Prime Minister Stephen Harper departs for a seven-day trip to China and South Korea from the Ottawa airport on Tuesday, December 1, 2009.
Michael Ignatieff deserves some credit for doing the right thing on the HST - as he was urged to do today by both The Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star. However, it's worth noting that the Leader of the Opposition would not have been placed in a difficult position and forced to make a decision at this time had he and other members of his caucus not begun to hem and haw on their support for a policy that is good for Canada and that the Liberals championed while in office.
Seeing where things could be headed at budget time, Prime Minister Stephen Harper astutely forced the issue while the Conservatives are riding high in opinion polls and the Liberals are riding low. It was a bit of a gamble, as there would have been significant fall-out for the Conservatives if they had had to rely on the support of the "separatists" to implement this unpopular tax in British Columbia and Ontario. But, in politics as in hockey, when things are going well you tend to get the breaks, and things are going very well right now for Mr. Harper.
(Photo: The Prime Minister Stephen Harper departs for a seven-day trip to China and South Korea from the Ottawa airport this morning. Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)