Will Canadians be going to polls this summer? Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff said Tuesday he will make “a serene and clear decision” on that question — likely by June 12.
He cited the health crisis sparked by the shutdown of the nuclear reactor at Chalk River, Ont., which produces medical isotopes used to treat and diagnose 5,000 Canadians a day, as the latest of several “flagrant examples of incompetence” by the federal government.
After question period Tuesday, Ignatieff reeled off a growing list of what, to him, are irritants that could lead the Liberals to try to force an election. “I don't want an election. Canadians don't want an election,” Ignatieff told reporters outside the House of Commons. “But here's where I am . . . I'm trying to make Parliament work with a government that every day is displaying more flagrant examples of incompetence.
“We've got a major medical crisis with the isotopes. They've got no plan. Toronto Dominion Bank just announced that the deficit over five years will be $168 billion. That's the biggest number anybody has ever heard of. The public finances of this country are not under control.
“Third, we've got an unemployment crisis with unemployment surging across the country. We've got (three premiers) saying let's do something about a national standard for EI. We've got stimulus that needs to get out the door and only six per cent of the stimulus has actually reached the country in the middle of the construction season.” [Read the rest of the story]