OTTAWA — Transport Minister John Baird lashed out at Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff Monday for suggesting a federal election wouldn’t cause political instability.

“This guy was a university professor at Harvard, I don’t know a single person with any experience in (government) who would believe him...of course, elections will cause instability,” Baird said.

Ignatieff told Le Devoir, a French-language daily, “an election would not create instability.” The Liberal leader said he supported the federal budget this winter, even though he didn’t like it, because Liberals recognized Canada was in an economic crisis and it wasn’t time to play political games.

“But now, we are in a different situation,” Ignatieff said. “We can have an election without threatening anything whatsoever. We could even say it would be good for the country.”

Baird said “everyone knows” government grinds to a halt during an election campaign. Decisions are not only delayed until the election is over but until a new cabinet is sworn in and politicians get settled into their new jobs, he said.

“We are seeing some positive economic signs, but they are fragile...The last thing we need is the political instability an election would cause,” Baird said.

althia.raj@sunmedia.ca