Kennedy Delegates Help Seal Dion’s Victory

By Olena Wawryshyn

Stphane Dion emerged as the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada on December 2 after a dramatic contest at the federal party’s convention in Montreal. 

The pivotal moment in Dion’s win came when, after the second ballot results were announced, rival leadership candidate Gerard Kennedy announced that he was throwing his support behind the Quebec candidate.

Almost all of Kennedy’s delegates followed their candidate and voted for Dion in the third ballot. Their votes pushed former Ontario Premier Bob Rae into third place, and out of the race.

Among the Kennedy delegates was a bloc of approximately 70 Ukrainian Canadians, from the Greater Toronto Area, Alberta and Saskatchewan, said Liberal MP Borys Wrzesnewskyj, who had been actively working on behalf of Kennedy’s bid since the early days of his campaign.

After Kennedy dropped out, the Ukrainian Canadian delegates met and “discussed the policy stands of both Mr. Dion and Mr. Rae and, in the end, when it came to vote approximately 90 per cent voted in favour of moving as a group towards Dion,” said Wrzesnewskyj.

In the final ballot, Dion overtook academic Michael Ignatieff, who had been parachuted into the federal riding of Etobicoke Lakeshore as the Liberal candidate by the party a year ago.

The Ukrainian Canadian contingent, said Wrzesnewskyj, “even though it was not huge,” if you look at the numbers, helped to create the momentum that led to Dion's win. “It basically tipped the balance,” said Wrzesnewskyj.