Ignatieff's Feeling the Heat

After a brief' sabbatical I'm back, and I'd like to take a closer look at the recent Tory ads criticising Ignatieff. He came out with his defense today - typical Liberal tripe! He's trying to turn the Tory criticism of his timely return to Canada to join the Liberal political machine into an attack on all new Canadians and immigrants. What? I don't know too many "new" Canadians who enter politics within months of their entry to our country.

The Tories are not suggesting in these ads that new Canadians, or returning Canadians, can not be a valuable part of the political process. In fact, I would argue they would welcome their participation. But new Canadians come to this country for a better life not to be opportunistic. Ignatieff returned to Canada to further his own ambitions - it's that simple. The Tory ads are simply focusing the Canadian public on a fact few may realise.

Let's review the facts. From 1978 to 2000 Ignatieff resided almost exclusively in the U.K., working at both Cambridge and Oxford. Did he return to Canada after this? No! He spent the next 5 years in the U.S. as as professor at Harvard. He returned to Canada in 2005 to take a position in Toronto, and almost immediately began rumblings about his ambitions in the political arena. By 2006 he was elected to parliament.

Clearly Ignatieff returned to Canada for political ambition - not for love of country. He is now using the standard Liberal arguments against the Tories to deflect criticism away from himself. You know the arguments, the Tories are anti-immigrant, racist, and of course do not stand for anything regular Canadians do. The fear mongering has started. The Liberals must be running scared!