The Martlet

Federal Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff made a pit stop at UVic on Aug. 20 during his summer-long Liberal Express bus tour.

While at UVic, Ignatieff saw presentations by members of UVic’s EcoCAR team and UVic’s Institute for Integrated Energy Systems, before sitting down for an exclusive interview with The Martlet.

Ignatieff said that student grants and post-secondary institutions should be better funded, but that a tuition fee freeze and free university education are not practical.

Ignatieff addressed the issue of student debt, saying the Liberals “want to make sure, first of all, if you get the grades, you get to go [to university]. It has to be an objective of any Liberal government to take the issue of access off the table, so everyone who is qualified doesn’t have any financial obstacles to get there.”

He said Canada needs “student grant systems that don’t bury students in debt” and “schedules for [debt] repayment that don’t shut you down.”

He added that post-secondary institutions should be better funded so that they “don’t balance their budgets by continually jacking up tuition fees.”

“I’m not going to promise you tuition freezes. I’m not going to promise you free tuition. It’s just not a practical proposition,” said Ignatieff, who went to the University of Toronto on a scholarship after graduating from Upper Canada College, an elite private school.

“Students, I think, accept that they have to pay something for their tuition.”

Ignatieff said a Liberal government would make sure students can get “a good degree and not have the rest of your life, kind of, in pause while you repay.” But he was unable to offer clear details on what would be done to reach that goal.

“We’re going to work out a package for the next election which puts that promise in writing and makes a clear commitment,” he said.

After addressing education, Ignatieff spoke about the Liberals plans for the environment. To cut Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions, he said the federal government should invest in green technology research and public transportation, “take part in international climate change negotiations and negotiate seriously ... [and] use existing federal environmental law to get our emissions down.”

Ignatieff also reaffirmed his support for the moratorium on oil tanker traffic on B.C.’s northwest coast, which he first declared in June after intense lobbying by environmental groups.

“You just take out a map and look at the channel into Kitimat, you look at the environment that we’re trying to protect here, and you don’t want heavy oil tanker traffic in there. The risks are just too great,” he said.

“We want energy development in this country but we want it consistent with environmental protection, and that’s why we think the moratorium should be upheld and, if necessary, legislated.”

Ignatieff also spoke about Canada’s military. He reaffirmed that Canadian combat troops must be out of Afghanistan in 2011 and suggested Canada could help with training and development. He also said the Liberals may seek a public inquiry into Canada’s role in the torture of Afghans, depending on the findings of the multi-party committee reviewing the related documents.

On the question of how long the Liberals will prop up the Conservative government, Ignatieff was ambiguous.

“Well, you should ask Jack Layton that question as well. Last time I moved a non-confidence motion against the government – and I did so – guess who propped him up? Jack Layton,” he said.

Ignatieff said the Liberals are “going to hold the government to account through the fall.”

“We need to look at what they bring forward this autumn. We want to make Parliament work as long as we can,” said Ignatieff. “But if Mr. Harper wants to make Parliament work, we can make it work. If he doesn’t, we know what to do.”

When the Liberal Express left UVic, it took the scenic route along Beach Drive to a party rally in Cook Street Village, where Ignatieff spoke to a party rally of about 150 people in front of Serious Coffee.

During his address, Ignatieff took shots at Stephen Harper and the Conservatives for twice proroguing Parliament, ignoring federal court orders, firing the RCMP officer who headed the gun registry, defaming Canadian diplomat Richard Colvin for criticising Canada’s actions in Afghanistan, mismanaging the G8/G20 Summit, cancelling the long form census and practicing “the politics of division.”

He said that Canadians approach him with “a sense that the country is being governed by an ideology, a set of beliefs that are alien to the character of our country.”

Ignatieff appealed to disaffected Conservatives, and to NDP voters, to “come on into the big red tent, the big red tent at the centre of Canadian political life.”

He said governing from the centre means “fiscal responsibility.”

“It’s our money, and [the Conservatives] have sprayed it around like there’s no tomorrow. We’re in $54 billion worth of deficit,” he said.

Ignatieff then called for more investment in affordable housing, education, training and child care, but did not say where the cash would come from.

Some in the crowd were not there to support Ignatieff, however, but to protest the federal Liberals’ support for the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST).

Josh Steffler, a member of We Are Change Victoria and fightHST.com, held a sign coined by his kids that read, “HARPER AND IGGY SITTING IN A TREE BOTH VOTE YES ON HST!”

“We are here to remind voters that the Liberals are just as bad as the Conservatives. It’s two parties, one policy,” said Steffler.

“Gordon Campbell, Michael Ignatieff and Stephen Harper have all given B.C. the HST. So I don’t want [Ignatieff] to squeeze out extra votes without people remembering that he’s responsible for the HST.”

As Ignatieff left the rally, The Martlet asked for his thoughts on the HST. “I think I’ve already talked about that,” he said.