Home | Contacts | Classifieds | Archives | Media Kit | Email Us |
Some members of the Liberal Party of Canada's Quebec wing claim they have a renewed sense of confidence in the party's leadership under Michael Ignatieff. They believe he is well placed to deliver enough votes in the next election to defeat the Harper Conservative government and put the Liberals back in power in Ottawa again.
Repositioning
More than 500 Liberal partisans were at the Laval Sheraton convention centre last weekend for the Quebec wing's general congress, in preparation for the Liberals' biennial convention which is taking place in Vancouver in late April and early May. In an address to Liberals last Sunday, Ignatieff explained in part how the Liberals plan to reclaim the title from the Parti Québécois as the federal party which best represents Quebec's interests.
"There are a lot of voters who vote for the Bloc Québécois out of a sense of pride of being Quebecers, but who don't believe in the party's solutions," he said. "It's to these people that I speak today. Give us a chance to prove what we can do for Quebec, for your families, for your neighbours, and for you."
Reconciling Canada and Quebec
In what seemed like an effort to reconcile Canadian and Quebec nationalism, he added, "You can be proud to be Québécois and Canadian at the same time, in the order you want." During a press conference afterwards, he stated, "What I'm saying to Quebecers is you don't have to choose. You can be Québécois first, Canadian second, Canadian first, Québécois second.
"It's up to you. I will not impose identity choices on my fellow citizens," said Ignatieff. "I leave those citizens the choice of their ultimate allegiances … The question is no longer, who can best protect Quebecers. The real question is, what can we do together to get out of this crisis, stronger and better performing than ever?"
Optimism over party's future
"Yesterday was a real good day," said Jim Colmer, a member of the Rivière-des-Mille-Îles Liberal riding association, who attended the congress as a delegate. "We had a chance to hear a number of speakers who came in from around the country and I was glad to see that they had participation from people from Toronto and from other areas, as well as from Montreal. We had a very good selection of speakers."
He singled out La Presse editor-in-chief André Pratte, who was one of the featured speakers, as having given "a very good speech." There is "a momentum, I think we're definitely out of the penalty box," said Denis Joannette, a Town of Two Mountains councillor who is running for the Liberals in Rivière-des-Mille-Îles. "People are realizing that they need to have the Liberals back in power. It was a really nice weekend. It was kind of a family reunion and we're getting ready for the next election."
A pocket of dissent
While the party now appears overwhelmingly united behind Ignatieff, there remains a very small amount of dissent about his leadership, largely because he was appointed interim-leader without an internal consultation, when it became obvious that Dion had become too burdensome a liability. At a morning session of the congress last Sunday, Marsha Akman, a member of Liberal MP Irwin Cotler's Mount Royal riding association, walked around the hall distributing a leaflet urging Liberals to "break the silence about the disloyalty in undermining and sabotaging a duly elected leader." The unsigned document alluded to the fact Dion resigned as leader and was replaced by Ignatieff, whose leadership has so far not been formally confirmed through a full vote by the membership.
'No regrets' over Dion – Frégeau
Robert Frégeau, who is running for the Liberals in the riding of Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, acknowledged that indeed there remains a small amount of dissent over Ignatieff's leadership, although he personally has no regrets about the decision to replace Dion quickly, as the party's credibility sank under his leadership. "Everybody came together to understand that it would be Michael," he said, noting that the only other candidates for the leadership, including Bob Rae, withdrew voluntarily. "It allowed us to immediately have a leader who was fully operational from a tactical stance … I think we did a quick and effective turnaround."
BACK