Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Caucus Speech / Discours au caucus estival

Yesterday, Michael Ignatieff put the Conservatives on notice that they have failed their probation and their time is now up. An excerpt of his speech to caucus is below.

Some choice excerpts:
“We’re working against a government that’s ready to sacrifice national unity to stay in power. But we have a secret weapon on our side: Stephen Harper’s record. The worst unemployment record in two decades The worst deficit in our history. And last quarter, the worst performing economy in the G7.”

“We can do better. Nous pouvons faire mieux.”

“Stephen Harper hasn’t just failed to stand up for Canada—he’s also failed to stand up for Canadians. Suaad Mohamud. Omar Khadr. Makhtal. Bahari. Mohamed. Abdelrazik. Being a Canadian must mean the Canadian government will stand up for you—no matter where, no matter when. This is at the heart of what every Liberal believes: a Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian. A Liberal government would stand by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. We would stand by our citizens. And we would bring forward legislation to protect Canadians abroad—to make it illegal for the government to pick and choose which citizens it protects—to make sure these abuses never happen again.”

“In fact, only two hundred of the twelve hundred infrastructure projects that the Conservatives announced in Ontario have actually received the funding they were promised. Only Stephen Harper could count that as 80% underway.”

“Stephen Harper’s response has been: “Don’t worry, give it a few years, and the books will balance themselves.” You can put that next to his promise not to run deficits in the first place. Or his promise not to tax income trusts. Or his promise not to appoint Senators.”

“You can’t count on a government that can’t count—and a prime minister who’s only good at division.”

“Liberals proudly support public health care in this country—and, unlike the Conservatives, we’re not afraid to defend it.”

“In June, we set out four tests for Stephen Harper. Mr. Harper, you have failed all four. You’ve failed to protect the most vulnerable. You’ve failed to create jobs. Failed to defend our health care. Failed to restore our public finances.”

“After four years of drift, four years of denial, four years of division and discord—Mr. Harper, your time is up. Vous avez raté votre chance. The Liberal Party cannot support this government any further. We will hold it to account. We will oppose it in Parliament. Canadians deserve better.

So let’s get started. Allons-y. Notre pays nous attend.”


{Video by Ignatieff}

Full text of his speech is here.


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1 comment:

  1. It was one heck of a speech for firing up the troops and should resonate with many Canadians.

    Hopefully he has a few more like it up his sleeve.

    ReplyDelete