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http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060830/ignatieff_brison_060830/20060830?hub=Canada
Ignatieff gaffe-prone: Liberal leadership rival
Updated Wed. Aug. 30 2006 11:28 PM ET
Canadian Press
OTTAWA -- Michael Ignatieff was portrayed Wednesday as a gaffe-prone amateur by at least one Liberal leadership rival after the presumed front-runner was forced to clarify his latest controversial comment.
In the most pointed broadside yet against the acclaimed academic, Scott Brison said Ignatieff's repeated miscues suggest the rookie MP has poor political judgment and insufficient experience to lead a national party.
"These gaffes are damaging to a leadership campaign but they will be terminal to a national general election campaign," Brison said in an interview.
Brison's attack was prompted by what he called Ignatieff's "gaffe of the week" -- a refusal to commit to running in the next election if he doesn't win the party's leadership.
"Depends who's leader," Ignatieff told the Toronto Star's editorial board, adding that there are "all kinds of ways you can stay committed and involved and active in the Liberal Party of Canada, believe me, without being an MP."
Ignatieff clarified his intentions in an interview Wednesday with The Canadian Press.
"Let's be clear. I am planning to run in the next election in Etobicoke-Lakeshore. I love being an MP and I've enjoyed it enormously and I'm looking forward to doing it again," said Ignatieff, who first won election last January.
He added that, whoever wins the leadership race, he will do whatever he can to help him or her defeat Prime Minister Stephen Harper in the next election.
Asked why he didn't say that when the Star first asked, Ignatieff said he considered hypothetical questions about his political future should he lose the leadership contest to be moot.
"I feel I have good reason to believe I'm ahead in the race and I plan to win. So the hypothetical is not going to arise."
Only three weeks ago, Ignatieff had to douse another controversy, after saying he was "not losing sleep" over civilian deaths during the Israeli bombing of the Lebanese village of Qana. He admitted that remark was a mistake.
Still, Ignatieff dismissed suggestions that he's prone to making rookie mistakes.
"I'm running ahead. It doesn't feel like this is a rookie campaign to me."
Brison has made his share of mistakes, the biggest being sending an e-mail to a banker friend about pending changes in income-trust rules, which he admitted was a mistake.
However, Brison said that in nine years in politics he hasn't made as many "retractions and clarifications" as Ignatieff has made in just nine months.
Brison compared Ignatieff to Stockwell Day, who jumped from provincial politics to become leader of the now-defunct Canadian Alliance without any experience at the federal level.
Day's tenure at the helm of the Alliance, which eventually merged with the Progressive Conservatives to form the Conservative party, was short-lived and disastrous.
Brison said Ignatieff is "smarter than Stockwell," now Harper's minister of public safety. But he added Ignatieff faces an even steeper learning curve, having spent almost 30 years out of the country as an academic and journalist.
Brison took Ignatieff to task for other recent so-called gaffes, including telling the Star that Canadians "live and operate in a heartless world and you need leadership that understands that."
"When you see the world as being heartless, that helps someone justify ruthless acts," such as Qana, Brison said.
He also chided Ignatieff for saying that Canada's peacekeeping tradition "died" with the genocide in Rwanda.
Brison said that remark could only come from someone who's spent 30 years outside the country and fails to appreciate how important peacekeeping is to Canadians and to Liberals in particular, who view party icon Lester Pearson as the father of peacekeeping.
He also scoffed at Ignatieff's recent admission that he's not sure he's "up to the price you have to pay" to succeed in politics.
"If you go in to have heart surgery and the surgeon says, `I think I'm ready to do this but I've never done it before,' you're probably going to look for a surgeon who's done it before," Brison said.
Gerard Kennedy, another leadership rival, said he's glad Ignatieff has clarified his intention to run for re-election, win or lose the leadership contest.
"You can only do this with a commitment to renewing the party," said Kennedy, who gave up an Ontario cabinet post to jump into the federal leadership race and has vowed to seek a seat in Parliament.
"First and foremost, before asking other people for their commitment, you've got to have your own clearly established."
Kennedy was more charitable than Brison about Ignatieff's lack of experience.
"I don't think Mr. Ignatieff pretends to have a lot of experience, per se. I think that's one of the things he would argue is offset by other attributes."
Another contender for the leadership, Ken Dryden, issued a statement critical of his rival before Ignatieff clarified his remarks.
"This is pitch-in time, get-mad time, do whatever needs to be done time," Dryden said. "Some things are more important than who is party leader ... this isn't a time to pick up your marbles and go home."
Now for the REAL leadership race
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060830/ignatieff_brison_060830/20060830?hub=Canada
Ignatieff gaffe-prone: Liberal leadership rival
Updated Wed. Aug. 30 2006 11:28 PM ET
Canadian Press
OTTAWA -- Michael Ignatieff was portrayed Wednesday as a gaffe-prone amateur by at least one Liberal leadership rival after the presumed front-runner was forced to clarify his latest controversial comment.
In the most pointed broadside yet against the acclaimed academic, Scott Brison said Ignatieff's repeated miscues suggest the rookie MP has poor political judgment and insufficient experience to lead a national party.
"These gaffes are damaging to a leadership campaign but they will be terminal to a national general election campaign," Brison said in an interview.
Brison's attack was prompted by what he called Ignatieff's "gaffe of the week" -- a refusal to commit to running in the next election if he doesn't win the party's leadership.
"Depends who's leader," Ignatieff told the Toronto Star's editorial board, adding that there are "all kinds of ways you can stay committed and involved and active in the Liberal Party of Canada, believe me, without being an MP."
Ignatieff clarified his intentions in an interview Wednesday with The Canadian Press.
"Let's be clear. I am planning to run in the next election in Etobicoke-Lakeshore. I love being an MP and I've enjoyed it enormously and I'm looking forward to doing it again," said Ignatieff, who first won election last January.
He added that, whoever wins the leadership race, he will do whatever he can to help him or her defeat Prime Minister Stephen Harper in the next election.
Asked why he didn't say that when the Star first asked, Ignatieff said he considered hypothetical questions about his political future should he lose the leadership contest to be moot.
"I feel I have good reason to believe I'm ahead in the race and I plan to win. So the hypothetical is not going to arise."
Only three weeks ago, Ignatieff had to douse another controversy, after saying he was "not losing sleep" over civilian deaths during the Israeli bombing of the Lebanese village of Qana. He admitted that remark was a mistake.
Still, Ignatieff dismissed suggestions that he's prone to making rookie mistakes.
"I'm running ahead. It doesn't feel like this is a rookie campaign to me."
Brison has made his share of mistakes, the biggest being sending an e-mail to a banker friend about pending changes in income-trust rules, which he admitted was a mistake.
However, Brison said that in nine years in politics he hasn't made as many "retractions and clarifications" as Ignatieff has made in just nine months.
Brison compared Ignatieff to Stockwell Day, who jumped from provincial politics to become leader of the now-defunct Canadian Alliance without any experience at the federal level.
Day's tenure at the helm of the Alliance, which eventually merged with the Progressive Conservatives to form the Conservative party, was short-lived and disastrous.
Brison said Ignatieff is "smarter than Stockwell," now Harper's minister of public safety. But he added Ignatieff faces an even steeper learning curve, having spent almost 30 years out of the country as an academic and journalist.
Brison took Ignatieff to task for other recent so-called gaffes, including telling the Star that Canadians "live and operate in a heartless world and you need leadership that understands that."
"When you see the world as being heartless, that helps someone justify ruthless acts," such as Qana, Brison said.
He also chided Ignatieff for saying that Canada's peacekeeping tradition "died" with the genocide in Rwanda.
Brison said that remark could only come from someone who's spent 30 years outside the country and fails to appreciate how important peacekeeping is to Canadians and to Liberals in particular, who view party icon Lester Pearson as the father of peacekeeping.
He also scoffed at Ignatieff's recent admission that he's not sure he's "up to the price you have to pay" to succeed in politics.
"If you go in to have heart surgery and the surgeon says, `I think I'm ready to do this but I've never done it before,' you're probably going to look for a surgeon who's done it before," Brison said.
Gerard Kennedy, another leadership rival, said he's glad Ignatieff has clarified his intention to run for re-election, win or lose the leadership contest.
"You can only do this with a commitment to renewing the party," said Kennedy, who gave up an Ontario cabinet post to jump into the federal leadership race and has vowed to seek a seat in Parliament.
"First and foremost, before asking other people for their commitment, you've got to have your own clearly established."
Kennedy was more charitable than Brison about Ignatieff's lack of experience.
"I don't think Mr. Ignatieff pretends to have a lot of experience, per se. I think that's one of the things he would argue is offset by other attributes."
Another contender for the leadership, Ken Dryden, issued a statement critical of his rival before Ignatieff clarified his remarks.
"This is pitch-in time, get-mad time, do whatever needs to be done time," Dryden said. "Some things are more important than who is party leader ... this isn't a time to pick up your marbles and go home."
Now for the REAL leadership race