Freshly minted Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff says Canadians have sent a clear message they want their leaders to listen to each other and co-operate -- and he plans to do just that.
One day after being crowned the new party leader, Ignatieff told CTV's Canada AM one of his first orders of business will be to sit down with Prime Minister Stephen Harper and hear him out.
"I think it's right for me to listen," Ignatieff said.
"I think the Canadian people are sending us all a message that it's time for us to listen. Mr. Harper didn't listen to the opposition, he lost the confidence of the House of Commons, he's unable to govern without the confidence of the House of Commons, so it's time that he sat down."
However, he added, "I haven't seen him do much listening so it will be interesting to see if he starts now."
Ignatieff said he had a short congratulatory talk with Harper Wednesday night, but they haven't yet scheduled a sit-down meeting.
In his inaugural news conference as leader on Wednesday, Ignatieff said he was willing to honour the coalition agreement forged between the Liberals and the NDP to topple the Conservatives -- unless the government comes up with a budget he can live with at the end of January.
Earlier this month Ignatieff appeared to be lukewarm on the idea of the coalition, which requires support from the Bloc Quebecois to bring down the Tories.
He said on Thursday the Conservatives will have to draft a budget that puts the needs of Canadians first, if they expect his support, which is essential to keeping the government alive.
"I think what Canadians want us to do is to have a budget at the end of January that protects the most vulnerable in our society," Ignatieff said.
"We're going to have more unemployment next year, we're going to have families really having a hard time putting food on the table and they're going to want their government to make sure they're looking after them, that's number one."
The budget must also include stimulus for the economy that will provide a jolt to business people and entrepreneurs, Ignatieff said.
He told CTV's Mike Duffy Live on Wednesday that Harper must also ditch his "my way or the highway" style of government.
"You can't run a minority Parliament like this: we are fed up with it, we won't have it anymore."
While NDP Leader Jack Layton seems intent on toppling the Tories in January no matter what, Ignatieff struck a more diplomatic tone Wednesday.
"Canadians can't trust us politicians if we say things like 'I'm going to vote against the budget even though I haven't seen it,'" Ignatieff said.
"It seems to me, that (approach) treats the Canadian people with disrespect."
Ignatieff became leader after the party consulted with about 800 influential Liberals from across Canada, and follows a caucus meeting held earlier in the day in which MPs also endorsed the new leader.
In a media release, party president Doug Ferguson said Ignatieff will take over the party's top job at a "historic" moment.
"Our interim leader will be called upon to lead our caucus and our party through a volatile Parliament, and a possible federal election in the midst of the worst economic crisis in memory," Ferguson said Wednesday afternoon.
During the Grit caucus meeting in Ottawa Wednesday morning, Bob Rae, who withdrew from the Liberal leadership race Tuesday, nominated Ignatieff for the leadership position.
