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Canadians 'Appalled' By Howard Dean
Canada's opposition Liberal Party is holding a convention this month to elect a national leader, and some party leaders aren't too happy about the choice of the keynote speaker - Howard Dean.
They say the unsuccessful presidential candidate has no place telling Canadians how to win elections. The former Vermont governor lost his bid for the 2004 Democratic nomination to Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry.
"I as a Canadian am appalled to have an American loser address a keynote convention that will choose Canada's next prime minister," Ray Heard, former Liberal Party communications director, told CTV television on Thursday.
Other Liberal Party leaders are eager to hear Dean's strategies for retaking the House of Commons in Ottawa. As chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Dean helped Democrats reclaim the House and Senate in last week's midterm elections.
Liberal Party delegates will gather in Montreal on Nov. 29 to elect the man they hope can unseat Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper in an election, possibly next spring. The Liberals were ousted by Conservatives in January, after nearly 13 years in power.
Story Continues Below Ken Dryden, a contender for Liberal Party leadership, declined to be interviewed for this story. He told the Toronto Star earlier this week it was a mistake to have a foreigner set the tone for a convention meant to put the party back in touch with Canadians.
"I had heard a rumor of it a couple of weeks ago, and I thought, 'Oh surely, it can't be true - nobody would make that decision,'" Dryden said. "I'm really surprised. I can't imagine the sense of it."
But Dryden is behind in the polls. Liberal front-runners Michael Ignatieff and Bob Rae don't appear to have a problem with Dean, though neither has fully endorsed the choice.
"I sure hope we don't get the Howard Dean scream," Ignatieff quipped on CTV, referring to the notorious war whoop Dean gave during his concession speech.
"I hope what we get is his political experience," said Ignatieff, a former human rights professor at Harvard University who many believe will be the next Liberal Party leader.
He said it might have been better to have a "great Canadian" make the keynote address, such as renowned environmentalist David Suzuki.
Steven MacKinnon, national director of the Liberal Party, said few Liberals are opposed to the choice of Dean and most want to hear about how he pioneered campaigning in the digital age.
"Who better than the guy who humbled George Bush to come talk about how to do the same with George Bush's favorite politician, Stephen Harper?" MacKinnon said. Luis Miranda, a spokesman for the Democratic National Committee, said Dean's speech would focus on the values shared by Canada and the U.S. and their two parties.
"He's going to talk about his efforts to rebuild the Democratic Party here in the States," Miranda said. "That of course will focus on the importance of the grassroots involvement."
He noted that Dean has tried to foster relationships with a number of other world leaders and the heads of political parties. He recently met with Mexico's President-elect Felipe Calderon in Washington and in December will be meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
The national Globe and Mail wrote in an editorial Friday that Liberals need to get over their "streak of anti-Americanism." The paper reminded Canadians of their chagrin when Liberal MP Carolyn Parrish made headlines south of the border on the eve of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq when she said: "Damn Americans; I hate those bastards."
"The former Vermont governor is a no-holds-barred campaigner who early on figured out the importance of harnessing the power of the Internet to appeal to young voters, rally support to new ideas and raise campaign funds," the editorial read. "In this, his citizenship matters not."
© 2006 Associated Press.
Editor's note:
Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics: Inside Cover Stories
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