Iggy Moment

Jonathan Kay: Why Ignatieff's Tim Hortons gimmick is landing with such a thud

Posted: September 24, 2009, 1:28 PM by Jonathan Kay

All politicians use gimmicks — especially here in Canada, where the two leading parties agree on matters of substance, and so need to rely on stunts to slice off marginal supporters from other camps. But not all parties can get away with that trick. Michael Ignatieff is a notable case in point. He was picked to lead his party because he is the Intellectual One — heir to Trudeau, and all that guff. So when his party descends into gimmickry, it's hard to square with his image. In fact, it makes his party seem kind of desperate.

Case in point was the odd little clique of Liberal protesters who greeted Stephen Harper when he opted this week to tour a Tim Hortons plant in Oakville, instead of joining the windbag global-warming chorus at the United Nations. (The protesters nominally numbered a dozen — but I'm subtracting the guy in the seal suit who seems to be a single-issue anti-sealing protester. I am also tempted to discount Liberal MPs Bonnie Crombie and Kirsty Duncan, who appear in the shot as if they are getting their class photo taken. So that leaves us with nine.)

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