’It is not a good day for Canadian politics’

Michael Ignatieff comments on the Raitt tape.

“The deal is if you play these remarks to a woman awaiting a cancer test and her doctor is telling her she can’t have a cancer test because Chalk River is shut down and the government had 18 months to do something about it, and didn’t do something about it, what does she think about a minister saying, ‘Oh, this is a sexy file. I’m going to secure promotion handling this issue,’” Mr. Ignatieff said as he left the Chateau Laurier hotel after delivering a speech to the Teamsters convention.

“[Ms. Raitt] hasn’t handled it at all. We have no alternative supply for isotopes. We don’t make cheap politics out of this. This is a health-care crisis. And the bottom line is: Is that woman waiting for treatment being treated decently by this government? And what they are getting is this kind of cynical, arrogant, ‘this is a good career move.’ It is not a good day for Canadian politics.”