MB Civic

During his first news conference as leader of the Liberal Party, Stephane Dion pledged the party will unite and move forward, and will win seats in Quebec in the next election.

 

“We know there was another candidate who was the choice of many Quebecers, that was Mr. Ignatieff, but now the race is over and we will all work together,” he said in Montreal.

 

Dion’s tough stance on national unity, and the fact he designed the Clarity Act, have made him unpopular in some circles in Quebec.

 

Dion said he will win seats in his home province by “inviting Quebecers to share the same vision, the same dreams, the same action plan as all Canadians, and through that seeing how we can succeed through working with the others instead of staying within ourselves.”

 

He said Canada needs Quebec and Quebec needs Canada.

 

Many of the reporters’ questions, however, focused on how exactly he planned to make up ground in Quebec, since key Liberals MPs such as Denis Coderre and Pablo Rodriguez were staunch Ignatieff supporters.

 

“All these people you mentioned are Liberals,” Dion responded to one reporter.

 

“They made legitimate choices. All the choices made within this campaign which is now over were legitimate because they all supported Liberals. And now we are a united family working for the same goals, and these goals are to win the next election and to win in Quebec.”

 

When a reporter suggested that some in the province believe he is anti-Quebec, Dion replied, “I think an awful lot would say he is a proud Quebecer.”

 

Same-sex marriage debate

 

Dion has already hinted he will urge all party members to support same-sex marriage, if the Conservatives follow through with their plan to re-open the debate this week.

 

“Indeed, to me it’s a matter of rights and you don’t pick and choose rights,” Dion told reporters.

 

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said he will allow Conservative MPs to vote freely on the issue, but Dion said the debate is unnecessary.

 

Parliament passed Bill C-38 last year, giving same-sex couples the legal right to marry.

 

“I think it’s a very bad idea for the prime minister to reopen this debate, there’s no need to revisit the decision of the courts, and about what kind of vote it will be, if you’ll allow me, I want to meet with my caucus to discuss that,” said Dion.

 

But one Liberal told The Canadian Press he was willing to suffer the consequences by opposing Dion on the issue.

 

“Kick me out of the caucus, go ahead,” challenged Liberal MP John McKay. “If the Liberal leader decides that’s a good idea… That will be the first issue of which he and I will have a falling out.”

 

‘Let’s get ready for the election’

 

Dion also said he has the support of his colleagues and that he is confident of winning the next election.

 

He said social justice and building a sustainable environment and economy will be key goals of his mandate as party leader.

 

Dion won the leadership Saturday night on the fourth ballot, coming from behind to overtake frontrunner Michael Ignatieff. He became the party’s 11th leader, succeeding Paul Martin, who stepped down after losing the 2006 federal election.

 

After the victory he told his party to think ahead to an election face-off with the Conservative party.

 

“The most exciting race in the history of our party is over,” he told cheering Liberal leadership convention delegates in Montreal.

 

“Let’s get ready for the election.”

 

Dion appeared on CTV’s Question Period on Sunday in a segment taped shortly after his victory Saturday night.

 

He told co-hosts Jane Taber and Craig Oliver that Prime Minister Stephen Harper is pursuing a left-wing agenda — and he intends to stop him.

 

“The biggest challenge that we have is that we gave Stephen Harper an incredibly strong economy. Usually, when you come into power, it’s because the economy is in jeopardy, like Mr. Chretien in 1993. But Mr. Harper received the strongest economy since Confederation.”

 

“The problem is that with this economy he’s pursuing is a neo-conservative agenda, exactly the same agenda that has failed elsewhere in the world … so we will have the challenge to explain that to Canadians: that even though the economy is strong, the direction Mr. Harper is choosing to go is the wrong one.”

 

Dion refused to label himself when asked if he was a left-leaning candidate. He said he campaigned across Canada with a three pillar approach.

 

“That means economic prosperity, the people who are in the centre-right, who care first about the economy but have a social conscience. The social justice: people who are centre-left who want to share with the people in need, but know to do that they need a stronger economy. And the environment: the youth, the new Canada, the new challenges we have to face.”

 

Though Dion undoubtedly faces challenges in Quebec for his national unity stance, his focus on the environment could act as an ace up his sleeve in the province that takes its green agenda seriously.

 

The former environment minister made the environment a centrepiece of his campaign and indicated he will continue to focus on the environment as party leader.

 

Dion also he said he will build a strong team of Liberal MPs and future contenders in Quebec.

 

“I think we need to build a good mix of experience and new blood. But to me, new blood does not only mean new people, but also new ideas, new visions and new dreams.”

 

Eddie Goldenberg, former senior policy advisor to Jean Chretien, told Question Period that Dion’s message resounded with Canadians.

 

“I think Dion has struck a chord in terms of the environmentalist agenda; it is a very profound chord, particularly amongst young Canadians,” Goldenberg said.

 

“I think he’s going to turn the Liberal party into the first mainstream political party in the Western world that has adopted environmentalism as its principle raison d’etre.”

 

Robert Fife, CTV’s Ottawa bureau chief, said the environment and social policy are two weak areas for the Conservatives.

 

In his victory speech Saturday night Dion reached out to his former rivals and sent a message to Harper, saying “we are counting the days until the next election.”

 

Some speculate Harper’s minority government could fall as early as this spring, when Parliament votes on the 2007 federal budget.

 

With files from CTV News and The Canadian Press