Will they or won’t they?
Potential star candidates weigh their options Rumours fly as holiday campaign seems likely
OTTAWA— He’s teaching at Harvard, writing a book and is scheduled to teach at U of T in January. So does Michael Ignatieff have time to run for the Liberals in the impending federal election?
Well, no. But he’s seriously thinking about it.
At a meeting of the Harvard Club of Toronto last Friday, the Canadian- born scholar told the assembled alumni — bluntly — that he’s seriously considering running as a Liberal in the next election. Speculation continues to churn around Ignatieff’s possible run, especially since he announced he was leaving his prestigious post at Harvard to return permanently to Canada and the University of Toronto for the first time in 30 years.
So, as a Christmas campaign seems more of a reality every day, the spotlights focus ever closer on Ignatieff, 58, and the handful of others touted as potential high- profile candidates for the next federal race.
Question marks — some bigger than others — still remain beside names like Bob Rae, Olivia Chow, Svend Robinson, and retired Maj.- Gen. Lewis MacKenzie. But ask these busy people if they plan to run and they all deliver similar answers: “When the writ is dropped then I’ll figure it out,” said Toronto City Councillor Olivia Chow. “ But at this point I’m a bit swamped dealing with the large number of developments in my ward.” Chow, who is married to NDP Leader Jack Layton and ran as a candidate in the Trinity- Spadina riding in the last election, has lately been involved in a fight against high- rise condo developments in downtown Toronto. Former Ontario NDP premier Bob Rae’s name has been bandied about as a potential Liberal candidate, but he says not to count on his candidacy. He’s focused on advising the federal government on whether or not to launch an inquiry into the handling of the Air- India bombings.
“This is such a difficult and emotional review that I’m doing that the last thing I would want to do in the world is confuse it in anybody’s mind with elections or anything else,” Rae said.
“ I just don’t think it’s right. The families deserve my unfettered attention and that’s the way it is.” MacKenzie, who has commanded Canadian troops in some of the world’s most dangerous places and who has previously run for the Conservatives, could not be reached for comment yesterday. Anumber of prominent candidates have already been officially confirmed including: former television anchor Peter Kent ( Conservative, St. Paul’s), former Ontario attorney general Tony Clement (Conservative, Parry Sound), Ontario NDP MPP Marilyn Churley (NDP, Beaches- East York).
Robinson, a former B. C. MP who resigned his seat after admitting he stole a ring at a jewellery sale, hopes to run for the NDP in Vancouver Centre, but the riding association has yet to seal his nomination. But undoubtedly, all eyes in the Greater Toronto area will be on what happens with Ignatieff over the next few weeks.
Steven MacKinnon, executive director of the Liberal party, didn’t rule out yesterday the possibility Ignatieff could be a candidate.
“ He’d like to run, we think, and we’d like him to run,” MacKinnon said, refusing to get into specifics about which riding might be free. And that will be the first challenge if Ignatieff decides to run. In the GTA, the only riding without a Liberal already slated to run is Mississauga-Erindale, now held by Carolyn Parrish. The nomination process hasn’t yet started there and according to Elias Hazineh, riding association president, Ignatieff’s name isn’t among those put forward. There are a few other rumoured options for Ignatieff, like running in House Speaker Peter Milliken’s Kingston riding or Defence Minister Bill Graham’s Toronto Centre-Rosedale riding. The only problem is, neither has said he plans to step aside. In fact, Graham told a source yesterday he still very much intends to run.