Open Mike

Shortly after Parliament resumes this month, Liberal leader Mike Ignatieff will be embarking on a series of "open Mike" town hall style meetings to answer people's questions. I suppose that he couldn't have fit any of these into his summer tour, so best wait until Parliament is back in session so that Iggy doesn't have to show up for votes in the House of Commons. The man really looks for any excuse to avoid actually sitting in the seat he was elected in which to sit. Iggy was the 2nd most absent MP in the last session of Parliament, this coming after his hypocritical outcry during prorogation when he railed on how important it was to allow Parliament to do its work. Parliament must be allowed to do its work, so long as Iggy himself doesn't have to show up to work. You might recall that Iggy departed on a "Listening Tour" two weeks after the end of prorogation, when he had 2.5 months that he could have done it during prorogation, leaving his seat in the Commons empty while his comrades voted on legislation.  Even Kady O'Malley was miffed that he left so soon after Parliament resumed.

Personally I hope that the questions are spontaneous and not planted, because I find that many Liberals have a predisposition to saying either stupid or insulting things when they speak publicly off script. People will supposedly be allowed to ask questions online, so we will see if anyone asks him for his position on federal funding for an arena in Quebec. Right now he doesn't seem to want to talk about it. What programs would he cut to balance the budget? Would an Ignatieff administration extend or end stimulus spending? There are plenty of questions that the Liberals would rather not answer right now.