With Election Looming, Ignatieff Dances Around Coalition Question Again

The Liberal leader refuses to rule out the possibility he will form a coalition with the NDP if he doesn’t win an outright victory in the 2011 election.

In his first speech to the media after the government was defeated by a no-confidence vote Friday, Michael Ignatieff said, “If you don’t want a Conservative government, you have to vote Liberal. It couldn’t be clearer than that.” It fact, it could be a lot clearer than that, but the Liberal leader repeatedly dodged the coalition question, a strategy he appears determined to stick to but one that critics say will only fuel speculation and uncertainty among voters. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has repeatedly charged that the two opposition parties will team up to take control of Parliament unless the Conservatives are given a majority, a suggestion Ignatieff has long denied but never ruled out altogether.