Monday, April 02, 2007

Ignatieff, Bloc MP to join delegation. PM's office sends 11th-hour invite to ceremony

Apr 02, 2007 04:30 AM The Star

OTTAWA–Forty years after his own father, George, was part of Canada's official delegation to honour soldiers' sacrifice in the Vimy battle of World War I, deputy Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff will be making the same trip next weekend. Thanks to a last-minute invitation from Prime Minister Stephen Harper's office – probably prompted by a growing furor over their exclusion – opposition parties have secured an official place on the Canadian mission to mark Vimy's 90th anniversary. Ignatieff will be going to France as the Liberals' most senior representative, while NDP Leader Jack Layton will likely go if it can be arranged, according to his spokesperson Karl Belanger. The Bloc Québécois is sending MP Roger Gaudet, a Veterans Affairs official said yesterday. The invitations for these three politicians were sent late on Friday, after increasing media inquiries about why Harper hadn't chosen to include the opposition leaders in the official delegation to Vimy.

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