OTTAWA - Michael Ignatieff wants Canadians to ask themselves if they're better off after five years of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's rule.
If that's the question uppermost in voters' minds the next time they go to the polls, the Liberal leader is confident they'll reject another four years of Conservative government.
But even as Ignatieff tries to frame the ballot question for the next election, Jack Layton is making conciliatory suggestions for avoiding a trip to the polls.
The NDP leader says he's ready for an election, but he'd rather get Parliament to work for Canadians. And he's offering some modest proposals that could secure NDP support for the upcoming federal budget, expected in late February or early March.
While Ignatieff is not directly calling for an election, he's making it clear there's little chance Liberals will be able to support the budget.
"We have different priorities," Ignatieff told reporters Wednesday at the launch of an 11-day, cross-Canada tour of 20 ridings.
"The government is offering the country four more years of austerity, plus jets, plus prisons. We think these are the wrong choices, we've said so clearly, we're not walking back from that and other parties will have to draw the consequences."
All three opposition parties would have to vote against the budget to topple Harper's minority government.
Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe has said his party won't support the budget unless it includes $2 billion in compensation for Quebec harmonizing its provincial sales tax with the GST. Even with such compensation, he's said the Bloc may not endorse the financial blueprint.
To win Liberal support, Ignatieff reiterated Wednesday that the budget would have to roll back corporate tax cuts and shelve plans to purchase stealth fighter jets and expand prisons.
The savings would then have to be plowed into job creation, education, family care and retirement security.
In many respects, all parties seem to be behaving as though an election is imminent.
Harper and his ministers have been criss-crossing the country making spending announcements. Layton is also touring the country and Duceppe is travelling throughout Quebec.
The NDP is planning to unveil its newly renovated campaign war room within the next couple of weeks and says it has financing in place and a campaign plane lined up.
However, in a speech Wednesday evening in Sudbury, Ont., Layton called on both Ignatieff and Harper to cool their election jets.
"I'm calling on the other party leaders to put the partisan games aside and show a little Canadian leadership," Layton said in the text of the speech, which was made available in advance.
Layton said there are practical things party leaders "can accomplish together this spring." For instance, he said the NDP will use "budget negotiations" to call for "modest" increases in Canada Pension Plan and Guaranteed Income Supplement benefits for seniors and for the elimination of the federal GST on home heating fuel.
In contrast, Ignatieff seemed to be rattling his election sabre.
He was flanked by all Ottawa-area Liberal candidates as he launched his winter tour on Parliament Hill. And he immediately headed to an election-style pep rally at a shopping mall in the riding of government House leader John Baird.
The Liberals also released a glossy, 12-page, full-colour booklet on Wednesday, detailing what it calls "five years of misguided priorities . . . (and) missed opportunities" under Harper.
It poses the question "Is Canada better off?" and answers it with a litany of dismal numbers: a record $56-billion deficit last year, a 33 per cent increase in personal bankruptcies, a nine per cent overall increase in the cost of living and a 1.3 per cent decrease in Canadians' standard of living.
"Looking back at those five years shows an ideological and uncaring government that has failed to address the challenges facing Canadian families and diminished our stature in the world," the booklet asserts.
Ignatieff is slated to visit only ridings held by rival parties during his winter tour. In each, he'll attempt to persuade Canadians they have only one choice if they want to get rid of Harper.
"If you want a voice of protest, a vote of protest, fine. Vote for the NDP, vote for the Bloc," he said.
"But if you do that, you will absolutely surely get yourself four more years of Mr. Harper. And Canada deserves better."
