Will Iggy Make A right Hand Turn

Kelly McParland: Liberals have a leader, now they just need a plan

Posted: May 03, 2009

In the treacly video that preceded Michael Ignatieff's victory speech at the Liberal Party's weekend convention, there were five shots of Mr. Ignatieff with President Barack Obama, one with Mr. Obama's plane, one with Bob Rae, one with Rick Mercer, and none of Mr. Ignatieff with any previous Liberal leader.

This tells us something about the Liberal claims to unity, which permeated the Liberal leader's weekend coronation. Mr. Ignatieff, along with many Liberals, doesn't want any more fighting within the party. He may be granted his hoped-for peace, largely thanks to the retirement of all the previous rivals. For now, at least, Mr. Ignatieff is the unchallenged leader, with a mandate to revive his battered party.

Canadians who tuned in to the convention, however, remain largely in the dark as to how he intends to do that. To quote a rival newspaper, rarely have so many members of a federal party come together to do so little. Mr. Ignatieff's acceptance speech, intended as the emotional peak of the weekend, was wooden and platitudinous. Canadians “are more than the sum of our parts.” Getting ahead should be about “what you know not who you know.” The road to prosperity “may be long but we know which way to get there – the Canadian way.”

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Posted by Gerry Nicholls