This is Canadian Leadership - Jack Layton

From an email received from the Federal NDP yesterday:

My Friend –

For the third time in a month, Michael Ignatieff has taken a shot at my leadership.

Last week in a Liberal video he knocked my many years of service to the Canadian people.

While Michael Ignatieff spent 34 years outside of our country, I was rolling up my sleeves as a city councillor to get things done for people – building green initiatives in Toronto, overseeing one of Canada’s largest public hydro companies, presiding over the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.

I’m incredibly proud of this record. I don’t know why Mr. Ignatieff expects me to hide from it.

While Michael Ignatieff was writing papers at Harvard supporting George Bush's invasion of Iraq, and supporting the use of state assasinations and coercive interrogations, I was working to build a revitalized, principled, fiscally responsible New Democratic Party that is ready to take on Stephen Harper’s Conservatives.

Again, I’m not inclined to hide from this.

I am incredibly proud of my record. Of the things you and I have accomplished together.

It’s this record of Canadian leadership that I will take to voters as I ask them to join with me to defeat this out-of-touch Conservative government.

TAKING ON STEPHEN HARPER.

A few weeks ago, Michael Ignatieff responded to Stephen Harper's divisive approach on guns by targeting six NDP MPs who consistently supported the gun registry.

And not a single Conservative MP who actually opposed it.

A lot of people have asked me, with the Liberals turning their focus solely towards us, whether I will point the NDP’s election resources solely towards Michael Ignatieff’s team.

No. I absolutely won’t.

The focus of New Democrats across the country remains the same. To defeat Stephen Harper’s out-of-touch government. And to replace it with New Democrat leadership that cares about the challenges that middle-class families face right now.

I know that after four and a half years under the Conservatives, Canadians are looking for a different kind of leadership. And only New Democrats are stepping up to the plate.

You see, in two and a half years as Liberal leader, Michael Ignatieff has voted in favour of every single Stephen Harper budget.

Under his leadership, the Liberals have consistently voted to adopt Mr. Harper's tax breaks for profitable banks and big polluters. The same corporate giveaways that Mr. Ignatieff now pretends to oppose.

Michael Ignatieff even voted for the Harper HST that has caused the price of everyday essentials to skyrocket in B.C. and Ontario.

And he hasn’t delivered a single thing for Canadians in return.

Michael Ignatieff has backed Stephen Harper throughout his entire political career. That is his record of public service. And that is why the only path left for him seems to be attacking New Democrats.

DEFEATING CONSERVATIVES IN THE NEXT ELECTION.

New Democrats have our sights set on the real target. Defeating Stephen Harper’s government.

And I want you to be a part of it.

I’m asking you to make a pre-election donation right now. Canadians are looking for an alternative to Stephen Harper, and you and I are going to give it to them. Together we are going to defeat Conservatives across the country.

We’ll defeat Stephen Harper in B.C., in Alberta, in Saskatchewan and in Manitoba – all places where New Democrats are the only alternative to the Conservatives.

We’ll defeat them in Ontario, in places like Oshawa where the scars of four years of Stephen Harper’s broken promises are all too evident.

We’ll build a national alternative to Stephen Harper by building on our breakthrough in Quebec.

And we’ll defeat Stephen Harper in Atlantic Canada, in ridings like South Shore Saint Margaret's where we finished only 2% behind the Conservatives in 2008.

I want you to help make it happen. Make your secure online donation right now – and let’s launch the next election campaign with a bang.

It’s time for a different kind of leadership here in Canada. Not Stephen Harper’s out-of-touch approach, but leadership that cares about you. Not the Conservatives’ Republican-style wedge politics, but leadership that seeks out common-sense solutions to make your life better.

As an actual small-business owner, as a professor at Ryerson University, and yes, in 28 years as an elected leader, I’ve learned a lot about how to get practical results for you. That’s why I’m running to be your Prime Minister.

I’m ready to take up this challenge. Your New Democrat team is ready as well. With your help, we’re going to make it happen.

Jack Layton
Leader of Canada’s New Democrats