Michael Ignatieff has secured his candidacy for the Liberals in Etobicoke-Lakeshore, as the last-ditch attempts to challenge his parachuted nomination have been rendered ineligible. Ignatieff’s support for war in Iraq kept the Liberals from steering the Harvard academic into a riding with a prominent number of Muslims; instead, he’ll spend the next eight weeks having to deflect his own words about the Ukrainians of yesteryear, published in the 1993 book Blood and Belonging, in a riding sufficiently populated with their descendants. "It’s a contemplative, moving, almost astonishingly honest passage," writes Colby Cosh. "Exactly the kind of thing that will get you killed in Canadian politics!" (Ignatieff issued a statement explaining he’s no Ukrainophobe and circulated quotes are out of context.) The decision by current riding MP Jean Augustine to not seek re-election wasn’t made final until Saturday; riding association president Ron Chyczij scurried over with his papers challenging Ignatieff before the 5 p.m. deadline, telling The Globe and Mail he found himself hammering the locked entrance so hard "I thought I was going to break either my wrist or the door". But the Ontario party president, Michael Crawley, determined Chyczij was out of the running for failing to resign his executive position. The other eleventh-hour aspirant, Marc Shwec, was disqualified because he wasn’t a Liberal Party member to begin with – presumably, he’s in no hurry to get a membership now.
New role a gamble, Ignatieff admits [Toronto Star]
7 responses so far ↓
alanTdot // November 29, 2005 at 1:44 pm
I have been hearing of the coronation of Mr Ignatieff since I was in grade 10. I’m 36 now. He appears to be intelligent, well spoken, knowledgeable, photogenic, and a Canadian patriot. This election is merely the first step in his eventual coronation as the head of the liberal party/Prime Minister (TomaYto, TomaHto).
I have reservations though. To my eyes, he is …… soft.
Can he streetfight??
What will happen when he is in Quebec and they Boo the mere mention of his name? Is he tough? The mere mention of the fact that he is a former ‘Harvard Professor’ cannot fill anybody with confidence. When it counts, will he step up to face the American Manifest Destiny that is rearing it’s ugly head again? ( Don’t believe it? Dick Cheney visited the Alberta Tar Sands. Just wait till they start running out of water.)
Also, is he not just another Boomer who will slogan us to death about ‘equal’ this and ‘fair’ that all while making sure his future as an elite is secured? I remain unconvinced. Give me the street fighter from Shawinigan anyday.
Glen // November 30, 2005 at 11:09 am
Why is Ignatieff running for the Liberals when he was for missle defense, for the war in Iraq, and against state sponsored multiculturalism?
Does it matter to him that the Liberal party is morally bankrupt and corrupt?
Or is it more important to get elected than to have ethics?
Dan McKenzie // November 30, 2005 at 5:44 pm
Michael Ignatieff presents a very interesting story to this election, which is almost more interesting than an election which I believe we already had 17 months ago. Ignatieff certainly is not your typical Liberal. In my little knowledge of him he’s somewhat of a Liberal Imperialist which might even get him recognition as a neo-conservative. He is a strong supporter of military force as intervention and that often a people don’t have what it takes to govern themselves. He believes that liberal imperialism can work. Okay now taking that into mind why is he running for the Liberals? Of course I don’t know any of his background on social issues and I don’t know his history in the party. One thing I do think though is that the office of the PM would have looked deeply into this selection and questioned his allegiances to the party. My conclusion, many Liberals are VERY upset about him running. And that Ignatieff does have leadership desires and the Liberals which he probably believes are the better and more powerful party overall, give him the best chance of achieving great influence.
Jonathan // November 30, 2005 at 6:21 pm
But look at that photo.
If not politics, the man’s called to play Puddy on Seinfeld on Ice…
Natalie // December 1, 2005 at 12:23 am
I’ll just say one thing, he should watch out for the ukrainians. They never stop fighting.
Morva // December 1, 2005 at 4:53 pm
Ukraine is not weak!
Iggy looks like a soup nazi anyways.
Alex // December 2, 2005 at 9:50 pm
Ignatieff should have stayed at Harvard. Oh wait! He is still teaching at Harvard three days a week. And he told the Harvard student newspaper if he lost the election, he will keep working at Harvard (never mind that pesky Canadian U of T where he is supposed to start teaching in January).
It scares me that some Liberals want Ignatieff to lead our country. Think what Canada would be like under Ignatieff. If you were rich, you could pay $46,000 a year to go to the fancy, elite schools where people like him teach, and if you are poor, you can enlist in the army and dodge bullets in Iraq.
And if you have a problem with the Ignatieff-style of democracy, you can pound on the door til your wrist turns blue, but we won’t let you in. It’s really the lesser evil that way.
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