The defeated leader of the Liberal Party, Michael Ignatieff resigned at a press conference in Toronto Tuesday morning, and convened a
meeting of the "losers" Liberals in Ottawa.
Ignatieff lost his riding of Etobicoke-Lakeshore on Monday to conservative Bernard Trottie, an Alberta-born bilingual consultant for IBM Global Solutions.
It was one of the 36 seats the Liberals lost in Ontario. For some Liberals, who had wanted Ignatieff to hang in, it was a loss worse than others.
The NDP vote was not a factor in the Etobicoke race, but the right turn dictated to them by Rob Ford, the popular conservative mayor of Toronto, did have a major impact.
Ignatieff said he would return to teaching.
"I am an old teacher, said Ignatieff. What I’d like to do is go back toteaching. I want to return to the classroom. I enjoy teaching young people. No offers yet. NO reasonable offers will be refused."
Wow! That is exactly what Harper said of Ignatieff during the election campaign. The Conservative ads said Ignatieff was “only visiting” Canada, and that as soon as the election was over, Ignatieff would return to teaching.
The Conservatives had even a negative ad that mocked Ignatieff "Only visiting, he didn’t come back for you!”
The allegation was that Ignatieff would be returning to Harvard University where he used to teach as soon as he could after the election.
Ignatieff told reporters he wants the Liberal Party to hold a leadership convention this fall, but admitted that now that he has quit, it’s not up to him to decide. It is expected that in the meantime the loyal old soldier Ralph Goodale will be in charge of the party in the House of Commons.
There are already indications that some senior Liberals might be interested in running for the leadership as early as in the fall
Acadian Liberal MP Dominic LeBlanc, re-elected in New Brunswick on Monday, went on television to report that Canadians had sent a message to the Liberals on Monday, a message of which they should take note.
Meanwhile a group of Liberal militants from Montreal are preparing to persuade Justin Trudeau make a run for the leadership this time, rather than wait until after the next leader.
