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Michael Ignatieff Endorsed As Liberal Party Leader
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by Rob Walker | December 10, 2008 at 07:06 am
343 views | 9 Recommendations | 3 comments
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Update 3:07pm EST
Michael Ignatieff took the reigns of the Liberal party on Wednesday afternoon, paving the way to him leading the coalition against the Conservatives when parliament resumes in January.
Ignatieff stated he would support a non-confidence motion if the Governor General allows it.
Ignatieff spoke at a press conference this afternoon: "Mr. Harper has decided to divide the house, parliament and Canada," said Ignatieff. "Mr. Harper has a choice, he can continue with his divisive politics or he can attempt to collaborate in a constructive fashion."
The Liberal caucus gave its support to Michael Ignatieff today behind closed doors, clearing the way for the Toronto MP and internationally-known academic to lead the party through one of its most challenging times.Liberals emerged from caucus saying they intend to wait and see Prime Minister Stephen Harper's budget next month before deciding whether to topple the Conservatives and form a coalition government with the NDP.
Canada’s Liberal Party appointed Michael Ignatieff, a former Harvard University professor, as its interim leader, after Stephane Dion announced earlier this week he would step down.Ignatieff will be leader until the party holds a leadership convention in May, the Liberals said in an e-mailed statement. Ignatieff is the only remaining candidate in the leadership race.
Not everyone is happy with Ignatieff, who many claim is highly intelligent but has some very right-leaning policies and feelings on certain issues.
This may also be true of the photogenic and scholarly Michael Ignatieff, the man most likely to inherit Trudeau’s mantle.
The essay that appears here reveals Canada’s probable Liberal leader and possible prime minister as a thoughtful, attractive, erudite and fundamentally mistaken thinker. I wrote about it at some length about three months ago. In his piece, Mr. Ignatieff expresses concern that “In the grim present, humanitarian intervention feels like an idea whose time has come and gone.”
A day after Bob Rae stepped down, the Liberals are set to endorse Michael Ignatieff to be party leader. With the announcement of a coalition and the suspension of parliament, this would pave the way for Ignatieff to lead a possible election against the Conservatives.
The Etobicoke-Lakeshore MP, who finished second to Stephane Dion in the 2006 Liberal leadership contest, will now take over for him as party leader. The Liberal caucus meets in Ottawa Wednesday and at that point it will unanimously endorse Ignatieff as interim party leader.The former Harvard academic will be acclaimed as permanent leader at the Liberal convention in Vancouver next May. Ignatieff's two rivals for the position, Dominic LeBlanc and Bob Rae, both dropped out of contention in the past week, leaving the former deputy leader of the Opposition the last man standing.
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at 07:37 on December 10th, 2008
I am not sure that will help the Liberals though. Bob Ray would have been a better choice in my opinion. Even better would have been the Former Toronto Candidate and I forgot his name at the moment that ran in the first race after Martin stepped down.
at 08:09 on December 10th, 2008
Hi there! Oh I think maybe you were referring to Kennedy? - but he made a fundamental mistake in throwing his support behind Dion - so that those people that were in favour of Kennedy suddenly supported Dion in an attempt to move the momentum away from Ignatieff. (*Remember there was a large group afraid of Ignatieff at the time - because he had only been in Canada for a few years - and did not have any real political experience!). Why on earth didn't Kennedy throw his support behind Bob Rae? Once he knew it was over for him - he should've supported Rae, and then we wouldn't have gotten into the mess we got into now. In terms of Bob Rae, it's a sad state of affairs. Imagine when you've been told privately that you will be supported for the Leadership, and then you find out very publicly at a news conference that the person is now supporting Ignatieff. That's what the 3rd Candidate did only a day after he stepped out of the race: Dominic LeBlanc.
I found it very telling during a meeting with a reporter yesterday when Rae said in effect that "you have some solid people who come and tell you they support you and want nothing in return. They support you because they feel you are the best person for the job and stick with you. And then there are those as always their are in politics who say one thing and then end up doing another - it's the nature of politics and I've been around too long to go around spouting about these things in public - what good what it do?" Privately, he must have felt quite let down when people suddenly 'switched' to Ignatieff. What we the public will never learn is, 'how many important cabinet positions were promised to certain individuals in exchange for their support'. Bob Rae did not play those games and I have a lot of respect for him in so many ways! He would've made a good and honest leader that would've taken Canada in a better direction. Now that opportunity is lost - what a shame!
at 21:27 on December 10th, 2008
Kennedy it was yes. Thank you. He did so because of the environment and because Bob Ray was question on his ability since the public dislike he knew in Ontario due to his NDP government as he was PM of the province. People failed to see that Bob Ray did govern the province successfully through a major crisis and recession. THe cut backs he made and tax increases help Ontario avoid the worth and yet he paid dearly for it Politically.