Ignatieff, Harper agree to one-on-one meeting

With a growing rift between the conservatives and liberals over how the Canadian minority government is handling the current economic problems, the two party leaders agreed to have a face-to-face meeting, with the threat of an election looming over them.

With a minority government, the threat of an election is like a thunderstorm. It's looming large overhead, and one can never know when the lightning will strike. For Stephen Harper, the thunderstorm really rolled overhead when Michael Ignatieff took over as leader of the opposition party. Compounding that issue, the Canadian political scene has been under a microscope of how the big two parties react to the changing economic climate, and as each move is made, the thought that it could be the lightning rod cannot be ignored. However, amidst the thunder, both Harper and Ignatieff agreed to sit down and discuss four key issues: * The rate of stimulus spending included in last Thursday's progress report. * The government's plan to contain the ballooning deficit. * The government's plan to deal with Canada's medical isotopes shortage. * Details on additional employment insurance reforms. According to reports, the biggest gap between the two leaders is on EI. Harper's government maintains its EI policy changes, which involves a 500-million dollar program for retaining the laid-off employees that participate in longer-term training (up to two years in length). Meanwhile, Ignatieff proposed an immediate change that would create eligible people if they've worked 360 hours in the last 52 weeks, regardless of where they live. However, Industry Minister Tony Clement said that the Liberal's reforms were counter-productive and unreasonable. In the meantime, the ever-present threat of an election is something that most Canadians don't want to see realized. While Ignatieff has stated he's willing to extend the life of the minority government, he hasn't shied away from his threats to bring down the conservatives. According to the opposition leader, "We're trying to make sure that this Parliament works for Canadians and that we hold the government accountable."