Angry in the Great White North

As leader of the Liberal Party, Stephane Dion could be counted on doing two things.

One was fawning over anything green, even though as environment minister he was an abject failure at keeping Canada's greenhouse gas emissions under control.

The other was waiting patiently as every other political party staked out their positions on important political questions, guaranteeing that the his party would be seen as hapless followers.

Michael Ignatieff, the new Liberal Party leader, is thankfully very un-green. 

But it certainly seems like he is suffering from Stephane Dion's other critical failing.

Today Stephen Harper and the Conservatives have delivered their economic report card:

Roughly 3,000 infrastructure projects across the country are getting underway as part of the government's $22.7-billion stimulus plan, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Thursday.

That action is "no small feat only 72 days into a new fiscal year," Harper said in a speech to a town hall meeting in Cambridge, Ont. He added that 80 per cent of the plan's funding has already been allocated.

Michael Ignatieff has reacted, but without actually deciding anything:

Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff is slamming the federal government for failing to dish out stimulus dollars.

But he isn't talking yet about a possible summer election.

So as Michael Ignatieff pauses to consider, the NDP is out in front, staking a position that would force an election:

NDP finance critic Thomas Mulcair says there is nothing in the Conservatives' second economic progress report that would allow his party to support the minority government if the Liberals try to force an election.

Mulcair spoke shortly after Prime Minister Stephen Harper delivered the report Thursday in Cambridge, Ont., at a town hall-style event moderated by Senator Mike Duffy.

Mulcair also accused the government of failing Canadians who have lost their jobs during the recession by refusing to adopt changes to the employment insurance act called for by the three main opposition parties.

"There's nothing in this report to allow us to support the government," he said. "We don't trust them."

"The NDP's not going to be voting for these guys anytime soon."

But the NDP doesn't want an election.  They would certainly lose seats, and thus funding, and in any case, aren't financially in a position to fight a campaign so soon after the election last fall.

So why make noises about an election?   No one seriously thinks the Liberals are in any shape to fight an election right now, including Liberals:

[Michael Ignatieff is] gonna read the thing tonight and make a decision. Except all week I've been hearing from Liberals about their vacation plans. Those plans don't involve door-knocking and debate prep. So if this whole election thing is still a live option, somebody forgot to tell the party.

But if the NDP is in no better shape, then the the Liberals could have forced the NDP to back down:

Liberal MPs also don't want to continue propping up Harper and fending off NDP and Bloc Quebecois accusations that they're spineless and unprincipled.

Yet, Liberal insiders say senior advisers - including party pollster Michael Marzolini - are urging caution, fearing that voters won't pay attention during the summer and that the party's war chest is still relatively bare.

Insiders say Ignatieff may be prepared to risk a non-confidence vote on the assumption either the NDP or Bloc will vote against it.

Except that by waiting, and worse yet, announcing that he is waiting, Michael Ignatieff has allowed the NDP to force his hand.  I suppose the Liberals could depend on the Bloc to back down...nope, too late for that as well:

"The Conservatives' stimulus plan is a complete failure, the number of jobless is on the rise," Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe said in French during question period. "We have no choice but to vote against . . . this bill."

So again, as happened over and over again with Stephane Dion, the Liberals are the last to decide, which means they have little capacity to make any decision at all.  Michael Ignatieff's ponderous pace at decision making has allowed his nimbler opponents to establish the frame through which that decision will be judged.   Unless Michael Ignatieff is serious about an election, he'll be the once forced to back down. 

The NDP and the Bloc Quebecois can laugh at the Liberals, declaring them to be de facto allies of the Conservatives.  Michael Ignatieff can shoot back about the government being on probation, which is only slightly less funny than those "markers" Stephane Dion whined about.  You remember?  When a handful of miserable Liberals would show up for a vote against the Conservatives, ensuring that the government would survive but insisting that their pitiful appearance represented a "marker" for a policy they would reverse once they would be returned to power?

Good times...

Anyway, is it a bad thing for Michael Ignatieff to take his time?  Well, if he was actually reading the report, then of course not.  But in all likelihood, he and his advisors are looking at polling numbers and bank account statements, wondering if they are in a position to fight a winning campaign.  But that ought to be obvious already. If the Liberal Party was ready, then Michael Ignatieff would already be marshalling the troops (and the report above suggests that this isn't happening).  If the Liberal Party isn't ready, then Michael Ignatieff ought to have gotten in front of Jack Layton and Gilles Duceppe so as to frame their responses.

But he hasn't gotten ahead of them.  They have taken the initiative, and the Liberals are being bluffed to stand down.  Again.

By this time next week, we'll be hearing from Liberal apologists explaining why Michael Ignatieff is making the right decision to allow the Conservatives to remain in power.

Unless grassroot Liberals decide two Stephane Dions in a row is too much to bear.  At least that would be an example of Liberals somewhere actually taking the initiative and getting front of a problem.