Following four years of Conservative disinterest in China, Liberals are meeting today to work on Canada’s long-term strategy for China.

“China has the world’s third largest economy, the largest population and is growing at full speed,” said Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff. “In order to compete internationally and assert our voice in the Asia-Pacific region, Canada needs a comprehensive plan for engagement with China.”

Read full article: 'Liberals are working to realize Canada’s full potential with China'

Liberals are working on Parliament Hill today by hosting a roundtable on international development, with an eye to repairing Canada’s global reputation damaged by the Harper Conservatives.

“Under the Harper government, the world has taken a different view of Canada – and it’s not a positive one,” said Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff.

“We once had a proud reputation as the most generous, compassionate and giving nation for coming to the aid of the world’s vulnerable. We need to return to that position of prominence, not out of pride, but because helping our global neighbours in need is the right thing to do.”

Read full article: ' Liberals are working to better Canada’s international development assistance'

Liberal MPs are calling on Prime Minister Stephen Harper to assure Canadians that he won’t change Canada’s long-standing tradition of recognizing women’s reproductive rights and access to contraception as part of his maternal health initiative, and will work in full partnership with the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF).

Conservative MP Brad Trost has petitioned the House of Commons to cut Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) funding to the IPFF.

Read full article: 'Liberals ask Harper to keep ideology out of maternal health initiative'

Following the outpouring of generosity towards the Haitian earthquake relief effort, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff called on the federal government to extend last year’s tax deadline for charitable donations that benefit Haiti.

“Canadians have been touched by the sheer magnitude of this crisis, and have given generously to help our friends in Haiti,” said Mr. Ignatieff. “But the need for immediate humanitarian assistance remains staggering, while the task of rebuilding Haiti looms. We should do everything we can to encourage more giving.”

Read full article: 'Liberals propose 2009 tax year eligibility for Haiti quake donations'

Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff made the following statement tonight regarding the death of a Canadian soldier in Afghanistan:

Tonight, I join with all Canadians as we mourn the loss of Sgt. John Faught in Afghanistan.

Sgt. Faught, of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, served with the 1st Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, based in Edmonton. He was killed in the line of duty by an improvised explosive device while on a joint foot patrol in town of Nakhoney, located in the Panjwaii district of Kandahar province.

Read full article: 'Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff on the death of Sgt. John Faught in Afghanistan'

The Conservatives must stop stalling the listeriosis investigation and provide Canadians with a clear and transparent study of food safety, said Liberal Health Critic Dr. Carolyn Bennett and Agriculture Critic Wayne Easter.

Read full article: 'Food Safety Transparency'

A new report highlighting the struggles new immigrants face in Canada's workforce shows the Conservative government is failing to address the issues of foreign credentials recognition and other workforce integration initiatives, said Liberal Critic for Citizenship and Immigration Maurizio Bevilacqua.

"It is deeply disturbing that having a university degree has virtually no impact on employment rates for new immigrants," he said. "This report shows that the Conservative government is ignoring the unique challenges that new immigrants face in succeeding in the Canadian economy -challenges that have grown larger under their watch and will only grow further as the recession deepens.

Read full article: 'Conservatives Fail New Immigrants'

Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s announcement that a Conservative government would publicly identify young offenders as young as 14 years old is in direct conflict with a recent Supreme Court decision, said Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion.

“How can Mr. Harper possibly campaign to lead this country when he is willing to completely ignore a decision from the highest court in Canada?” said Mr. Dion. “The Prime Minister needs to explain whether or not he is willing to invoke the notwithstanding clause to overrule the Supreme Court in order to score cheap political points.”

Read full article: 'Will the Prime Minister ignore any Supreme Court ruling he disagrees with?'

The Liberal commitment to universal early education and child care centered on the quality, universally inclusive, accessible and developmental (QUAD) principles shows its commitment to Canadian families, Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion and Liberal Candidate for Regina-Lumsden-Lake Centre Monica Lysack said today.

“I was proud to announce our commitment to community-based early education and child care today built on the QUAD principles,” Mr. Dion said today. “Our long-term goal is to ensure that every child has high-quality child care available to them.”

Read full article: 'Liberals commit to universal early education and child care'

Bowing to pressure from Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion and tens of thousands of Canadians from all political affiliations, the Conservative Party, the Bloc Québécois and New Democratic Party of Canada have finally dropped their objections to allowing Green Party Leader Elizabeth May to participate in the televised leaders’ debates on October 1 and 2.

“I’m glad to see that Stephen Harper and Jack Layton are following my leadership, and have agreed to a full debate,” said Mr. Dion. “This is clearly a victory for democracy, a victory for Canadians.”

Read full article: 'Stephen Harper and Jack Layton Backtrack on Debate'

In a shameful, manipulative and politically crass move, the NDP yesterday exploited local unemployed mill workers by busing them to a Jack Layton town hall meeting under the pretext that it was a union meeting to deal with their jobs and benefits for their families.

The Canadian Energy and Paperworkers Union emailed its members advising them of a 6 p.m. gathering in Thunder Bay, but made no mention that it was a political rally, said several workers.

Read full article: 'NDP tricks laid-off millworkers to attend rally'

Prime Minister Stephen Harper must publicly commit that his party will not use the same spending scheme that Canada’s Elections Commissioner is currently investigating from the last election, Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion said today.

“I urge you and your party to publicly pledge to refrain from repeating any of these suspect financial practices in the spirit of democratic fairness during the writ period,” Mr. Dion said in a letter sent to the Prime Minister yesterday.

Mr. Dion said it is not enough for the Prime Minister to tell Canadians that the Conservative Party will “work with Elections Canada to reach a common understanding of the interpretation of the law and that is what we will follow.”

Read full article: 'Harper must assure Canadians his party will not engage in “in-and-out” election spending'

Canadians will choose between two radically different visions for Canada in the next election: the progressive, ambitious and generous vision of a Liberal government or the narrow-minded, right wing agenda of the Conservatives, said Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion.

“The Prime Minister broke his own fixed election law today, signaling just how ill prepared he is to face the difficulties of the country,” said Mr. Dion. “He has ignored the climate change crisis, and brought Canada’s economy to the brink of recession. His government planned to cut to food inspectors and is only reacting now that we have a growing food safety crisis.

Read full article: 'Liberals will bring back a generous, prosperous Canada'

Canadians will use the three federal byelections called in Québec and Ontario today to send Prime Minister Stephen Harper a strong message that they don’t like the way he is running the country, said Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion.

“We have an impressive group of candidates and, while we take nothing for granted, we are confident that voters in these three ridings will turn to the Liberal Party as the best option for a richer, fairer, greener Canada,” said Mr. Dion, referring to the Prime Minister’s decision to call byelections in Westmount—Ville-Marie, Saint-Lambert, and Guelph for a September 8 vote.

Marc Garneau, the first Canadian in space, is the candidate in the Montreal-area riding of Westmount—Ville-Marie, while former Crown Attorney Roxane Stanners is running in the South Shore riding of Saint-Lambert. In Guelph, the Liberal standard-bearer is local business leader Frank Valeriote.

Read full article: 'Three federal byelections called in Québec and Ontario'

Liberals today demanded that the Standing Committee on Agriculture be recalled to compel the Conservative government to reveal its plan to abandon critical food safety inspections, Liberal Agriculture Critic Wayne Easter and Liberal Public Health Critic Carolyn Bennett said today.

“If the Conservatives are not prepared to release their secret plan to abandon food safety inspections voluntarily, we will force them to do so using every tool at our disposal,” said Mr. Easter. “It is time for the Conservative government to come clean with Canadians about how the safety of the food we all eat will be impacted.”

Read full article: 'Conservative Move To Abandon Food Safety Should Be Subject To Emergency Review'