Ignatieff prepared to defeat budget if necessary

Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff says that while Canadians need another election like a "hole in the head," his party is prepared to defeat next week's federal budget, potentially sending voters back to the polls.

Ignatieff warned Wednesday that the Conservative budget must protect the poor, stabilize the country's flagging employment situation and create jobs for the future to earn Liberal support.

Ignatieff kept his party's options openon the upcoming federal budget, however, saying he wants to read it first before deciding whether it deserves support in Parliament.

"I believe that it's part of political responsibility to read a budget before voting on it," Ignatieff told reporters in Montreal after a Wednesday morning meeting with Quebec union leaders.

"[Public] opinion is asking us to give the government a chance to regain the House's confidence."

Any new tax cuts introduced by the Conservatives in next week's budget should target Canada's lowest earners, Ignatieff added.

The Liberal leader said he is a "defender" of the free-market "but one balanced by union weight."

Ignatieff was still coy about the future of a coalition with the New Democratic Party, calling it "a possibility" that "is still on the table."

"We need an election in February like a hole in the head," he said.

He said he listened "with respect and interest" to proposals on boosting employment insurance suggested by Quebec union leader Michel Arsenault, who heads the Quebec Federation of Labour (FTQ), the province's most powerful labour organization.

Guantanamo a 'disgrace'

Ignatieff enjoyed a rare endorsement from the influential union, which has traditionally backed the Bloc Qubcois.

"We think that we need somebody pragmatic to run Canada in the years coming, because we're in the middle of a crisis," Arsenault said of the interim Liberal leader.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is "dogmatic," he added. "His entourage is profoundly convinced that markets will solve every problem."

Ignatieff also emphasized the Liberals' support for repatriating Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr to Canada.

"Our party has said for a year that Canada has to repatriate Khadr, and that we have to close Guantanamo," Ignatieff said. "I love the United States, but Guantanamo is a disgrace."