The Professor Packs His Bags

Grit leader Stéphane Dion, who last Tuesday led his team to one of its worst electoral showings since Confederation, has announced that he will resign as head of the Liberal Party of Canada effective May 2009. Thus begins a leadership race in which high-profile Toronto MPs Michael Ignatieff and Bob Rae are considered front-runners, and that could draw in GTA Liberal luminaries including—but certainly not limited to—former provincial education minister Gerard Kennedy, hockey great Ken Dryden, former federal immigration minister Joe Volpe, and lawyer Martha Hall Findlay. Be sure to check Torontoist later in the week for a rundown of the possible local contenders for the Liberal throne.

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Everyone saw this one comming. Michael Ignatieff might have a chance if he keeps the gaffs to a minimum and sticks to a solid viewpoint before speaking.

Jerad - were you being lazy and copying the candidate sheet from last time up or do you actually consider Joe "Youth For" Volpe a contender?

The leader they need isn't from Toronto - he's from New Brunswick.

dowlingm - I was just listing a few MPs from the Toronto area who might run (emphasis on "might"), not necessarily those who have a chance of winning. Given that Volpe was the first MP to call for Dion's head after the election results were in, I don't think it's too far fetched to imagine him throwing his hat in one more time. In any case, a more detailed list of possible Toronto-area contenders will be up later in the week.

"The leader they need isn't from Toronto - he's from New Brunswick."

My thoughts exactly.

Frank McKenna, your country needs you!

Aww man, this is going to be so sad when everyone defriends him on Facebook.

I don't know... I'm of the opinion that the leader they need is from urban B.C.
Noone in particular in mind, but the Grits desperately need to make the West feel like they're part of the family.
And, for better or worse, that's not going to happen while the party just sends the leadership back and forth between Montreal and Toronto.

The Liberals have a wealth of contenders to choose from, can't say the same for any other party.
I think McKenna will take it and would be the best to grab those who lean Conservative but I'd like to see Hall-Findlay surprise us.

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The Liberals need a maverick, someone outside the Quebec-Windsor corridor.

snicker

I sure hope the Libs wouldn't be so moronic as to let Gerard lead them. He is the reason they're in this mess in the first place.

I like Gerard. He's a great person for the community and was a good MPP. He just made a piss-poor decision to vault Stephane into the leadership.

Here's to hoping someone successfully gets Justin to take over.

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