Angry in the Great White North

The McGill Daily has had a talk with the three by-election candidates for the riding of Westmount-Ville-Marie:

When Liberal Lucienne Robillard resigned as the Westmount—Ville-Marie Member of Parliament after 13 years, the riding prepared for a by-election to find a replacement. Now, the by-election may be preempted if hints dropped by senior Conservatives that Steven Harper will call for a general election in the coming weeks prove true. Whether a preview of a local or national race, The Daily sat down with three of the eight candidates in what could be the first competitive election in this riding in 20 years.

The Liberals are up first:

Marc Garneau, who was expected to take the Vaudreuil—Soulanges riding in the 2006 Federal election, is back in the race for a seat in Ottawa. As Canada’s first astronaut in space, he is a strong supporter of research and innovation in science and technology. Joining him at the interview was noted orator and former Liberal leadership candidate Michael Ignatieff, now Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party.

OK, that's nice of Michael Ignatieff to drop by to watch Marc Garneau get interviewed by a student paper. 

So off the first question:

McGill Daily: In the 2008 budget, the Government of Canada declared its intention not to renew the Canadian Millenium Scholarship Foundation.

Marc Garneau: The Conservatives are going to replace it by another plan which is comparable, because they recognize it would be a huge outcry if they did.

An outcry if they did...what?  Replaced the Millennium Fund?  Clearly that's not what Garneau meant, but his brief answer, which essentially says the Conservatives are doing the right thing in his view, needs some refinement.  So Michael Ignatieff jumps in, adding 61 words to Marc Garneau's 25:

Michael Ignatieff: We need to make sure that Millennium Scholarship Funds are replaced with equivalent funding, not just some poor substitute. You look at aboriginal post-secondary education, and it’s not terrific. There are some immigrant communities where access to higher education is a barrier partly for cultural reasons, partly for psychological reasons. You get the grades, you get to go. That’s number one.

Dammit Marc, remember the talking points!  The Conservatives don't care about aboriginals and don't care about immigrants.  Sure, their program might be just fine.  But you never, ever, say that.  Damn amateurs.

To be fair, Marc Garneau seems to handle the subsequent questions by himself.  Or at least any help from Michael Ignatieff is not published.

On the other hand, the NDP's Anne Lagace-Dowson and the Green Party's Claude Genest seem to be able to handle an interview with a student paper without front-bench help.

And honestly, does Marc Garneau look happy sitting beside Michael Ignatieff?

Yay!  I'm sitting beside a noted orator!