Coderre a no-show as Ignatieff outlines priorities
Last Updated: Sunday, October 4, 2009 | 10:59 PM ET
CBC News
Federal Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff outlined several priorities in a speech to the party's Quebec wing Sunday and addressed the issue of party loyalty, just days after the resignation of Denis Coderre, his chief organizer in the province.
Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff, right, and his wife Zsuzsanna Zsohar wave to supporters at the party's meeting in Quebec City on Sunday. (Jacques Boissinot/Canadian Press) Ignatieff, speaking in French only, told party faithful about his plan to win the next election with promises to invest in green technologies, the regions and the arts.
At a news conference after his Quebec City address, he said details would be coming soon.
He identified bilingualism as a priority, pointing to his own imperfect French as part of his Canadian identity.
Ignatieff also repeated he intended to continue to vote against the Conservative government on matters of confidence.
Early in his speech, the Liberal leader accused Stephen Harper of contradicting himself, referring to the prime minister's appearance at a National Arts Centre Gala in Ottawa on Saturday night.
Harper sang and played the piano on the stage, joining cellist Yo-Yo Ma for a rendition of the Beatles tune With a Little Help From My Friends.
"Mr. Harper last year said that artists were like spoiled children that liked to attend galas," Ignatieff said. "But last night, Mr. Harper attended a gala himself, just for a change. But it's too late, because he's already cut the funding of Radio-Canada and the export of our cultural products abroad.
"He's been out of tune for four years," Ignatieff later joked to reporters.
When asked about a spat that led to Coderre leaving his job as the Liberals' Quebec lieutenant, Ignatieff told reporters that loyalty has historically been a strong suit of the federal Liberal Party.
Coderre 'living with those consequences'
"I've been touched and reinvigorated by the loyalty not solely to grassroots, which you saw this morning, but also the loyal of my caucus both in the Senate and House," he said.
Coderre, who was not at the conference, told the popular Radio-Canada talk show Tout le monde en parle in a program that aired Sunday that he didn't want to distract from the Ignatieff's speech. The MP also downplayed the rift that prompted his resignation.
"It's simple: did I still have the capacity to be lieutenant?" he said. "I no longer felt I did, so I resigned. But I'm still a Liberal."
Coderre didn't go quietly after leaving his post over a dispute about who would run in the Montreal riding of Outremont; he accused Ignatieff of listening to advisers in Toronto who "know nothing about Quebec."
Asked about Coderre's no-show, Ignatieff responded: "What Mr. Coderre does is his business. He took actions earlier this week that have consequences. And he's living those consequences. Thank you."
The Liberal leader said he will name a new Quebec lieutenant as soon as possible.
With files from The Canadian Press
