Strength and equality were popular words on January 16 when Liberal Party Leader Michael Ignatieff joined Londoners for a skate in Victoria Park and a meet and greet at The Grand Theatre.

His stop in London is part of his Canada-wide 20/11 tour, where he will hold 20 events in unheld ridings in 11 days. In preparation for the next election, Ignatieff has made it his goal to get to know citizens face to face and provide them with information on the Liberal party. "Tories stand for secrecy in government and Liberals stand for openness and transparency ... that's what separates us from the Conservatives," said Doug Ferguson, London West candidate.

Ignatieff made a brief speech at the Grand Theatre, presenting his thoughts on the Conservative government and why a switch to a Liberal majority may leave Canadians better off. He said he aims to set up a contrast between "a closed government that's not listening to Canadians and an opposition that is (listening) and wants to form the next government."

He added that Stephen Harper is taking credit for everything the Liberal party does. Ignatieff said he feels that Harper doesn't understand that "equality of opportunity has made this the country what it is. He is unwilling to admit that the party that made this equality of opportunity possible are the people in this room, the Liberal Party of Canada."

Roger Caranci, candidate for London Fanshawe, said Ignatieff knows Canada is not prepared for another election right now because of the enormous costs associated with it. Instead, Ignatieff is going around the country asking Canadians about whether their quality of life has improved over the last five years. "I can ask these questions in every room in this country and we get the same answer," said Ignatieff. "Canadians know there's something wrong when you have a government in power for five years and the answer to all those questions is a straight no. We have to go from a no to a yes."

One of Ignatieff's major platforms was his disagreement with Harper's decision to slash Canada's most profitable corporations' taxes by $6 billion. According to Ignatieff, these tax cuts will not help Canada's economy, nor will it help create jobs. Ignatieff said he would put more money into education, alleviating some of the financial pressures associated with obtaining post-secondary education. "If you get the grades, you get to go," he said. "If we're wasting a kid from a working- class background that can't get a post-secondary education, we're wasting economic strength and potential."