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Passing of the cup

Steven Chase, 03/12/06 at 12:19 PM EDT

Former Liberal prime minister Paul Martin joked about the changing of the guard as he celebrated Stephane Dion's winning the party leadership.

Sipping water is standard practice in many of Mr. Martin's speeches. This time he held off.

"I was about to take that glass of water -- and you know what, Stephane, it's yours," Mr. Martin told the crowd in a post-vote speech from a podium that came equipped with the requisite H20.

 

Canadian values: politics and hockey

Sasha Nagy, 03/12/06 at 1:06 AM EDT

Essential Canadian values absolutely enveloped Montreal tonight. With rah-rah crowds flowing through the hotels, restaurants, bars and nightclubs of Quebec's elegant centre-ville metropolis, you had to ask: Are you here for the Liberal convention or for the Leafs-Canadiens game? The crowds split 50-50. The Canadiens won in an overtime shoot-out over the Leafs. Quebec academic Stephane Dion won in a fourth-ballot victory over more-or-less Ontario academic Michael Ignatieff.

Want a new scarf?

mcampbell, 02/12/06 at 1:43 PM EDT

Gerard Kennedy's supporters were throwing scarves into the Dryden camp after the second ballot and they were being put on by Dryden supporters.

A new model

Alex Dobrota, 02/12/06 at 4:19 PM EDT

Face-painting artist Chantal Russon adorns her clients with flowers, birds, and other fiery motifs, all of which fall into the category of what she calls “creations.” Friday night she added Michael Ignatieff’s face to her portfolio.

Inside the Just for Laughs museum — the site of the Ignatieff camp party, perhaps the most extravagant of the candidate parties — Ms. Russon dutifully painted Mr. Ignatieff’s trademark profile time and time again on the faces of his supporters.
 
But that, she insisted, is not a “creation.”

“It’s  politics,” said the 24-year-old college graduate, and pointed to a banner with Mr. Ignatieff’s banners. “It’s the first time I’m doing political face-painting. I feel a bit awkward.”

Around her, jugglers strolled on stilts and the sound of a jazz band filled the large room.

The best speech of the night

Bill Curry, 02/12/06 at 7:52 AM EDT

He may be a distant fifth, but Ken Dryden and his supporters were definitely pumped after Friday’s candidate speeches. Dryden’s passionate speech chock full of Canadiana and swipes at Stephen Harper had several Liberals of rival camps saying Mr. Dryden had the best speech of the night.

Though the first ballot numbers released Saturday morning show Mr. Dryden with just less than five per cent, he has a long way to go to catch Gerard Kennedy. Dryden’s supporters haven’t given up hope however.

Mr. Dryden’s focus has always been on the second ballot, when delegates are no longer obligated to vote the way their riding association told them. The hope for Mr. Dryden’s team is that his speech, coupled with a decline in enthusiasm for the front runners since the first ballot was essentially decided in September, will bleed votes his way.

A reception for Mr. Dryden at the Delta hotel in Montreal was packed as the former Montreal Canadiens goaltender signed autographs and posed for pictures next to a live jazz band.

On the main floor of the hotel, a room for Ignatieff supporters was just as tight, but there seemed to be little mixing among the two groups of Liberals.

All over but the crying

Alex Dobrota, 02/12/06 at 7:18 PM EDT

Michael Ignatieff's supporters wept openly as Stéphane Dion stepped on the podium Saturday. They vowed to unite behind their new leader, but to many the defeat proved a formidable blow.

“We worked as hard as we could and ... we’re going to be supporting Stéphane,” Liberal MP Ruby Dhalla said through tears.

Perched on a chair above the Ignatieff camp and sporting an array of campaign paraphernalia — including T-shirt and fake tattoo — Liberal youth delegate Caitlin Townsend clapped and cried as Mr. Dion started his speech.
 
“We’re disappointed, but we all made a pledge at the beginning of this that we would back whoever wins,” Ms. Townsend said. “We all worked so hard and we all believed that Michael would be the best leader.”
 
Around her, the crowd burst into a chorus of “tous ensemble,” Mr. Ignatieff's trademark phrase.

Dion's battle against "the Man"

Steven Chase, 02/12/06 at 1:48 PM EDT

If you believe Stéphane Dion supporters, their candidate is fighting “the Man.” At least that’s what hand-scrawled signs carried by some Dion backers suggest. Placards saying “Support Dion — the anti-establishment candidate” have been spotted throughout the convention centre. They’re likely referring to the perception that Bob Rae and Michael Ignatieff enjoy the support of much of the old party hands and senior backroom organizers.

Opportunistic author — or dirty trick?

Roy MacGregor, 02/12/06 at 12:12 PM EDT


Some time Saturday morning someone scurried around the convention corridors and cafeteria dispersing remaindered copies of an old book — Rae Days, by Toronto Star columnist Thomas Walkom.

It wouldn’t have been Bob Rae, as the book is not very flattering.

It wouldn’t have been Tom Walkom, as the book is long past is shelf life and even its remainder bin life.

Perhaps it was simply background research for the Ignatieff forces and, by massive coincidence, everyone left them behind after morning coffee......

In case you wondered

Michael Valpy, 02/12/06 at 1:39 AM EDT

From Bob Richardson, a senior official with the Ignatieff campaign, came this statement: “Michael is gratified for the support he received tonight. We maintained a strong lead on our competitors and are looking forward to the second ballot tomorrow. In an eight-person race, we have won 30 per cent of the votes off the top and we’ve already had a number of key people announce their support for us in tomorrow’s vote.”

There’s never a rainy day in politics

Michael Valpy, 02/12/06 at 1:13 AM EDT

Since the Liberal leadership convention began, Michael Ignatieff’s team has been talking about coming out of the first ballot with 31 or 32 per cent of the votes.

When the results showed 29.3 per cent, Quebec MP Denis Coderre, Mr. Ignatieff’s national campaign co-chairman, explained that some Ignatieff delegates hadn’t shown up and others had registered but didn’t vote — but there was no surprises, no cause for gloom.

“The real game will start now,” he said.
He promised announcements Saturday of how many supporters of other candidates were coming into the Ignatieff camp. “Michael looked like a prime minister tonight [when he delivered his speech].”

 

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