Is Kelly McParland Right? Maybe Ignatieff just isn’t that smart

Kelly McParland stated this just a couple of days ago that Michael Ignatieff :

 Maybe Ignatieff just isn’t that smart.  It’s hard to figure this guy. He’s made mistake after mistake after mistake. He signs the coalition pact, insists he’s on side, then repudiates the whole thing later. He stokes a phony election threat, insists he means it despite all common sense, then retreats in embarrassment when it falls flat. He raises issue after issue as a line in the sand, then does nothing when the Tories step over the line and kick sand in his face to boot. His own caucus ignores him, his supposed pal Bob Rae embarrasses him, he fires his advisers to get better advice, and then makes the same dumb mistakes under the new advisers.
He doesn’t seem to learn. He spends a deeply uncomfortable week or two insisting he’s not interested in a coalition of opposition parties, then uses a trip to Britain to confer with the junior member of Britain’s coalition party. Great optics? Um…no. He knows he has to soften his image as a pointy-headed academic, so he does it by touring Canadian campuses and holding a “thinkers conference” in Montreal. Why not just move back to Harvard and run the party from there?

Well Mr. McParland just may be right.  We have this today from John Ibbitson.  Seems like Ignatieff has trouble with knowing about the different bills that are out there. 

 Kingston voters school Ignatieff on legislation that matters
KINGSTON, ONT. – Do you know what Bill C-6 is? Or Bill C-474? Don’t worry, it would seem Michael Ignatieff doesn’t either. 

As leader of the official opposition he should have a clue about these bills. Does he not read them? Is he not at least briefed on them?  Good grief! 
PM Harper would have known what these bills were about, each clause, each paragraph and able to explain them in detail.  So would NDP Leader Jack Layton.   Maybe Iffy should spend more time at work then maybe he'd have somewhat of a clue.  It just shows he's not ready for prime time.

Iffy Should Not Count on Alberta Provincial Cousins

Oooh, our Alberta provincial Liberal leader, David Swann is not exactly enamoured by his federal cousins.

“It helps us to define ourselves as quite separate from the federal Liberals, which in Alberta is not a bad thing,” Swann said Tuesday after issuing a statement criticizing the federal Liberals. “We are standing up for Alberta, and in this case, we are not in agreement with our federal Liberal party.”

Ouch! Who can blame the provincial Libs from wanting to separate themselves from their federal cousins?  They have a hard time the way it is to make any headway, nevermind associating themselves with the federal Libs.  We Albertans have not forgotten the  NEP that the federal Liberals imposed on us that was disastrous for businesses and individuals in the eighties.  We suffered through some tough times as a result. You got that  plus all that has occurred afterward within the federal Liberal party, (adscam, internal feuds, leader problems etc.)   you can see why they don't want to be linked to the federal party. Who would want to be associated with all that?
Smart move for Mr. Swann  for not wanting to be "kissin' cousins"  It would be poison if they were.

So Iffy, don't count on  your cousins in Alberta to help you out any time soon.  Just continue on with your Express bus tour and connect with the common people.