Dion to step down, Liberals to choose new leader before parliament resumes

A report in The Toronto Star indicates that Dion will be stepping down and that the Liberals will rush to have a new leader in place by the time the House of Commons is set to resume at the end of January.

It is likely that when parliament is back in session, Michael Ignatieff will be the leader of the Liberal Party. A report in the Toronto Star indicates that Dion, in a statement issued today, has accepted that a new leader needs to be in place to deal with the ongoing political turmoil. Many Liberals have been calling for Dion to step down since the House of Commons was prorogued last week. It appears that this development will expedite Ignatieff's ascendancy to the head of the party. The Liberals will be holding a caucus meeting on Wednesday, where the Toronto MP could be chosen by party delegates. Bob Rae, another leadership hopeful, has expressed his opposition to such a process, arguing that the party's general membership should elect the new leader. Dominic Leblanc, the third leadership candidate, has decided to support Ignatieff. Given that the party will be under new leadership by the time the House resumes and Conservatives have tabled their budget on January 27, it is unclear if the Liberals will follow through on their plan to defeat the Conservatives and attempt to set up their own coalition government with the NDP and support from the Bloc. The latter two parties have remained committed to this course of action.