Ignatieff gives N.S. Liberals much needed boost at rally
Last Updated: Sunday, May 24, 2009 | 9:34 PM ET
CBC News
The Nova Scotia Liberal party received a much needed boost when federal leader Michael Ignatieff appeared at an election campaign rally in Dartmouth on Sunday.
About 400 people gathered at the Dartmouth Sportsplex to hear Ignatieff rally Liberal supporters leading up to the Nova Scotia election on June 9.
During his speech, Ignatieff focused on his own political issues in Ottawa. He talked about his plan to standardize employment insurance as well as responded to the latest Conservative Party attack ads.
Ignatieff also spoke about what he called a new momentum within the Liberal party across the country.
Nova Scotia Liberal Leader Stephen McNeil said Ignatieff's message could only help his chances of winning the provincial election, which is a little more than two weeks away.
"We're just thrilled and of course Michael has brought at the national level a unifying voice and a unifying perspective around our party," McNeil told CBC News on Sunday. "What he's doing nationally is certainly helping us provincially as well," he said.
Liberals making gains in popularity
At the beginning of the provincial election campaign, Progressive Conservative Leader Rodney MacDonald said the contest would be a two-way race between his Tories and the New Democrats.
The first poll released since the provincial election was called on May 5 showed the New Democratic Party leading the election campaign at 37 per cent of support with the Liberal party in second place with 31 per cent. The Progressive Conservative party placed third at 28 per cent while the Green Party received three per cent support.
With a margin of error at 3.9 per cent, 95 times out of 100, the poll suggested that any of the three main parties could form the next government in Nova Scotia.
Stephen McNeil said the jump in popularity is badly needed after the party's poor showing in the last election in 2006. The Liberal party won only nine seats in the 52-seat legislature in the 2006 provincial election.
"There's no secret that in our last election provincially it was our worst percentage in popular vote in our political history," McNeil said. "People are re-energized. They’re looking at us," he said.
"You see a large number of undecided voters — that means the people who voted for the other parties in the last election are looking, which is good for us," McNeil said.
Federal, N.S. Liberal governments would work well together: Ignatieff
After the rally, Ignatieff suggested that a Liberal party government in Ottawa would work well with a Liberal government in Nova Scotia, especially in the area of extending early learning and child care.
"They need a federal partner to get that done right, Ignatieff said on Sunday. "So, that would be one example of us willing to come in and work an agreement … with Nova Scotia that would get the kind of world class early learning and childhood care that Canadians want,” he said.
The Liberals are the first of the three main parties in Nova Scotia to host their national leader during the provincial election campaign.
The NDP said their national leader, Jack Layton, is not scheduled for a campaign stop in the province. The Progressive Conservative party said it is not customary for the prime minister to support a provincial party.
Corrections and Clarifications
- The NDP did not discount the Liberals as a legitimate contender at the start of the campaign as initially reported. In fact, Tory Leader Rodney MacDonald declared the election a two-way race between his party and the NDP. May 25, 2009 | 7:55 a.m. ET
