In Winnipeg today, Stephane Dion gave his stump speech but Bob Fife from CTV noticed that it was lacking something. Fife noticed that Dion only mentioned “Green Shift” once in his speech and did not mention the carbon tax once. The CTV reporter asked if the Green Shift was still central to the campaign. Dion responded, “You have said it was but never me”

Stephane Dion in the Kingston Whig-Standard July 26th 2008,

“The answer is yes. It [the Green Shift plan] is at the heart of our strategy but it’s not our whole strategy.”

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When was the last time a party leader, running to become Prime Minister framed an issue as a referendum as an election period? That would have been Brian Mulroney with free trade. I cannot remember the last time an opposition leader has done so, and for Dion to abandon his central policy plank mid-campaign, Liberals and Canadians will lose confidence in the man during an election which is also defined by leadership.