By Doug Draper
Canada’s federal Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff is wheeling his “Liberal Express” into Niagara this July 30th for what he is billing as a “town hall meeting” and you are all invited.
The Friday public meeting begins at 1:45 p.m. and will take place at the Old Merritton Town Hall on 343 Merritt Street in St. Catharines, Ontario.
This meeting is another in a series of get-togethers Ignatieff is hosting across the country in a bid to strike enough of a connection with Canadians to prevail in an election that could within the next 12 months.
Since members of the federal Liberal Party officially endorsed him as leader of the party in May of last year, Ignatieff – or Iggy as he is often called – has found himself sagging in public-opinion polls suggesting, more and more, that the Conservative government of Stephen Harper might finally win a majority if Iggy is one of Harper’s only real opponents in the next election.
Critics of the Liberal leader – even those on the left who would prefer a Liberal government to any more years of Harper – wonder where his vision for the country is or whether he would take the country on a direction that is any different than Harper when it comes to health care, the environment, crime, job creation and other issues.
And hey Iggy, while we are talking about issues you might want to take a stand on, where do you stand on holding a full and independent public inquiry into the security operations at the recent G20 summit in Toronto that resulted in the largest mass arrest of Canadian citizens in recent history? It might be helpful to get your stance on that before we the people gave any further thought to trusting you with the reigns of power.
Perhaps the July 30th town hall is an opportunity for us to get some idea where Ignatieff would take the country if he were elected prime minister.
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