The world is laughing at Canada over the Harper government’s fake lake, Michael Ignatieff’s Liberals charged today.
“Fake lake is already getting us international exposure, it is true: everybody is making fun of us,” a senior Ignatieff official asserted this morning.
On Sunday, the Liberals issued hard-hitting radio and video ads, characterizing the upcoming G8 and G20 summits as a Conservative “$1-billion boondoggle” and an ego trip for the Prime Minister.
Part of that ego trip is the fake Muskoka lake, being assembled in Toronto, to be admired by international journalists, who will be unable to travel to the G8 summit in Huntsville, Ont., where the lakes are real.
The Tory response to the attack ads was immediate.
The Prime Minister’s spokesman, Dimitri Soudas, shot back, criticizing Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff for being out of touch and an elitist.
And the Conservatives circulated this missive to their supporters:
Ignatieff's Fake Ads Fail
Earlier today, the Liberals released fake commercials (ads that will run only a token amount, if ever) because as Michael Ignatieff has said, Liberals are "embarrassed" that Canada is hosting the G-8 and G-20 summits.
The ads' premise is that the average Canadian can afford to spend weekends at the lake. An understandable assumption, no doubt, by someone who vacations outside Canada and owns a summer villa in the south of France.
What Mr. Ignatieff fails to appreciate is that the vast majority of Canadians do not own recreational property. This is just another gaffe that shows he is grossly out of touch with the lives of ordinary Canadians.
The Tories love to attack Mr. Ignatieff for his family’s vacation property in Provence, France. It fits with their premise that he is a snob and an elitist, only in politics for “himself."
Last week in the House of Commons, for example, Prime Minister Stephen Harper mocked the Liberal Leader for his French vacation home.
The mocking was the result of a question from Mr. Ignatieff about the summit spending.
“Even the French are saying the costs of the summits are getting out of control, and France knows something about extravagance, Mr. Ignatieff said.
Replied the Prime Minister: “As for extravagance in France, Mr. Speaker, I wouldn't know about that, but perhaps the leader of the Opposition, in his home in Provence, could tell us about that.”
This morning, the Ignatieff official called the Tory attack “phony.”
“Ah, and not all Canadians own lakefront properties!” said the official. “As if the only way to go to a lake is to own a ‘recreational property’.
“Maybe Mr. Soudas should go to Meech Lake … and see that ordinary Canadians do go to the lake! Talk about being out of touch!”
The official said that the Tory arguments are an effort to distract from the “enormous amount of money” being spent on the fake lake, backdrops and banners for photo ops.
“Nice try to change the channel, but it won’t work,” he says. “Improvisation, bad planning and pork-barrelling politics are responsible for the cost explosion, and all three rest squarely on the Conservative government’s shoulders.”
Ending the rumours; all is well among Liberals?
Jean Chrétien’s meddling in the Liberal-NDP merger speculation provoked much consternation over the weekend.
This, after reports by CTV’s senior correspondent Craig Oliver that the former Liberal prime minister was speaking with two NDP senior statesmen – former NDP leader Ed Broadbent and former Saskatchewan premier Roy Romanow – about merger possibilities and undermining Michael Ignatieff’s leadership.
NDP Leader Jack Layton told CTV’s Question Period Sunday he had given no authorization for the two NDP gentlemen to speak on his behalf.
And the view was that Mr. Chrétien was merely freelancing, too. Liberals, according to reports, were imploring him to come out publicly to show his support for Mr. Ignatieff.
Well, that support did come mid-Sunday afternoon.
Bruce Hartley, spokesman for Mr. Chrétien, did a little damage control, sending a short note – but one that put the issue of tension between the former and current leaders to rest:
“Mr Chrétien will accompany/main street with Mr. Ignatieff when the Liberal Express passes through la Mauricie and Shawinigan this summer.”
Mr. Chrétien, of course, is from Shawinigan; his support for Mr. Ignatieff in his hometown is an important and significant gesture.
Mr. Ignatieff is planning to criss-cross the country on a bus – the Liberal Express – for six weeks this summer.
