Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff recently tore into the minority Conservative government over record deficits and what he called out of control spending.

It took some time for the Liberals to find their voice, but it seems like the pieces are falling into place for Michael Ignatieff to finally define his party on his own terms, as opposed to being defined by Tory ads.  Whether or not those pieces will be enough to challenge the Prime Minister for his seat is too soon to tell, but the fact that the Liberals have begun to differentiate themselves through their developing platform is at least a small victory for a party which has been struggling for years. 

Among those points of difference is the purchase of the next generation F-35 jet fighter aircraft and the proposed expansion of Canada's prison system.  However, it was the events of last week (a week in which Parliament was on holiday) which handed the opposition its heaviest ammo.

If you recall, Canada lost its bid for a seat on the U.N. Security Council to Germany and Portugal, but it wasn't because of "secret votes" as the Prime Minister claimed.  It was partially due to a major scrap between the United Arab Emirates in which the tiny nation kicked Canada out of its primary military staging base in the Middle East because Canada refused to negotiate additional flights for UAE airlines to Canada.  An unnamed official within the UAE said that its government actively lobbied against Canada in its bid for the U.N. seat.  Even the Economist wrote of the failure of Canada's foreign policy as the reason behind the loss saying:

In 2003 Bono, a rock star and poverty campaigner, proclaimed that 'The world needs more Canada'. This week, the world decided it didn't. ...Many countries apparently share Mr Ignatieff's dislike of Mr Harper's foreign policy. This has featured outspoken support of Israel's hardline government, alienating the Muslim countries that make up a third of the UN's membership. Mr Harper has also made few friends in Africa (where he has closed embassies), or in Europe and among island states (with his feeble policy on climate change).

That being said, the government remains steadfast with their defencive talking points which centres solely around what they are calling their principled stand.  No one has offered a definition of what exactly the government means when it says it approached the international community from a principled position, but the Tories insist that they made no mistakes, going so far as to imply that they chose to leave Camp Mirage because it was in the best interests of the Canadian people.  Under withering fire from opposition members during today's question period on topics ranging from the record deficit, out of control spending, government tampering with Access to Information requests, the U.N. Security Council loss, and being kicked out of the UAE, the government stood firm and refused to take any blame.

Watch Bob Rae unload the opening salvo from Question Period and John Baird laugh off the questions below: