Boshcoff pleased with Dion as leader

Liberals from across Canada chose former federal Environment minister Stéphane Dion as their new leader Saturday—and Thunder Bay-Rainy River MP Ken Boshcoff is pleased with the choice.
“I’m really pleased. It augurs well for Northwestern Ontario,” Boshcoff said yesterday from Ottawa. “I could not have wished for a better conclusion.”
Dion was elected on the fourth ballot, facing off against Michael Ignatieff, who appeared to be the front-runner heading into the leadership convention.
Ignatieff finished with 45.3 percent of the vote to Dion’s 54.7 percent.
Former Ontario NDP premier Bob Rae was eliminated on the third ballot.
Other candidates included former Ontario Education minister Gerard Kennedy, former Social Development minister Ken Dryden, MPs Scott Brison and Joe Volpe, and lawyer Martha Hall Findlay.
Boshcoff said Dryden was his candidate of choice. “I have been with Ken Dryden form a very early time,” he said.
But Dryden was eliminated on the second ballot, so Boshcoff threw his support behind Rae, who was eliminated on the third.
In the lead-up to the fourth ballot, the members of the local riding association had a meeting, where the majority decided to support Dion over Ignatieff.
“I didn’t have a problem with that,” Boshcoff said.
Dion, an MP for the last 10 years, is just the man to take on Stephen Harper and the Conservatives in the next federal election, he noted.
“We’re quite good friends. I think he’ll be just great,” Boshcoff said of Dion.
Dion was considered a dark horse candidate entering the convention, but won the leadership with nearly 10 percent more votes than Ignatieff on the final ballot.
“The general who gains the most allies wins the war,” Boshcoff noted. “Obviously he’s smart enough to make allegiances—and Canadians like that.”
The convention was held in Montreal, with about 4,900 delegates attending.
“It set a record for the most number of delegates at a political convention,” Boshcoff noted. “It was absolutely rivetingly exciting.”
Since Dion won the leadership, the Liberal party has jumped ahead of the Conservatives in terms of support, according to a poll released Monday by CTV and The Globe and Mail.