3 December 2006Toronto StarLes Whittington
The Liberals have entrusted their party to Stéphane Dion, the quiet-spoken veteran of the Chrétien years best known for his "green" policies and his hard-line approach to Quebec separatists.
Dion, 51, came from well back to win the party's leadership in a roller coaster of a convention that kept 5,000 delegates guessing the outcome through four ballots over two days.
"The most exciting race in the history of our party is over — let's get ready for the election," Dion declared with former prime ministers Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin standing behind him on the victor's stage when it was all over at 6 p.m. last night.
Dion said "Canadians have a deep concern about the main issue of our time — building a sustainable environment for our children to inherit."
The academic-turned-politician surpassed former Ontario premier Bob Rae in the balloting when ex-MPP Gerard Kennedy dropped out voluntarily after the second ballot and threw his support behind Dion.
The pre-emptive strike was the turning point that allowed Dion to grab the momentum and force Rae out of the race on the next round.
Michael Ignatieff, the Toronto MP who ranked as the odds-on favourite for most of the 10-month campaign, went down to defeat on the fourth ballot. Dion captured 2,521 votes, or 54.7 per cent of the final tally, outpolling Ignatieff by more than 400 votes.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper called Dion last night to offer his congratulations.
But the Conservatives immediately signalled their intention to attack Dion over his participation in the corruption-ridden Chrétien government and his handling of the Kyoto Protocol as environment minister in the Martin regime.
Liberals, who talked all weekend about choosing a leader to outshine Harper in the next election, may long puzzle over the choice of Dion, a Quebecer with little flair for the dramatic whose English is heavily accented.
And his ability to help his party rebuild in Quebec is another question mark. Dion, author of the 2000 Clarity Act that set strict rules for the possible secession of Quebec, is widely disliked by nationalist-minded Quebecers.
This may also play to Harper's advantage as he tries to appeal to Quebec voters by offering increased autonomy to the provincial government.
But Liberals say the race for leader demonstrated the folly of underestimating Dion, whose integrity, drive and "everyman" persona fuelled an unexpectedly successful campaign.
| `We have chosen a man of principles, a man with a vision, a man with courage, a man with conviction' Michael Ignatieff, on new Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion |
"We have chosen a great leader," Ignatieff said as he addressed the convention after his defeat. "We have chosen a man of principles, a man with a vision, a man with courage, a man with conviction. And he will have my support."
Dion arrived in Montreal standing fourth among the eight candidates. On the first ballot on Friday, he slid into third place ahead of Kennedy, the former Ontario education minister, by a two-vote margin.
Martha Hall Findlay, the Toronto lawyer, finished last and prepared to throw her support to Dion, which she did yesterday morning.
On the second ballot, Dion widened his lead over Kennedy but still trailed behind Rae, who came second, and the front-runner Ignatieff. Rae and his supporters were buoyed as MP Ken Dryden joined the Rae team.
But the elation around Rae quickly subsided as Kennedy, in a stunning strategic move, forced his way across the convention floor to Dion's side.
After the next voting round, the convention floor erupted in pandemonium when it was announced that Dion had shot up to first place, leaving Ignatieff stuck in the second spot and forcing Rae off the slate.
A dejected-looking Rae declined to say later if he would run for the Liberals in the next election, saying "there's lots of time" to make that decision. Rae's term as the NDP premier of Ontario between 1990 and 1995 was just too much to overcome for Liberal delegates, many of whom are still upset over the NDP defeating the Ontario Liberals in 1990.
Rae's supporters expressed frustration at Kennedy's early move to Dion, which sealed the former premier's fate despite the endorsement of three defeated candidates — Dryden, Scott Brison and Joe Volpe.
The turning factor was "the decision by Gerard Kennedy to go early to Stéphane Dion," said former finance minister Ralph Goodale, who had been a prominent Rae backer.
"Gerard did not have to drop off that last ballot; he had the legal right to stay on. He chose to go early because he and Mr. Dion had an understanding."
When the arm-twisting of Kennedy delegates began in earnest, it was clear to Rae and Ignatieff workers a majority of Kennedy's people, young and devoted, were going to stick with his choice for leader.
"Gerard is seen by those people, many of them young people, as someone who is in his first campaign and there will be other campaigns," Goodale said.
"He's 46 years old, and there'll be a leadership race sometime down the road, and I think you'll once again see Gerard Kennedy in that campaign."
On top of that, Rae never quite got over the hill of persuading Ontario Liberals in the room — there were nearly 1,900 of them — that he was one of them and ready to lead the party, said MP Judy Sgro, a Rae supporter who later went to Ignatieff.
With files from Richard Brennan
