Michael Ignatieff: Recent History Repeating

Those who don’t not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

I find it somewhat amusing that such a lauded academic, as Michael Ignatieff claims himself to be, somehow missed that little nugget of historical truth. I find it especially interesting since he actually lived on the front lines of this ‘recent history’ for the entirety of it’s course. Maybe he wasn’t paying attention as he quietly concentrated on sharpening his dagger….

Still, Michael Ignatieff is now experiencing Stephane Dion: Re-deux. It must be incredibly frustrating for him to suddenly find himself in that position when he obviously expected thngs to be different simply because he ‘wasn’t Stephane Dion’.

Evidently Mr. Ignatieff, you are.

Obviously Mr. Ignatieff needs to spend a little more time here in Canada learning the moods of the public at large before he starts trying to throw his weight around. Canadians are sick of elections!

One, to think that he might be able to get away with yet another within a year of the last, with a public that was already exhausted before the last one, is absurd. Two, to try and use EI as the ostensible excuse when even a cursory glance at public opinion showed that EI issues aren’t even a luke-warm topic worthy of fighting an election over. Three, backlash against those who decide not to work in order to pressure others into giving them what they want has been astonishing.

What’s even more amazing though, is that Mr. Ignatieff doesn’t see it. We can all rest assured that the BLOC and the NDP will take great pleasure in letting him know over the course of the summer.

Undoubtedly, people are starting to wake up to the fact that the Liberal Party of Canada (LPC) has yet to provide anything even remotely resembling a coherent position or ability to take over the governance of the nation. To date, all they’ve done is dribble out limp ideas or material that has an extremely short shelf life more suited to an election than political grandstanding.

I believe also, that this recent trip to the precipice (brought to you by your neighbourhood LPC) is forcing Canadians to actually examine what it is that the LPC is offering. What are their policies? Where do they stand on position “X”? What is their vision for the country? These are all things that the LPC is going to be busy defending over the summer, and likely in an unsatisfactory way.

Are they afraid of the Conservatives taking some of those ideas and running with them? Is that why Dion waffled so often? And what’s wrong with that anyway if it’s for the good of the country?

Here’s a newsflash for you Mr. Ignatieff. The role of Her Majesty’s Official Opposition is……..

The duty of the Official Opposition and other opposition parties is to “challenge” government policies and suggest improvements, and present an alternative to the current Government’s policy agenda.

And “challenge” is not the same thing as “oppose“.

Now, can you actually imagine how well Canada would be served if ALL parties who stood in opposition actually did that every time they complained about something? Admittedly, all parties are guilty of not doing their full jobs here, but if they actually focused on doing what’s best for the country, and PROVING that they are in fact a Government in waiting…..well, I’m sure you see where that goes.

Until then, it appears that Mighty Michael Ignatieff is content to follow the weak example of his recent predecessors.

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Update: June 18, 2009 @ 3:21pm EST

And in case any of us had forgotten…