TORONTO – Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff accused his rival of running away from healthcare questions Friday at the launch of the Conservative party platform.
At a campaign stop in his own riding of Etobicoke-Lakeshore, Ignatieff noted that Conservative leader Stephen Harper had walked away from a news conference after being asked a second question on the issue.
Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff poses for pictures with supporters in his home riding of Etobicoke-Lakeshore
“That, my friends, tells you everything you want to know about his real attitude toward healthcare,” Ignatieff said. “One of the key questions in this election campaign is who do you trust to sustain, defend, improve and finance public health in Canada.”
But a spokesman for Harper later said that it was his own press secretary, Sara MacIntyre, who asked the second question without realizing that the Conservative leader had already answered it.
Earlier at a cancer treatment centre in Hamilton, Ignatieff had challenged Harper to match his pledge to guarantee access to universal public healthcare for all Canadians by extending a deal with the provinces slated to expire in 2014.
The healthcare accord, reached by former prime minister Paul Martin, would require the federal government to continue increasing transfer payments to the provinces and territories by six per cent every year and cost billions of dollars.
Meantime, Ignatieff suggested that Harper would not be able to guarantee the payments since the Conservatives have made other pledges worth billions, such as plans to purchase new fighter jets without a tendered contract, build new prisons and offer substantial corporate tax cuts.
“We had a funny thing happen today, Mr. Harper announced his platform, it’s called ‘Here for Canada,’ and I sometimes think he’s got one word wrong and it should actually read ‘Fear for Canada,’” said Ignatieff drawing some chuckles from his supporters.
Although it was not in the Tory platform, Harper said his party and government have been clear about supporting an extension to the healthcare agreement.
The last federal budget introduced by the Conservatives in March also projects an increase in spending on healthcare but notes that the increases are not legislated and are subject to change.
Meantime, Ignatieff said the Liberal platform provides more hope.
“This is what it truly means to make sure that there will always be universally accessible medical services for every single person in this room when you need it, (and) for every single person in Canada when you need it,” he said. “We have made a commitment today to finance that system.”
He added that the Liberal platform also includes proposed investments in healthcare prevention and promotion to reduce demand for medical services.
“We’ve got to get the salt, fat, and sugar out of our diets folks,” he said. “That’s the way to make us healthier. We’ve all got to pull it in.”
mdesouza@postmedia.com
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