Iggy's not backing down on election talk

Straight out of Iggy's mouth today, via a CTV article:

He [Ignatieff] said it's no longer possible to work with a man so contemptuous of basic Canadian values, and reiterated his plan to bring down the Conservative government.

"(Harper's) already lost the confidence of the House once," Ignatieff said, referring to the attempted coalition takedown of the Tories last year. "He's about to lose it a second time."

You catch that? Ignatieff isn't going to back down, and he fully intends to bring down the Government within weeks.

But this is where things get even more interesting... Ignatiff has still refused to refute the Prime Minister's accusation that he would form a coalition in order to govern should he not win the next election outright.

[Harper] "Let me be clear about this: We need to win a majority in the next election campaign," the prime minister said.

"I am not just saying that because we need a few more seats. We saw what happened last year. Do not be fooled for a moment. If we do not get a majority, the Liberals, the NDP, and the Bloc will combine and they will form a government.

"They will deny this 'til they're blue in the face in an election campaign but I guarantee it: If we do not win a majority this country will have a Liberal government propped up by the socialists and the separatists. . .

"This country cannot afford a government like that. If they force us to the polls, if they get together and force us to the polls, we have to teach them a lesson and get back their with a majority to make sure their little coalition never happens."

Ignatieff ducked questions about the substance of Harper's accusation.

When asked about forming a coalition, Ignatieff simply noted that he killed the one the opposition parties had formed last year.

When asked again whether he was amenable to an informal governing arrangement with the other parties, Ignatieff sidestepped the question.

When asked whether he would agree with Harper to kill off public subsidies for political parties -- the issue that triggered the coalition in the first place -- he offered no commitment.

I'll repeat what I said last week... the coalition accord has never been formally recinded. Iggy claims "he killed it", though that has only ever been verbally. His signature is still on the original agreements, and based on the language of the documents themselves, they are still in force. So the Prime Minister is exactly correct when he said, "They will deny this 'til they're blue in the face in an election campaign but I guarantee it: If we do not win a majority this country will have a Liberal government propped up by the socialists and the separatists."

Until we see it in writing from the Liberal leader, the threat of a socialist and seperatist coalition is still there. Since we all know that a Liberal's word is untimately no good when it comes to their promises, until I see it in writing, I simply won't trust them on this one.


UPDATE: Looks like I'm not the only one who thinks there's a hidden coalition agenda out there... Steve Janke chimes in with an Iggy quote from January, supporting the notion of a FUTURE (ie - NOW) coalition...

UPDATE II: How's THIS for arrogance?

“I could have been standing here as prime minister of Canada, but I turned it down,” [Ignatieff] said.

Say WHAT? In other words, translated into Iggy-speak...

"You see, I could have been Prime Minister if I'd wanted to... but you, the little people, you weren't yet ready for me. Now, perhaps the time has come where you are finally ready... therefore, should I decide that you are indeed worthy of my leadership, I shall hereby force an election, in an effort to be magnanamous with my divine power, and bestow upon you the privilage of making me your Presiden... er, Prime Minister.

And then, should you decide to reject my ovatures of peace and enlightened despotism, then I'll take the reigns of power anyway."