Ignatieff stepping down 'with my head held high' his, politics, convenient, Stephen, Michael

tiffiant

Ignatieff stepping down 'with my head held high'


TORONTO — Michael Ignatieff has announced he is stepping down as Liberal leader after suffering a crushing election defeat Monday that saw Stephen Harper's Conservatives win their first majority government.


Ignatieff revealed his decision Tuesday morning at a news conference in Toronto.


"I go out of politics with my head held high," Ignatieff told reporters.


He said he will leave as soon as it is convenient for the party.


Ignatieff made a point of criticizing the attack ads he was subjected to during his time in federal politics, saying he was the victim of an "unscrupulous campaign of personal attacks."


"When Canadians met me they said, 'Hey he's not so bad, but I didn't meet enough Canadians,'" he said.


Ignatieff has said he accepts responsibility for his party's "historic defeat" in the election, which saw the Liberals reduced to just 34 seats.


Ignatieff even lost his own Ontario riding of Etobicoke-Lakeshore.


Questioned about the timing of the election he helped bring about, he said he felt it was a matter of principle.


"It's important to remember Mr. Harper was found guilty of contempt of Parliament," he said.


He also downplayed the need for a merger between his party and the newly strengthened NDP, which secured more than 100 seats in Monday's vote, becoming the country's new official Opposition.


Before he was Liberal party leader, Ignatieff was a university professor, journalist and director of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard.


He completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Toronto and went on to receive his master's degree from Cambridge and PhD in history from Havard.


Ignatieff, who was born in Toronto, will turn 64 next week




Federal Liberal Party leader Michael Ignatieff concedes after losing his riding, at the Sheraton Hotel in Toronto, Monday May 2, 2011

satil

回復 8# peter236


long time ago, that form a LDP,
but time changed
will they accept a DLP
lol

lo_pak

回復 8# peter236

One is so left and the other is so right, how it's going to work out? I think the merger discussion is nothing more than a hi-bye meeting. Don't take it too serious...

In most Liberal supporters' mind, it's not the fact that they are no longer supporting Liberal. Rather, it's the case that they are not seeing any chance to win this time.

peter236

BoB Rae the NDP! simply join NDP la, form a NDPLIB算啦.
satil 發表於 2011-5-3 09:07

The elders in their parties like Jean Chretien and Ed Broadbent have already suggested a merger of the two parties.

lo_pak

After this failure, hope the Federal Liberal can have an in-depth reform.
This time when we have a closer look at the voter distribution, most of the votes were shifted to NDP. Hard to believe NDP can get such a brillant victory over the East.

satil

BoB Rae the NDP! simply join NDP la, form a NDPLIB算啦.

blue20ae

If stephen Dion or Bob Rae was the Liberal leader, I might consider voting for Liberal.....but Ignatieff ...no way

kingkong123

如果之前一次选举唔系stephen Dion， 而是他做党领， 结果就会唔一样

lo_pak

One useless leader of the time...
I believe he will be the record keeper for at least couple decades...

somewhereintime

He made the Canadian history himself