Liberals gather to discuss disaster

by Mark Dunn

OTTAWA  - The pilot of the bloodiest nosedive in Liberal history is leaving the classroom for a cameo at the party’s weekend convention to thank the rank-and-file for letting him steer the Grit plane into a mountain.

Normally, former leaders — even those humbled and humiliated — are feted at post-election conventions, thanked by party faithful for their service while over-the-top video montages of campaign highlights play in the background.

So it’s odd for a thankful Michael Ignatieff to surface after disappearing from Ottawa in May without having the courage to face hundreds of staffers and MPs who lost their jobs after the party was reduced to rubble.

Saskatchewan’s Ralph Goodale, the elder statesman of caucus, was left to do what Ignatieff wouldn’t as he careened along Hwy. 401 to Toronto for a return to academia and into the shadows. Read more…