OTTAWA — The Liberals will be borrowing a high-risk page from the party's past Sunday by being first off the block with a costed platform on how they would govern if elected.
The party is treating the launch like a government budget, inviting media to a morning lock-up, followed by an online townhall meeting where viewers can ask questions of leader Michael Ignatieff.
A fully costed platform will almost certainly become a magnet for Conservative barbs. Prime Minister Stephen Harper will attempt to pre-empt the platform launch with an early morning announcement of his own.
The Liberal gambit is reminiscent of the party's successful Red Book release in 1993 -- at the time the most comprehensive election platform in Canadian history at 112 pages -- and among the earliest to be unveiled, 11 days after the writ was dropped.
Sunday's event, which comes on Day 9 of the campaign, also has a red cover, includes around 100 pages, and will focus on helping families cope in the post-recession world.
Party insiders say the platform will be as comprehensive as the 1993 Red Book and build on the measures and themes that Ignatieff has featured in the first week of the campaign. Price tags will be attached to each promise.
The document will include more detailed costing on already announced initiatives, including the $1 billion Family Care Plan, pension reform and the $1 billion aid to post-secondary students, as well as other programs.
Conservatives didn't wait for the platform release before aiming s torpedo at it.
Cabinet minister John Baird charged the Liberal promises will add about $4 billion in new annual spending while raising taxes on corporations by $6 billion.
The Liberal announcements so far amount to little more than measures that were proposed in the failed Harper budget -- the only difference being the Grit package costs more, Baird said Saturday.
"Michael Ignatieff's high tax agenda will stall our recovery, kill jobs and set Canadian families back."
The Conservatives have tried to make as much political hay out of painting Ignatieff a "tax-and-spend" Liberal as they have from the fact he has spent much of his adult life outside the country.
One Liberal insider who has seen the platform said the net final costing will be less than what the Harper government plans to spend.
Liberals say they will pay for their programs by rolling back some Conservative policies, including about $6 billion in corporate tax cuts, spending on prisons and savings from placing the fighter-jet replacement program under review.
Instead, the Liberals plan to target spending on families, students and the elderly.
"I can't give you specifics, but I can tell you we will be costing everything we will announce," said Liberal campaign spokesman Marc Roy. "We're very confident these policies will resonate from coast to coast."
With both Harper and Ignatieff taking a break from campaigning Saturday, the Liberal war room was crowing about how well the first week had gone for their leader.
Ignatieff is in his maiden federal election campaign and appears to be taking advantage of the low expectations placed on him.
"He's showing he's quite comfortable talking to ordinary Canadians, he's having events where people are not checked for their allegiances, contrary to Mr. Harper who is campaigning in a bubble and has not met a Canadian who has not been pre-screened," said Roy.
The party sent out a release re-affirming Ignatieff is still prepared to debate Harper one-one-one, an idea first floated by the prime minister but then withdrawn.
By contrast, the prime minister's first week was thrown off the key message of the economy by a series of distractions, from staffing controversies at local riding offices to media grumbling about restrictions over the number of questions Harper is willing to answer each day.
Baird rejected the assessment when asked, noting that Harper was able to visit all 10 provinces and talk about jobs and trade.
"I think the first week has gone well. You mention one or two former campaign workers, when I go door to door, the issues people are talking to me about are the economy, are jobs, health care," he said.
Meanwhile in Dartmouth, N.S. on Saturday, NDP Leader Jack Layton was twice asked about low turnouts at his events.
In an address, Layton attacked the Conservative government's treatment of veterans, promising more benefits.
The Bloc Quebecois's Gilles Duceppe, the other party leader campaigning Saturday, focused on attacking the Conservatives as enemies of Quebec. He expressed skepticism over a Conservative pledge to sign an agreement with Quebec over harmonizing the sales tax, challenging Harper to produce the accord before May 2, election day.
http://www.cp24.com/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20110402/110402redbook/20110402/?hub=CP24Home
The party is treating the launch like a government budget, inviting media to a morning lock-up, followed by an online townhall meeting where viewers can ask questions of leader Michael Ignatieff.
A fully costed platform will almost certainly become a magnet for Conservative barbs. Prime Minister Stephen Harper will attempt to pre-empt the platform launch with an early morning announcement of his own.
The Liberal gambit is reminiscent of the party's successful Red Book release in 1993 -- at the time the most comprehensive election platform in Canadian history at 112 pages -- and among the earliest to be unveiled, 11 days after the writ was dropped.
Sunday's event, which comes on Day 9 of the campaign, also has a red cover, includes around 100 pages, and will focus on helping families cope in the post-recession world.
Party insiders say the platform will be as comprehensive as the 1993 Red Book and build on the measures and themes that Ignatieff has featured in the first week of the campaign. Price tags will be attached to each promise.
The document will include more detailed costing on already announced initiatives, including the $1 billion Family Care Plan, pension reform and the $1 billion aid to post-secondary students, as well as other programs.
Conservatives didn't wait for the platform release before aiming s torpedo at it.
Cabinet minister John Baird charged the Liberal promises will add about $4 billion in new annual spending while raising taxes on corporations by $6 billion.
The Liberal announcements so far amount to little more than measures that were proposed in the failed Harper budget -- the only difference being the Grit package costs more, Baird said Saturday.
"Michael Ignatieff's high tax agenda will stall our recovery, kill jobs and set Canadian families back."
The Conservatives have tried to make as much political hay out of painting Ignatieff a "tax-and-spend" Liberal as they have from the fact he has spent much of his adult life outside the country.
One Liberal insider who has seen the platform said the net final costing will be less than what the Harper government plans to spend.
Liberals say they will pay for their programs by rolling back some Conservative policies, including about $6 billion in corporate tax cuts, spending on prisons and savings from placing the fighter-jet replacement program under review.
Instead, the Liberals plan to target spending on families, students and the elderly.
"I can't give you specifics, but I can tell you we will be costing everything we will announce," said Liberal campaign spokesman Marc Roy. "We're very confident these policies will resonate from coast to coast."
With both Harper and Ignatieff taking a break from campaigning Saturday, the Liberal war room was crowing about how well the first week had gone for their leader.
Ignatieff is in his maiden federal election campaign and appears to be taking advantage of the low expectations placed on him.
"He's showing he's quite comfortable talking to ordinary Canadians, he's having events where people are not checked for their allegiances, contrary to Mr. Harper who is campaigning in a bubble and has not met a Canadian who has not been pre-screened," said Roy.
The party sent out a release re-affirming Ignatieff is still prepared to debate Harper one-one-one, an idea first floated by the prime minister but then withdrawn.
By contrast, the prime minister's first week was thrown off the key message of the economy by a series of distractions, from staffing controversies at local riding offices to media grumbling about restrictions over the number of questions Harper is willing to answer each day.
Baird rejected the assessment when asked, noting that Harper was able to visit all 10 provinces and talk about jobs and trade.
"I think the first week has gone well. You mention one or two former campaign workers, when I go door to door, the issues people are talking to me about are the economy, are jobs, health care," he said.
Meanwhile in Dartmouth, N.S. on Saturday, NDP Leader Jack Layton was twice asked about low turnouts at his events.
In an address, Layton attacked the Conservative government's treatment of veterans, promising more benefits.
The Bloc Quebecois's Gilles Duceppe, the other party leader campaigning Saturday, focused on attacking the Conservatives as enemies of Quebec. He expressed skepticism over a Conservative pledge to sign an agreement with Quebec over harmonizing the sales tax, challenging Harper to produce the accord before May 2, election day.
http://www.cp24.com/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20110402/110402redbook/20110402/?hub=CP24Home
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