How come if the Liberal leader misses most votes in the House of Commons than any other MP that he thinks he deserves to be PM? Charles Adler thinks Jack Layton might be right in that if Liberal leader Michael Igantieff has missed the most votes he shouldn't get a promotion.
When Jack Layton came in from behind and delivered the head shot about Ignatieff’s low-attendance record at House of Commons votes, it shredded the Liberal spin job. Layton’s line revealed to voters that Ignatieff wasn’t just a visting professor to Canada. Ignatieff is just visiting when it comes to democracy. Ignatieff’s typical condescending response was he didn’t require any lessons on democracy from Layton. Iggy would be right about that if only Layton had been wrong about his assertion. Layton offered the data point — there’s that egghead language again, Iggy’s contagious — of 70%. He said Ignatieff missed 70% of the votes and in the real world when someone misses work 70% of the time, he shouldn’t expect a promotion. And so here’s Jack Layton, who according to the polls is more trusted by John and Mary Canadian Tire than Michael Ignatieff, saying Ignatieff is not prime minister-worthy because the visiting professor doesn’t even want to visit Parliament Hill.
Is Jack Layton wrong? Everyone agrees it was a great zinger. It can’t be great if it’s not based on the truth. Liberal Partisans say it’s not true. Their argument is laughable. Iggy did miss most of those votes. But he was trying to beef up his brand with bus tours and his first visits to those quaint little stores with pedestrian coffee and those greasy little things with the holes in the middle that would never be served at the Ignatieff villa in the south of France. Speaking of public housing, we know the Ignatieffs can’t stand the thought of living at the opposition residence, Stornoway. If he ever did manage to stage a coalition coup and become PM, would he and his wife hold their noses and “slum” it for a while by moving in to 24 Sussex? Would they at least visit once in a while for the photo ops?
That should make anyone think twice if they're think about voting for Michael Ignatieff and his Liberals. Jack Layton has it right "If most Canadians don't show up for work, they don't get a promotion" Way to go Jack!
