The race to replace Paul Martin as Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada just got more interesting. Left-Wing Candidate Gerard Kennedy has apparently out organized rivals and signed up the most new party members in advance of the party's membership deadline. (In Canada only members of political parties are able to vote in the leadership selection process, and very few Canadians are members of any party. Therefore signing up new members is an essential part of the campaign.)
Mr. Kennedy has established his left wing credentials by beginning his political carreer in provincial politics with the socialist NDP. Later he changed allegiance to run for the leadership of Ontario's Liberal Party. In that race, he was defeated in a run-off that saw multiple candidates come together to support a more moderate leader.
I don't know if this race will have the same result. The other leading candidate, Michael Ignatieff, is a moderate and an intellectual who supports the war on terror. Given the fact that there are a lot more left wing candidates than moderate candidates seeking the leadership, things are looking up for Gerard Kennedy. I can't say that that's a good thing for our country.
Correction: Gerard Kennedy did not begin his political carreer with the NDP and did not change his party affiliation. His left-wing credentials were well established however as he was an anti-poverty activist working with Toronoto's Daily Bread food bank before entering politics.
3 comments:
Gerard never had anything to do with the Provincial NDPs. In fact, Preston Manning actually asked him to join the Reform Party way back.
I've never heard of Gerard Kennedy being associated with the NDP either. And I think Kennedy is more moderate than the media make him out to be...
Dan,
You're right. Thanks for calling me on that. Terribly sorry for the error.
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