NEWSMAKER-Canada Liberals' new leader faces big hurdles
03 Dec 2006 00:19:08 GMT Source: Reuters
By David Ljunggren MONTREAL, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Stephane Dion, who beat the odds to head Canada's opposition Liberals on Saturday, must overcome big obstacles if he is to win an election expected next year and oust Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The 51-year-old former academic and environment minister ran on a promise to improve the country's spotty record on green issues, adroitly tapping into growing public concerns about the environment. But whether a prickly and sometimes impatient man who speaks English with a heavy French accent can win power in a predominantly English-speaking country is another matter. To complicate matters, he is a divisive figure in his native Quebec, where separatists dislike him for his efforts to fight those who seek independence for the French-speaking province. Dion won a leadership convention in Montreal on the fourth and final ballot, beating rival Michael Ignatieff 2,521 to 2,084. He came into the convention in fourth place but swayed delegates by giving perhaps the most impassioned speech of the leading contenders in which he stressed energy conservation. "As a country of 33 million people who are consuming as much energy as the entire continent of Africa with 800 million people, our duty is to be part of the solution," he said. Dion proposes to give Canadians grants and tax breaks to help them buy energy-efficient furnaces and appliances, saying: "It will be good for your planet, good for your wallet." 'MORE CULTURE IN A BOWL OF YOGURT' Dion served as the federal Liberal environment minister from June 2004 to January 2006, when the Conservatives led by Harper won power. Harper quickly scrapped Dion's plan to help Canada meet its commitments under the Kyoto Protocol on climate change. This and other actions prompted Dion to relentlessly attack what he sees as an extreme right-wing prime minister. "There is more culture in a bowl of yogurt than in this Conservative government," he exclaimed during his speech. Dion is the son of renowned Quebec academic Leon Dion and initially followed his father's path by teaching political science. His steadfast and vocal opposition to Quebec separatism prompted former Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chretien in 1996 to offer him the job of intergovernmental affairs minister, the cabinet member responsible for national unity. The highlight of his tenure, which lasted until 2003, was the creation of the so-called Clarity Act, which makes it much harder for Quebec to break away from Canada. Dion says the act was one of his finest accomplishments. But some in Quebec never forgave him, and one cartoonist regularly portrays him as a rat. No one, however, doubts his intellect. "(He's) a guy who showed a capacity to develop his leadership skills and to master policy briefs and to play rough and tumble politics in the corners with people and protect his interests," said University of Manitoba professor Paul Thomas. Dion was born in Quebec City on Sept. 28, 1955. He is married with one daughter and has a dog named Kyoto.
