The Prime Minister's Office is accusing Michael Ignatieff of playing politics with the seal hunt and the lives of those who depend on it after a Liberal Senator reintroduced his bill to ban the hunt.
In an internal memo to Conservative MPs and supporters, PMO strategists also suggest the Liberal Leader is a weakling for not being able to unite his caucus on an issue that he says he supports.
"Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff claims to support the seal hunt but is attempting to play both sides of the issue," the PMO memo says. "In these challenging economic times Ignatieff's Liberals are playing politics with Canadian families who depend on the hunt for their livelihoods."
It also says that if Mr. Ignatieff truly supports the hunt he should insist on unanimity in his caucus "to stand united behind Canadian sealers, instead of undermining the hunt and undercutting the livelihood of Canadian families."
The memo is referring to Liberal Senator Mac Harb who has indicated he will reintroduce his bill to ban the seal hunt in Canada. He held a news conference earlier today with other anti-sealers.
Mr. Harb's event comes a day before his Senate colleague, Liberal Celine Hervieux-Payette, is to be the host of a seal lunch in the parliamentary dining room. She has said that she is doing this to show that there is "quasi-unanimity" on the Hill for the hunt.
Meanwhile, the Tories are doing what they can to point out the lack of unity over this issue in the Liberal caucus.
"We will not play politics with the livelihoods of Canadians," the PMO memo says. "This Conservative government is united in its support of the thousands of coastal Canadian sealers who rely on the seal hunt for income."
A Conservative strategist says Mr. Harb's bill does not help Mr. Ignatieff on the east coast or in some parts of Quebec. The Liberals, however, are dismissive of the memo.
"Following the same logic," a senior Ignatieff official told The Globe, "if Stephen Harper truly believed in airport security, he would have fired Helena Guergis?"
The official was referring the minister of state for the status of women's recent and very public outburst at the Charlottetown airport, which forced her to take the unusual step of issuing a press release in which she apologized for her emotional words to security and other airport staff. She is still in the cabinet, despite Liberal calls for her resignation.
The Liberal official continued: "If Stephen Harper really believed in restraint, he would have sent Jim Flaherty walking to the Tim Hortons on Slater [Street in Ottawa, near Parliament Hill]rather than flying in a government plane to London. Should I go on?"
He was referring to the flight Mr. Flaherty took last Thursday night so he could be at a Tim Hortons in London, Ont., for a post-budget photo op the next morning before a speaking engagement at the local chamber of commerce.
There's more. "Oh, while we're at it," the Ignatieff official said, "if Stephen Harper was really 'tough on crime,' would he not direct his Minister of Justice to contest Mr. Jaffer's unbelievably light sentence?"
The official was referring to former Tory MP Rahim Jaffer's conviction today for careless driving.
Mr. Jaffer was fined $500 today after pleading guilty to a lesser charge. In return for the plea, the Crown dropped initial charges of possession of cocaine and drunk driving.