Not Exactly A Surprise

As expected after the dismal showing in the election, the leader of Canada’s Liberal Party, Stéphane Dion, has announced he is stepping down and the leadership race is on

On Monday, Dion said he would step down after a leadership convention “in order to ensure a smooth and successful transition.”

He blamed his party’s 19-seat loss in the federal election mainly on its inability to counter Conservative “propaganda” against Dion and the proposed Green Shift carbon tax.

“If people are asking why, it’s because I failed,” Dion said. “In my consultations, it became very clear that in the door-to-door canvassing, my colleagues, my friends were told, ‘We don’t like your leader’.”

The same article had comments from a possible leadership contender that should be rather familiar to people interested in US politics:

Liberal MP Martha Hall Findlay, who has said her leadership run in 2006 was done in part to encourage women and young people to get into politics, told CBC News on Monday that the tone of the Conservative advertising attacks against Dion since he became party leader is bound to influence anyone considering a run.

“Nobody is perfect, but to see somebody of such honesty and integrity being subject to such awful, awful attacks … you have to think pretty seriously if you want to do it too, right?” said Hall Findlay, who insisted she needed “time to digest” Dion’s announcement and has not decided whether to vie for the leadership again.

“It has to dissuade anybody. I see that as a descent of Canadian politics to a level that doesn’t belong here.”

The CBC has compiled profiles of possible contenders.