民调下降， 最近两天老叶老实多了
Could have been PM, Ignatieff says, ‘but I turned it down'
Liberal Leader points to his decision to abandon coalition as proof he's not aiming to cut a deal with ‘separatists and socialists,' as Harper accuses him of in leaked video
Campbell Clark
Ottawa — The Globe and Mail
Last updated on Thursday, Sep. 10, 2009 07:29PM EDT
Michael Ignatieff says the proof that he's not scheming to head a coalition government is that he rejected the prime minister's chair in January.
Stephen Harper made it clear in a surreptitiously-recorded speech to Conservative insiders last week that he will campaign for a majority government by warning that the Liberals harbour a hidden agenda to take power in a coalition backed by the NDP and Bloc Québécois.
They will try to resurrect memories of former Liberal leader Stéphane Dion's attempt last December to defeat the Prime Minister and form a coalition government with the NDP, propped up by Bloc votes.
But as proof that is not his goal, Mr. Ignatieff points to the fact that after he became Liberal Leader he declined to defeat the Tories eight weeks later on their January budget, killing off the coalition.
[U]“I could have been standing here as prime minister of Canada, but I turned it down,” he said. [/U]
Mr. Harper is seen practicing attacks on what he claims is a hidden Liberal coalition plan in a grainy cell-phone video of a speech he gave to Conservatives in a closed-door meeting in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. The Liberals say a student recorded the speech and gave it to them, and the party delivered it to the the CBC, which broadcast it.
In it, Mr. Harper not only warns of the coalition plan, but charges the Liberals would raise taxes and appoint “left-wing ideologues” to the courts and governments boards.
“There have always been two Harpers,” Mr. Ignatieff told reporters in Montreal today. “The real Harper always comes out when he thinks he can't be heard.”
That Mr. Harper was on display in the leaked video:
“Most of all friends, I want to tell you this, and I want to tell you this frankly: It will be a choice between having a Conservative government or not having a Conservative government. And let me be clear about this: we need to win a majority in the next election campaign,” Mr. Harper said in the speech.
“I am not just saying that because we need a few more seats: you saw what happened last year. Do not be fooled for a moment. If we do not get a majority, the Liberals, the NDP and the Bloc Québécois will combine and they will form a government. They will deny this till they are blue in the face in an election campaign, but I guarantee it, if we do not win a majority, this country will have a Liberal government propped up by the socialists and the separatists.”
Mr. Harper has avoided direct calls for a majority since the 2004 election campaign he narrowly lost – because many Tories believed the prospect of a too-right government scared some centre and left voters back to the Liberal camp.
Mr. Harper's attempt to pin hidden hopes of leading a coalition on Mr. Ignatieff also provide the Conservative with a “wedge” that splits them from all the other parties.
But it's not clear if it will stick : the coalition was short-lived and is largely forgotten, and Mr. Ignatieff only reluctantly backed Mr. Dion's scheme, and killed the coalition once he became leader.
In his speech, Mr. Harper warns that a Liberal government propped up by the NDP and Bloc might now last long, but would do “long-term” damage to the country, favouring soft on crime policies, appointing left-wing judges, and expanding spending permanently.
Mr. Harper makes clear that it is not just coalitions he will campaign against, but that he will charge that the Liberals will raise taxes as the recession ends, while the Tories won't. The huge deficits generated by recession-era stimulus packages means either future cuts to government spending or future hikes in taxes, and Mr. Harper will promise to protect Canadians' pocketbooks.
“They have said, and I know Mr. Ignatieff is trying to change his tune today, they have said repeatedly they would raise taxes to pay for that spending, to pay for their permanent spending.”
“And that, friends, is one of the biggest single reasons this government needs to be elected: so when the recession is over, we can keep taxes going down in this country.”
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/n ... own/article1282210/ |
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发表于 2009-9-10 11:51:33
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发表于 2009-9-10 14:59:11
