Local liberals happy with their new federal leader
By Bill Rea

Stephane Dion didn’t have much support from this area heading into last week’s Liberal leadership convention in Montreal. But local Grits have been saying they’re pleased with the way things worked out.

The former minister of intergovernmental affairs under Jean Chretien and environment minister under Paul Martin won the Liberal leadership last Saturday on the fourth ballot of the convention, beating frontrunner Michael Ignatieff by more than 400 votes.

“It was a magnificent convention,” declared Ontario Finance Minister (and Vaughan — King — Aurora MPP ) Greg Sorbara.

He went into the convention backing former Ontario premier Bob Rae, and admitted to being disappointed when his candidate was knocked out of the race on the third ballot. But he said the final outcome was great for the broader party, declaring the Liberals came out of the weekend stronger than they were going in.

Sorbara wouldn’t say who he backed in the end.

“I’m not talking about my last ballot support,” he stated, adding he was there to help Rae, and considered himself obligated to cast a final vote. But he’s keeping that choice to himself.

He also said he wasn’t surprised that Dion ended up winning it all. He likened the situation to the the convention 10 years ago, when Dalton McGuinty came from behind to become leader of the Ontario Liberals. He pointed out delegates will often rally around their second choice.

“There was increasing support for a guy who everyone has a huge amount of respect for,” Sorbara observed. “I think he’s just an incredibly competent leader.”

O a k Ridges — Markham MP L u i Temelkovski was among the supporters for Joe Volpe, who was not around for the second ballot. Volpe went to Rae’s camp, and so did Temelkovski. He said part of that move was simply a case of following Volpe, but he added he had consulted other delegates, some of whom are teachers. “They felt okay with that,” he said.

With Rae’s departure for the last ballot, Temelkovski said he went to Dion.

“I think Stephane has the least baggage,” he remarked in explaining his decision.

“He’s a likable man,” he added, pointing out Dion can convey his ideas and understands the issues affecting Quebec.

Dion’s victory came as little surprise to Temelkovski.

“I thought right from the outset that Dion was going to win,” he said. “I just took one extra step to get there.”

Temelkovski said this was his first convention, and he was pretty taken with the experience.

“It was an excellent, excellent opportunity for me to do some networking with people,” he remarked.

Rae had a lot of support from the Oak Ridges — Markham delegation going in, according to Temelkovski. He said the former premier had five votes, while three were for Volpe, three for Gerard Kennedy, two for Ignatieff and one for Martha Hall Findlay.

Riding association president Bill Attwell didn’t reveal his preferences, but he also was impressed with the way things went.

“The convention was quite a thrill,” he stated early last week. “It is an amazing experience to be in an area packed with 5,000 people, particularly when they are expressing enthusiasm and emotions.”

Attwell also stated he was impressed by the grassroots nature of the vote. “While it was apparent that many delegates had decided who they would support to the end, it was obvious that there was a considerable number who were still considering their choice after the first ballot,” he observed.

From his discussions with other delegates, Attwell concluded a lot of people backed Dion at the end because he didn't have the party elite, power brokers or back room boys behind him.

From the contingent representing York — Simcoe, Dion had one vote going in, according to riding association president Lyn Steele. There were four delegates backing Kennedy and another four for Findlay, two for Ignatieff and three for Rae, including Steele herself and Kate Wilson, who was the Grit candidate in the riding for the last two federal elections.

Both went to Dion on the final ballot.

“I felt Canadians would be more open to receiving him because he had really paid his dues working his way up the ladder,” Wilson remarked.

She added she knows of his Parliamentary work, especially with regard to national unity, when she was affiliated with Canadians for a United Canada.

She still had a lot of praise for her candidate. “Rae was just outstanding,” she declared.

“I knew Rae was in trouble when Kennedy went to Dion,” she added.

Wilson also observed that some 600 people sat out the vote on the last ballot, and she thought a lot of them would have been from Rae’s camp.

“They wanted Rae on the ballot,” she said. “The word on the floor was people just left.”

But Wilson is also impressed with Dion.

“He really has a lot of personality, when you sit and listen to him,” she remarked. “He’s as sharp as a tack.”

She also thought the party will follow him. “I think they’ll like what they see,” she said.

Steele said she was committed to Dion after Rae was eliminated. “I wouldn’t have supported Ignatieff any way,” she remarked, adding Dion is “a man of honour and integrity.”

She added Dion’s views are closer to her own on things like world and w o m e n ’ s issues.

Steele said she was “ s h o c k e d ” that Kennedy dropped out of the race as early as he did.

“He could have stuck around for another ballot,” she declared. “Could it have made a difference? “Who knows?”

While Liberals are pleased with their new leader, the local Conservative MP was having little trouble controlling his adulation.

“I think his track record speaks for itself,” Peter Van Loan remarked.

He said Dion was unity minister at the time of the sponsorship scandal in Quebec. During his time as environment minister, Van Loan said Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions rose to 35 per cent above the rates set out in the Kyoto accord, which he said Dion claims to believe in.

“He has a clear track record of failure,” Van Loan said.

He added he wasn’t surprised with the way things turned out. He didn’t expect the Grits would ever go for a New Democrat like Rae as leader, “although he came close,” and he observed that Ignatieff stumbled badly at the end. He concluded the convention appeared to be an affair in which a clear third-place contender stood a good chance.

Van Loan also said he wasn’t too impressed with Dion’s House of Commons debut as leader.

“I thought he was rather wooden reading his questions,” he remarked, although he expects there will be improvement.

“He should not be taken too lightly,” Van loan remarked.