[longsuffering]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

I had hopes for Ignatieff, however, he's done more to piss me off then I thought I would do. He's played the partisan game with the budget, snipping at it and threatening with the coalition instead of doing anything productive. His position on Omar Khadr is something that I cannot get on board with.

I'm hoping that the government stays in place for a while, but I have a feeling that Ignatieff is itching for an election fight, and he's going to follow through with the coalition just to trigger an election.

Interesting that you say that about his attitude towards the budget. I wouldn't say he's been sniping. I'd say he's gone to great lengths to explain his and the Party's position towards the upcoming budget. I also think that his personal distaste for the coalition is well known. At this point I think he tries to use the 'threat' of that coalition bringing the government down over the budget to leverage the most 'acceptable' budget out of the Conservatives.

As we face the budget choices next week, I’ve been clear.

Targeted help to those Canadians who need help most is absolutely essential.

Broad-based tax cuts that dig us deeper into deficit are not.

This is not about gimmicks or politically popular moves.

It is about listening to the real needs of Canadians.

It is about trust.

It is about competence.

And this is an issue of political morality.

My generation should pay its own freight. We shouldn’t burden the next generation with debts we didn’t pay off.

If the government proposes a deficit, I want to see the plan that digs us out of it quickly. And I don’t want that plan based upon some unrealistic projections made up inside the Prime Minister’s Office. Trust Canadians with the truth.

Won't act rashly, Ignatieff vows

"We don't have a number as a trigger. What's really important to us is that the money is well spent ... and that there is a clearly articulated plan to deliver us out of deficit," he said.

Speaking to reporters following a joint Empire and Canadian Club luncheon at the Royal York Hotel, Ignatieff said his party would weigh many factors before voting against the Tory budget.

"It depends on how the money is dispersed, it depends how it's allocated. Will it protect the vulnerable? Will it stabilize the job losses? Will the infrastructure money go to the right places as opposed to the wrong places?"

Defeat of Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's budget would either plunge Canada into an election or force Governor General Michaëlle Jean to ask the Liberals and New Democrats to govern as a coalition supported by the Bloc Québécois.

"It's still on the table," Ignatieff said of the coalition unveiled in December by his predecessor Stéphane Dion and NDP Leader Jack Layton, and backed by Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe.

Still, the new Liberal chief emphasized that he won't act rashly

IMO there is NO CHANCE the Liberals will bring down the government. I don't believe Ignatieff has any interest in governing in a coalition with the NDP and the Bloc (thankfully).