Ignatieff, Harper not all that diffferent

    Dion leaned much harder to the left than Ignatieff, which is how he differentiated himself from Harper. One of the biggest items he fought for was a carbon tax. It was that carbon tax, and the disastrous way the message of it was delivered to the public, that helped Dion lead the Liberals to such a crushing defeat just under a year ago.
    Harper would have been much more careful in his delivery of such a plan. From what we’ve seen of Ignatieff, it’s likely he would have done a better job than Dion, as well, because both seem more pragmatic, cautious and, well, conservative.
    Right from when Ignatieff took over from Dion early this year, Harper and Ignatieff found common ground to work together. Specifically, Harper introduced a budget with a large deficit in spending to help aid the flagging economy. The budget, at the time, was supported by Ignatieff.
    Now, as he rattles the sabre more and more about forcing an election, Ignatieff is decrying the Tory government’s deficit, attempting to compare it to the high-spending days of Brian Mulroney, which Liberal Jean Chretien’s government dealt with through drastic spending cuts.
    The two leaders are not interchangeable — they say things differently, they tackle issues in different manners — but they’re also not as different as they want you to think.
    This may also explain why there’s virtually nothing separating the two parties based on recent polls.
    In the last four opinion polls, all released since the start of the month, the separation between the two parties ranges from nothing in three polls, up to five per cent for the Tories in one.
    Maybe Ignatieff will differentiate himself a lot further from Harper, especially if there’s an election. But for now, Duceppe just may have it right — the leaders of the nation’s top two parties might not be as different as they let on.

Jason Small can be reached at 691-1255.