Saturday, February 14, 2009

Ignatieff Quebec Tour

Ignatieff is slated to do a three day tour of Quebec next week, including a tantilizing "wooing" of popular Trois-Rivières mayor Yves Lévesque to run under the Liberal banner. Ignatieff will also travel to Quebec City to meet with mayor Régis Labeaume :
Taking advantage of favorable polls, the Liberal Party leader, Michael Ignatieff, will undertake a tour of great seduction for three days in Quebec next week.

Mr. Ignatieff will leave Ottawa next week to visit Quebec City, Trois-Rivières and Tuesday in the Montreal area Wednesday, according to information obtained by La Presse. The Liberal leader will return to Ottawa Thursday to meet with U.S. President, Barack Obama, who makes his first official visit to Canada.

And, a contrast in style that Liberals should start highlighting at every turn, Ignatieff won't play "peek a boo", unlike our supposed "leader":
" Ignatieff attaches great importance to Quebec. And he believes that one of the best ways to be on the lookout for regional issues is to meet with municipal officials. You must listen to them", said one Liberal strategist

In each of the stops, Mr Ignatieff will be available to the media to answer their questions. "Unlike Mr. Harper, which remains locked in an ivory tower, Mr. Ignatieff will move throughout the parliamentary break to meet with local stakeholders and will make available to the media," said Liberal strategist.

The Liberals finished at distant third in Trois Rivieres, if they could ever convince Lévesque to run for the Liberals, it's would be a tremendous coup. You may remember, Lévesque accused the Conservatives of partisan punishment, withholding funding because the seat went to the Bloc in the last election. Even the mire rumors are a good sign for the Liberals under Ignatieff, a sign of potential appeal.

A visit to Quebec City, a meeting with the mayor, also conveys positive optics, and getting in front of microphones whenever you have the chance, should heighten the focus.

If there is any latent resistance to the Liberal position on the budget, this visit should afford Ignatieff an opportunity to move past and create some fresh buzz. Good stuff.

3 comments:

Éric said...

Conservative popularity in Quebec is dropping very quickly. The Liberals would be smart to move in to fill that gap with a leader who is generally respected in Quebec.

I'm no supporter of the Liberals, but I definitely prefer them to Harper.

Anonymous said...

Ignatieff will win over Quebec and will be poised to assume the reins of power. He is someone the media and the establishment are clearly comfortable with (like they were with Harper until recently). Ignatieff is the un-Harper and clearly the country's tastes have changed.

rockfish said...

If there's any region that has the potential for volatility, ie a possible quick Liberal surge, it's Quebec. Strategically, getting in the neighbourhood of 36% could result in 40-45% of the seats... Now, to do some mending out west (which he's doing).