Harper has his work cut out for him, but I don’t think it will be as stressful as when Dion was leading the Liberal party. Obviously, Dion and Harper do not like each other, and Harper refused to listen to anything Dion suggested. Now, however, Ignatief is leading, and Harper has already consulted with him a number of times. Considering the shaky ground Harper has found himself on within the Commons, I don’t think he’s dumb enough to ignore what Ignatief proposes for the budget. Likewise, Ignatief is not as ignorant as Dion, and he won’t vote against the budget unless it is really bad (which is won’t be because Harper likes his job). Furthermore, Ignatief has yet still to gain popularity within the country, and Canadians won’t like a coalition with Layton any more than the previous coalition plan.
So what will happen this month? The budget will be proposed, passed, and then we can all move along towards a time where there is no longer a recession. This will indeed take time, because as long as the U.S. is frantically searching for the surface, Canada will be right there with them, drowning in all of the U.S.’s past and current financial blunders.
