Stephane Dion Wins Liberal Leadership

Dion’s victory came after he stormed past Michael Ignatieff, the longtime favourite, on the final two ballots of a wild day of changing allegiances at the Palais des congres in Montreal.

The former environment minister wasted no time expressing his excitement regarding his looming battles with Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservatives.

“The most exciting race in the history of our party is over,” he told a boisterous Liberal crowd.

“Let’s get ready for the election.”

Ignatieff lost by 437 votes but immediately praised the new leader.

“We have chosen a man of principle, a man with vision, a man with courage, a man with conviction,” Ignatieff said the gut-wrenching loss.

“He will have my entire support.”

Dion becomes the 11 ^th leader of the Liberal Party, and the third straight from Quebec.

With no endorsements from fellow candidates, Ignatieff’s momentum stalled on the second ballot and it appeared the final race would come down to Dion and Bob Rae, but the former Ontario premier made only a modest gain in the third round of voting, finishing with 28.5 percent support at the federal party’s convention in Montreal.  

Rae told his supporters to vote their conscience. 

“It’s not appropriate for the third-place finisher to determine who will be the first-place finisher,” he said

Dion led going into the fourth ballot after making a stunning improvement by winning 37 percent support – nearly double what he had in the previous vote – with Ignatieff close behind with 34.5 percent of delegates supporting him.

The academic and rookie Toronto MP stood alone and held the lead for the first two rounds of voting. Delegates were required to vote for the candidate for whom they were elected on the first ballot, but could back whomever they choose on subsequent ballots.

“Fellow Liberals, give me the chance to lead. Give me the chance to inspire. Give me the chance to serve. I will make you proud and I will give you victory,” Ignatieff said in a speech to delegates Friday night. His words fell on deaf ears.

There was speculation Rae would make it to the final leg of the race after Joe Volpe, Ken Dryden and Scott Brison offered their support.

But those endorsements were no match for the apparent alliance formed between Dion and former Ontario education minister Gerard Kennedy who were only separated by a few ballots after the initial vote Friday. They reportedly agreed that whomever won the least support between the two would prop up the other, and that’s exactly what happened.

“We must offer our own projects to Canadians, a generous and ambitious vision that is in stark contrast to Mr. Harper’s selfish and narrow idea of Canada,” Dion said Friday evening.

Eighth place candidate Martha Hall Findlay also urged her camp to support Dion after she was eliminated from the race after placing last on the first ballot.

To read Richard Madan’s blog From The Floor of the convention, click here.

Here is a brief sketch of the new Liberal leader:

Stephane Dion

Age : 51.
Born: Sept. 28, 1955.
Education: Universite Laval, B.A. 1977, M.A. in 1979; doctorate in sociology from the Institut d’etudes politiques in Paris 1986.
Career: Taught public administration and political science at the Universite de Montreal, 1984 to 1996; lectured at the Universite de Moncton in 1984; author of numerous books and scientific articles.
Political experience: Named to cabinet as minister of intergovernmental affairs by Prime Minister Jean Chretien, January 1996; elected to Parliament in a by-election March 1996; re-elected 1997, 2000, 2004 and 2006; environment minister 2004.
Family: Married to Janine Krieber; one daughter, Jeanne.
Quote: “Underlying our Liberal philosophy is a conciliation of two great human ideals: individual freedom and equal opportunity. I propose that we add another: a healthy environment.”
  
Courtesy of the Canadian Press

Voting results Saturday from ballots at the Liberal leadership convention with placing, name and percentage:

First Ballot

1. Michael Ignatieff   29.3
2. Bob Rae               20.3
3. Stephane Dion      17.8
4. Gerard Kennedy   17.7
5. Ken Dryden          4.9
6. Scott Brison          4.0
7. Joe Volpe             3.2
8. Martha Hall Findlay  2.7
  
Second Ballot

1. Michael Ignatieff  31.6
2. Bob Rae              24.1
3. Stephane Dion     20.8
4. Gerard Kennedy  18.8
5. Ken Dryden         4.7

Third Ballot

1. Stephane Dion      37.0
2. Michael Ignatieff   34.5
3. Bob Rae               28.5

Fourth Ballot

1. Stephane Dion       2,521 votes (54.7 per cent)

2. Michael Ignatieff    2,084 votes (45.3 per cent)

A timeline of the events that led to Stephane Dion’s victory at the Liberal leadership convention on Saturday:

Jan. 24: Paul Martin resigns as leader after losing federal election to Stephen Harper’s Conservatives.

Feb. 8: Toronto lawyer Martha Hall Findlay becomes first declared candidate for Liberal leadership.

March 21: Rumours swirl about who may join the race. Fiddler Ashley MacIsaac says he wants to join, doesn’t.

April 5: Gerard Kennedy quits Ontario cabinet to seek federal Liberal leadership.

April 25: Bob Rae jumps into race, joining Scott Brison, Joe Volpe, Stephane Dion, Maurizio Bevilacqua, Michael Ignatieff and Hall Findlay.

April 28: Ken Dryden joins race.

Aug 10: Ignatieff causes stir after saying he was “not losing any sleep” over civilians killed in the village of Qana during Israel’s bombardment of Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon last summer.

Aug 23: Money woes plague campaign, leadership hopefuls say fundraising has been difficult

Sept 10: Ignatieff reopens Quebec as a nation issue during leadership debate in Quebec City, saying Quebecers can consider themselves a nation living within a country called Canada, similar to Scots in Britain and Catalonians in Spain.

Sept. 15: Carolyn Bennett drops out of race, supports Rae.

Sept 23: Volpe campaign rocked by controversy after newspaper reports several party members in Montreal were signed up without their knowledge or without paying the $10 fee and even, in two cases, from beyond the grave.

Sept. 25: Rae picks up another backer as Hedy Fry drops out of race; eight left.

Sept. 29: Liberal party fines Volpe $20,000 for membership brouhaha after membership forms given to cultural groups in Quebec without ensuring that new members paid their own fees.

Oct 11: Ignatieff loses Toronto campaign organizer after comments accusing Israel of committing a war crime.

Oct. 17: Jewish group calls off Ignatieff’s mid-leadership trip to Israel over his views on Middle East conflict

Oct. 30: Brison poses nude for calendar to raise cash for the fight against prostate and ovarian cancer.

Nov. 1: Volpe wins appeal over membership irregularities, Liberals back off $20,000 fine.

Nov. 4: Rae rules out reopening Constitution over Quebec’s identity.

Nov. 29: Liberal delegates begin gathering in Montreal for convention.

Dec. 2: Dion elected leader of Liberal party.