Sean

(If I may rip off Neil Diamond)

Joe was mine, til the time that I found him
Raising tax, getting attacked
Then Bri came along, led us strong for a while
The land he screwed, and that died too

Don't know if I will, but until I can find me
A tory man who can lead less insanely
I'll stay what I am
Conservative Man

Had to here, sticking up for the crazies
Bulding jails, Senate fails
Stockwell free, I could post with my real name
A winning plan, hot as Rand

Don't know if I will, but until I can find me
A big blue tent, with agendas aired plainly
I'll stay what I am
Conservative Man
http://intensedebate.com/people/sea_n_mountains sea_n_mountains

Donolo?
http://intensedebate.com/people/john_g2708 john g

Finally…after over a year as leader, some policy starts to emerge.

I can't say I like the policies very much, but at least its a start.
http://intensedebate.com/people/G0D God

God approves of whatever is going on in the OLO these days!
http://intensedebate.com/people/zamprelli4731 Zamprelli

The idea man decides to go with ideas. 'Bout time.
http://intensedebate.com/people/SeanStok Sean

On Dec. 10., 2008 he was named leader by caucus. It was ratified in May at the convention, but he was the leader from December on.
http://intensedebate.com/people/ChrisInKW ChrisInKW

Is policy development the purview of interim leaders? I don't remember Bill Graham or John Lynch-Staunton doing so but my memory could be faulty.
http://intensedebate.com/people/ChrisInKW ChrisInKW

Finally Iggy is allowed to be Iggy.
http://intensedebate.com/people/SeanStok Sean

Interim leaders are simply holding the fort until a proper contest can be held. This was a unique case, in that there were no plans to open to the field to competition at the next convention.

[Insert talking points about how this consitutes the most aggregious abscondment of democratic process in the entire history of our federation and how this means the Liberals can't question anything Harper does and...]
http://intensedebate.com/people/ChrisInKW ChrisInKW

This is true. A confidence vote delayed by prorogation is not a good thing to come upon without a 'permanent' leader, one can understand this.
http://intensedebate.com/people/ChrisInKW ChrisInKW

This is true. A confidence vote delayed by prorogation is not a good thing to come upon without a 'permanent' leader, one can understand this.
common man

So you guys seem to excuse Iggy for not having any policies while he was interim leader but you are forgetting that he made a major policy announcement when he stepped up to a microphone and claimed he was ready to lead a 3 party group of misfits to replace a recently elected gov`t. That was his first Policy Announcement; he would lead a group of reckless opportunists to take over the gov`t when we were in the midst of the worst economic downturn in generations.

I don`t think we should forget Iggy`s first experience in policy making. It will be helpful in judging his future efforts.
http://intensedebate.com/people/Jenn_ Jenn_

"he would lead a group of reckless opportunists to take over the gov`t when we were in the midst of the worst economic downturn in generations. "

Actually, those reckless opportunists got together in the first place because our economy was fine, if we were going to have a recession we'd have had it by now, and all that we needed was to remove the right of women to take legal action when being discriminated against, and political parties to lose their per vote funding.

But you know, rewrite history in order to get in some really juicy insults..
http://intensedebate.com/people/Ricard_S_Argent Richard_S_Argent

Oh for the love of pete just change your name to "conservative man" already. Your posts indicate that you are anything but what you pretend to be.
http://intensedebate.com/people/ChrisInKW ChrisInKW

Did Iggy become leader in May 2009?