Toronto MP Michael Ignatieff won't commit to running in the next election if he loses his bid to become leader of the federal Liberal party.
"Depends who's leader," Ignatieff said yesterday when asked at a meeting with the Toronto Star editorial board if he would run for the party in the next election if he loses the leadership vote in early December.
However, Ignatieff, 59, considered by many to be the frontrunner in the race, denied having indicated that there are some leadership hopefuls for whom he would not run.
"No. It really is that I have to look what I am looking at," he said.
However, he said, nobody should "doubt my devotion" to the party, adding he's been a committed Liberal since he was 17.
"There are all kinds of ways you can stay committed and involved and active in the Liberal Party of Canada, believe me, without being an MP," said Ignatieff, who was elected for the first time in Etobicoke-Lakeshore riding in the Jan. 23 vote.
Liberals should love Ignatieff's sense of entitlement to power and position; it's what defines their party above all else. Ignatieff didn't come back here for any other reason except to be the man on the white horse. Becoming just another cabinet minister, or worse, another opposition MP, is beneath this great public intellectual's talents.
Thanks for the condescension, Count Ignatieff.
Source: Toronto Star
3 comments:
Oddly enough, I agree with most of this. Looks very bad on Iggy.
You wouldn't have believed him if he said would run. I actually admire him for saying this. Imagine playing second fiddle to Joe Volpe.
I think this is just an honest acknowledgement that the Liberal Party could end up going in a number of directions depending on who is the new leader, and that Ignatieff might not feel comfortable running for a party that has, for example, moved significantly to the left. I think a Bob Rae Liberal party would be a lot different from a Michael Ignatieff Liberal party, and I don't see what's so shocking about Ignatieff acknowledging this, and explaining that he may not run for office under the banner of a party who's policies he did not support.
Plenty of people left the CPC when it replaced the Alliance, because they were no longer comfortable with the policies the new entity was endorsing. This isn't much different.
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