The Liberal leader shares his thoughts on the coalition and education funding
If there were any doubts left about Michael Ignatieff’s strong inclination to pass this month’s federal budget, this morning’s interview with the Liberal leader should put them to rest. Ignatieff describe last year’s creation of a Liberal/NDP/Bloc coalition, not as a serious bid to form a government, but as an attempt to jolt Prime Minister Stephen Harper into action on the economy. “Smarten up is what the coalition was all about,” Ignatieff says. “So he’s smartening up…” So, mission accomplished? On an entirely different subject, Ignatieff endorses the controversial idea that federal money for universities and colleges should flow to the provinces where students attend post-secondary school, not the provinces they come from. That would be a big change, bound to incite howls of protest from provinces that ship out more students than they attract. Overall, a brief but illuminating interview, with a couple of valuable nuggets.