Michael Ignatieff made his case for what he called a more compassionate Liberal government  today, in the heart of the business district. 

The Liberal leader spoke to a packed meeting of the Toronto Board of Trade at the Hilton Hotel, amplifying on why he thinks the Liberals "can do better."

He quoted Ronald Reagan's line which ultimately took down Jimmy Carter ("are you better off than you were four years ago?"). 

He mocked the finance minister's new $55.9 billion deficit ("we can't count on a government that can't count.").

He took a swipe at the Harper government's environmental record, saying Alaska had invested more in green technology than the Conservatives ("Harper's not just behind President Obama, he's also behind Sarah Palin."). 

And he tried to reassure the crowd that he wasn't a tax and spend Liberal ("we don't believe in big government. But we do believe in good government.").

And the kicker: "We can do better, and we will." 

The speech was moderately received, rarely interrupted for applause, despite a significant presence of partisan Liberal supporters. Some suggested the word had gone out that the leader wanted a serious, not partisan rally-type, event.

And like the prime minister, Ignatieff is now using a teleprompter to deliver his speeches.

But the key piece of news came at the press conference afterwards.

Last week, Ignatieff and the McGuinty government got their signals crossed, the result being an awkward moment where Ontario Liberals were never quite sure whether their federal Liberal cousin was actually in support of the provincial party's #1 economic plank: a new harmonized sales tax, to go into effect next July.

Evidently, the McGuintyites must have got to Ignatieff's team and urged them to clean up this mess, because today, the federal leader left no daylight between his own position and that of the premier's. 

Ignatieff said, while his preference would have been to work out a national harmonized sales tax with every province, he added his Liberals were a serious professional bunch and wouldn't rip up any agreements duly negotiated between the federal and provincial government. 

If Tim Hudak and Andrea Horwath were looking for an ally in the federal Parliament, they didn't find one in Michael Ignatieff. 

Crisis averted within the Liberal family as well.