The media/pundit response to Ignatieff and the Newfoundland MP commotion last week made no sense to me. I could appreciate words like “precedent” and “weakness” being applied to the situation, theoretically. But in reality, how did Ignatieff’s decision to allow MPs to vote against the budget make him a bad leader? Phrases like “Harper would never allow it” were being thrown around, but recklessly. Is Harper our yardstick for what a good leader is? I seem to recall Harper’s downfall having much to do with an inability to cooperate, listen…give a little… Others threw caution to the future. Apparently, Ignatieff’s leniency was set to “return” to “haunt him” in the form of other provinces throwing their weight around, or increasing demands from Danny Williams. But must we assume that Ignatieff will bow to all future demands because he deemed one demand legitimate? Can I suggest we cross that bridge when we arrive?
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Canada’s Conservative Party would win a strong majority if an election were to be held today, according to a newly released poll by the Ottawa Citizen’s website. Canadians favour the Conservatives over the Liberals 45% to 26%. 12% of Canadians would vote for the NDP. These results come just 2 months after the Conservatives won a minority government with 37.6% of the vote.

So why the drastic change in public opinion? Canadians are just simply fed up with thinking about the prospects of another election or a coalition government forming. Almost two-thirds of respondents indicated they would prefer Ignatieff find a compromise with Harper to keep the Conservatives in power. After all, $300 million of taxpayers money was spent on the recent election. The poll also indicated the Liberals attempt to form a coalition with the Bloc a major factor in the shift of support towards Harper. As well, 7 out of 10 respondents agreed with the decision to prorogue government.
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