 Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff drinks a beer as he attends a BBQ in Quebec City, July 21, 2010. (Jean-Francois Desgagnes, QMI Agency file photo)
|
OTTAWA - He's stopped at Tim Horton's locations across Ontario and Quebec, eaten Timbits and drank the coffee to prove that he's just a regular Canadian.
Now Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff is trying a new tact to gain the common touch, claiming he became the man he is today thanks to public education. The main problem is Ignatieff is best known for his association with elite schools including Oxford, Harvard and Upper Canada College.
"Everything that has ever happened to me that has been good in my life happened because I have had the enormous good fortune of being a Canadian citizen," said Ignatieff. "Born here. Educated here. Had a publicly-funded education here that gave me my start."
While Ignatieff did go to the University of Toronto after he left high school, his high school experience was no ordinary one.
Ignatieff entered Upper Canada College, perhaps the most elite school in the country as an 11-year-old boarding student.
Upper Canada College, which currently charges fees nearing $50,000 for tuition and board has been the scholarly home of several premiers, lieutenant governors and business giants ranging from Conrad Black to Hal Jackman. Ordinary and publicly-funded are not words that normally go with Upper Canada College.
