Ignatieff takes a stand on sovereignty
Ignatieff shows some leadership. Good.
The other day, Chantal Hebert wrote that Harper’s secret perimeter deal would split Liberals. With the greatest of respect, she’s flat wrong. Every Liberal I have spoken to sees this pact as a potential threat to our sovereignty – whether they admire Barack Obama or not. (And I do.)
John Manley and Frank McKenna – who will almost certainly be trotted out to defend this thing – are not in the mainstream of the Liberal Party anymore. They’re smart fellows. But whatever they have to say about the secret deal is of no force and effect with any Grit I know. In fact, it will propel many Liberals in the opposite direction.
What we know about the perimeter deal so far frankly stinks. In the main, the secret agreement seems to involve handing over personal information about Canadians to the Americans, in exchange for illusory customs benefits. If the Reformatories want to fight an election over their desire to integrate Canada with the United States, I welcome that. They’d lose.
Michael Ignatieff, increasingly, doesn’t sound afraid of that prospect either: