[LINK] "Ignatieff Says Liberals Prepared to Bring Down Harper"

[rfmcdonald]

This news from Bloomberg is rather pleasing, actually.

Canada’s main opposition Liberal Party threatened to topple Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government this week unless lawmakers get more information on how the administration plans to fight the recession.

Michael Ignatieff, 62, the leader of Canada’s Liberals, said he will oppose the government in key votes unless Harper details plans to ease eligibility for unemployment benefits, speed up stimulus spending and bring the budget back to balance. Harper told reporters Ignatieff’s conditions aren’t clear, adding the government isn’t prepared to make “back of the envelope” changes over the next few days.

“Our job means standing up for our principles, standing up when the government lets Canadians down,” Ignatieff told reporters in Ottawa. “I need accountability, I need some answers.”

The Conservatives have seen the Liberals, who have helped to keep Harper in power since October 2007, surpass them in some recent opinion polls, amid criticism of the government’s response to the global economic slump. The governing party may now be forced to turn to the Bloc Quebecois or New Democratic Party to remain in power, as those parties are also trailing in opinion polls, said Peter Donolo, a pollster with the Strategic Counsel.

“The Liberals are the only party that have had some kind of lift” in the polls, said Donolo, a former adviser to Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chretien. “The other two parties stand to lose seats. I have a hard time seeing them voluntarily bringing down the government and losing all those seats in an election.”

The Conservatives lack a majority of seats in Parliament and need backing from at least one of the country’s three opposition parties to remain in power.