To the Editor,
Michael Ignatieff has not fully disavowed a post-election coalition with the Bloc and NDP because he cannot do so.
The ‘Accord on a Cooperative Government’ document, was signed by the leaders of all three opposition parties on Dec. 1, 2008. It continues as a binding agreement until it expires on June 30, 2011. As a ‘live contract’ it is binding on all parties and can only be terminated through expiration. And given that Ignatieff signed the document on behalf of his party, he can hardly argue that he had no foreknowledge or that it was signed in bad faith.
As the Liberal Party of Canada had still not selected candidates for either mid-Island riding last week, one might conclude they decided to divvy up ridings with the NDP, each running a weak or sacrificial candidate in those ridings with little or no history of party support.
This was part of the game plan in their first attempt in creating a coalition government.
Ignatieff knows this election is ‘do or die’ for his leadership and his party and I’m concerned his shaky position and his signature on the 2008 Accord leave him in a rather desperate situation, leading to ambiguous answers regarding this troubling prospect.
Randy O’Donnell
Nanaimo
