Michael Ignatieff Displays Dionesque Timing....

Well, after much speculation about Iggy's whereabouts, it appears he has finally reappeared. Rumors swirled about the missing Liberal leader, ranging from him staying at his villa in France, to being assisting O.J. Simpson find the real killers. Or perhaps he just needed some alone time to get over the death of a pop icon. Regardless, Iggy's timing today adds more credence to him being another Stephane Dion, albeit one who can actually speak english.

Ignatieff chose today to come out with criticism about PM Harper not being serious about EI reforms. The first problem with that is that Ignatieff himself huffed and puffed about forcing a summer election if the PM never capitulated to his demands , then quickly backtracked when his bluff was called. If Dion was the boy who called wolf, Ignatieff appears to be doing more sequels to that than the Halloween movies, with the EI caper being part 6 or 7.

But what makes Ignatieff's remarks today ridiculous is the fact it comes on the heels of the Bank of Canada, Conference Board of Canada, heads of RBC and BMO, among many others, reporting in the last week that Canada has turned the corner on the economic downturn, with the economy now beginning to grow, rather than the predicted contracting, and growth being pegged around 3% next year. With growth comes jobs. House sales up sharply. Auto sales also up. Ford posts a Q2 profit. Does Iggy really want to start crying wolf about forcing an election again, when all economic indicators appear to be heading in the right direction? Of course it's even more boggling that nobody that is a supposed msm journalist thought to ask Iggy about all the great economic news of the last week.

As it stands, it appears the perfect storm is beginning to brew, with Ignatieff and his Liberal Party looking at another election defeat. Recent polls indicate that Canadian's now widely favor a majority government in the next election. Tie that in with a rebounding economy, one that was predicted by both the PM and finance minister. Most Canadian's I talk to are feeling pretty good about themselves and the economy. As the economy worsened, so did Conservative polling numbers. And following that pattern, the momentum has switched back from Ignatieff to Harper in recent months.

It appears Liberal strategist Warren Kinsella was right. Liberal's should have forced an election before the summer recess, and that a growing economy would lead to a resurgent Conservative Party. Which begs the question, why have a supposed top-notch strategist, when you don't take his advice? Perhaps it's because Iggy already had summer plans, which would explain his absence for the last little while. I guess someone from Harvard doesn't think politics and elections should get in the way of a politicians excellent summer adventure.