In the spirit of giving everyone a fair shake I have decided to post the link to a scholarly paper co-authored by Michael Ignatieff for the United Nations University back in 2004. The paper is entitled Making States Work: From State Failure to State-Building and seems to be an excellent way to get a sense for the kind of policies someone like Ignatieff would support and implement should he have the chance. It is also a well written document that gives you much to think about.

 

For those who are not aware Michael Ignatieff was recently appointed interim leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and therefore Leader of the Official Opposition in parliament.

 

You should know that I am a fairly strong supporter of Prime Minister Stephen Harper who I think has led the country well in incredibly difficult circumstances such as the emerging global recession, all with minority government status. You should also know I am not the kind of person that decides at a certain point in life that I will support a single political party in every election for as long as I live. I think that is foolish frankly and can lead to horrific situations of power abuse etc. It also denies the reality that things change. People change, the country changes, culture changes, the world changes, and so we must always consider our political affiliations very carefully. As a person of faith each party represents a different facet of truth and I have the difficult job of trying to decide which will govern in a way I believe to be most faithful. It means I have to look at a party and decide if one party’s stance on Abortion for instance trumps another party’s stance on War and Peace. There is no perfect solution to this – all I have discovered is that every party in one way or another reflects an aspect of God’s truth while at the same time each one denies aspects.

 

Back to Ignatieff, it is important for us to understand who this person is because he could very well be leading this country one day. You should read the paper and also visit his Bio on Wikipedia as well – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_ignatieff .

 

You should also get some info on Stephen Harper for the same reasons. His is at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_harper. Harper has not written nearly as much as Ignatieff but if you can get your hands on his master’s thesis that will give you some clues to his policy style as well. It is entitled The Political business cycle and fiscal policy in Canada and the abstract is available here: https://dspace.ucalgary.ca/handle/1880/24345 .

 

Well – have fun. If you manage to find the Harper thesis electronically let me know where it is.