In the land of politics, tough economic times often provide the unique opportunity for politicians to take a stand in the public spotlight and declare themselves visionaries of hope (and competence) who will lead their nations back to prosperity.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the president who led the U.S. out of the Great Depression and through World War II, once said, “The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.” While in the U.S. the people have overwhelmingly chosen Obama as their vessel of hope in desperate times, in Canada we are still looking for a leader who will prove himself worthy of representing our best interests.

Despite the economic climate, Canada is still stuck with a minority government, with the opposition Liberals recently selecting Michael Ignatieff as their interim leader. Recently, coinciding with Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s visit to New York, Ignatieff’s office paid a newswire to display a giant, high-definition image of the Liberal leader posing eloquently with Obama smack-dab in the middle of Times Square and Las Vegas.

It could be argued that after being outside of Canada for the past 36 years and only coming back in the name of political opportunism, Ignatieff should spend less time plastering his image on lighted billboards in the U.S. and more time making himself known amongst Canadians. After all, aren’t we the ones who can actually vote for the man? To make matters worse, according to a Radio-Canada interview with Chantal Hebert, Ignatieff claimed to be unaware of the Times Square PR stunt and called it a “mistake,” despite reports that his office had organized it.

On the other hand, Harper has also been busy south of the border. However, instead of glamorizing his image above New York’s busy streets, he has appeared on five major American television broadcasts, met with the UN Secretary-General, and spoken with key business leaders.

Harper, who has had years to make himself known to the Canadian people, has been busy touting Canada’s world-leading banking system – our banks have been ranked number one in the world by the World Economic Forum – as well as discussing pressing issues such as the Alberta oil sands and the dangers of protectionism. CNBC’s Larry Kudlow stated that “Mr. Harper is a trained economist and quite an impressive statesman. Our northern neighbours are lucky to have him at the helm.” A recent article in the Wall Street Journal stated that “there is a vacuum in conservative leadership in North America and on the world stage, and Mr. Harper is stepping into it.”

When the second-largest newspaper in the world, and the most respected in economic news, names your policies as “Reaganesque,” as the leader of a right leaning party you must be doing something right. While Ignatieff is piggybacking his success on photo-ops and declaring his leadership abilities through lighted billboards in a foreign country, Harper is engaging in meaningful dialogue on the world economic crisis and matters of foreign affairs – the true showmanship of a leader.

Unfortunately, it is becoming more apparent that the Liberals are becoming less relevant when it comes to the economy. This past week they have been highly critical of the three billion dollars that will quickly stimulate the faltering Canadian economy, despite their calls earlier that the stimulus funds were not making their way into the economy quickly enough. Ignatieff has a reputation of being a learned intellectual and a smart politician, but it seems his playbook is dry at the moment. These are tough times, and in tough times the people look for leaders that represent their interests through both policy and meaningful dialogue without getting caught up in the self-serving game of politics.