Angry in the Great White North

Let's go back to Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt's recorded conversations (all but forgotten, it seems).  Raitt explains why there was no election soon after Michael Ignatieff deposed Stephane Dion and took over the Liberal Party leadership:

Later in her conversation with Ms. MacDonnell, Ms. Raitt tells the man driving them around Victoria that Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff had backed down from defeating the Conservative government on a budget a few days earlier because he got a message from Canadian bankers.

"They did it at the Canadian Council of (Chief) Executives, there was three presidents of major banks who stood up in the room - and this is not from cabinet so I can talk about it - stood up and said, 'Ignatieff, don't you even think about bringing us to an election,'" said Ms. Raitt.

"'We don't need this. We have no interest in this. And we will never fund your party again.' That was very powerful. So he heard it from very powerful people in the industry. He was definitely muzzled."

Now the Liberals denied this happened, so it comes down to who you choose to believe.  There is no recording of the meeting with these bank executives (that I know of) to prove this point one way or the other.  If you are a fan of Michael Ignatieff, you chose to believe that the story is a fabrication.  If not, you chose to believe that Michael Ignatieff was slapped around, and is still being slapped around, by bankers who have the power to deny the Liberal Party loans that are critical to running an election campaign.

So I find it very interesting that key people are choosing to believe that Michael Ignatieff is no true leader.  These people are key because they represent voters who ought to despise Conservatives, but need to convinced to vote Liberal instead of NDP.  Toronto Star columnist Linda McQuaig is one of those people.  She mourns the passing of the Liberal-NDP coalition:

It wouldn't have exactly brought the Canadian Establishment to its knees. But late last fall, the Liberal-NDP coalition did briefly seem poised to become the most progressive Canadian government in a generation, possibly ever.

Then before you could say "corporate welfare bums," it was all over. The Conservatives had mounted a hysterical campaign, the media had joined in trashing the coalition, and the Governor General had shown it no more mercy than she would a tasty seal.

Michael Ignatieff killed the coalition.  His path to power, therefore, is to convince NDP voters to strategically vote Liberal (a coalition is no longer an option).  But with his lack of platform, his consistent support of the Conservatives (including on the mandatory sentencing bill), and his bizarre game of election brinkmanship (threatens an election then spends the day denying he issued an ultimatum), NDP voters are not happy.

That unhappiness is reflected in what they choose to believe.  Linda McQuaig chooses to believe Lisa Raitt.  After recounting the story of the tape, McQuaig concludes that the Liberal denials are insufficient, and that we have to pose serious questions about the Liberal Party's true loyalties:

It's hard to know what to make of Raitt's comments. She wasn't at the meeting, which suggests she may have heard about it from the CEOs - possibly from bankers boasting they had Ignatieff on a tight leash?

Liberal finance critic John McCallum, a former chief economist at the Royal Bank who was at the meeting along with Ignatieff, firmly denied the bankers made any threats. "There was not even a hint of a veiled threat by any CEO," he said yesterday by phone.

McCallum acknowledged that some CEOs at the meeting had opposed the Liberal-NDP coalition, as well as opposing an election. And he also acknowledged that it was likely the Liberal party borrowed money from the banks, although he said he didn't know any details.

The taped comments raise questions about what role the banks may have played in nixing the coalition, and also what power they wield over the severely financially strapped Liberal party.

Linda McQuaig chooses to believe that the story is credible.  Many other NDP voters are choosing the same thing (the online forums support this).  That means they are looking for any excuse to avoid voting for Michael Ignatieff and the Liberals, even if that means Stephen Harper and the Conservatives remain in power.

Unless Michael Ignatieff can somehow convince these people to chance their choice, he is doomed, and the Liberal Party is doomed along with him.

I choose to believe that it's probably too late, and when Michael Ignatieff votes to support the Conservatives after the ultimatum nonsense, it will certainly be too late.