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Stéphane Dion is pitting his leadership against that of Stephen Harper's, launching today what he is characterizing as a historic election campaign.
This is Mr. Dion's first election campaign as a leader; he kicked it off from Parliament Hill this morning after Mr. Harper visited the Governor General and asked her to dissolve Parliament.
In his speech Mr. Dion spoke about two competing visions for the country, portraying Mr. Harper as a strong right-winger with an extreme right-wing agenda.
Accompanied by his wife, Janine Krieber, who is planning to do some of her own touring during this election campaign, Mr. Dion spoke of what he says is his progressive social program.
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He criticized Mr. Harper for breaking his promise on the fixed election dates.
He repeatedly said that the Harper government lacks fairness and has let down low income Canadians.
Mr. Dion spoke too of his so-called green shift plan that will place a tax on carbon-emitting fuels.
Meanwhile, some Liberals wanted him to emphasize the team approach more and play up the strengths of the people around him, including deputy leader Michael Ignatieff and foreign affairs critic Bob Rae.
This could become a problem for him internally.
Mr. Dion also played up the fact that he is the underdog, a position he likes. He was underestimated in the leadership contest and ultimately won.
He will campaign in Ottawa this afternoon and then hop on his campaign bus to Montreal tonight.
