What was just a 2 paragraph story buried deep the NY Times was major news up here. The Liberal Party of Canada just selected Stephane Dion of Montreal as their new leader. This means that in the next election (which could be as soon as next Spring), he will go against Stephen Harper to become Prime Minister. While I've been working for Harper's party lately and genuinely think Harper is a good leader, and that Dion's struggles in English will make it tough for him to win Western Canada, I kinda like him. I haven't spoken to him or met him, but have been around him on a few ocassions. His office was just down the hall from Rob's, where I interned this fall, so I got to see him interact with his staff a lot. I've also stood by him during media scrums (impromtu press conferences) and enjoy his charisma. Harper is right to say he shouldn't be underestimated, though I won't venture to make any predictions on the outcome yet.
He won the position in dramatic fashion, on the 4th ballot of an old-school politcal convention. If I remember right, he was in fourth place on the first ballot, but gained delegates as other canidates dropped out, until he passed the leader to get more than 50%. Interestingly enough, he just named that opponent, former Harvard Prof. Michael Ignatieff, to be his deputy (kind of like his running mate). He's given prominent roles to almost all of the people he just beat, reminiscent of Abraham Lincoln naming each of his principal opponents to his cabinets. If you haven't read Doris Kearns Goodwin's book about this, then you should ask for it for Christmas, it's that good. 
One of these opponents was Bob Rae, former Premier of Ontario. Remember my post from Nov 2005 about hearing him speak at a McGill Law School lecture? He was actually college roomates with Ignatieff and switched into this party to run for its leadership, making him a great storyline (he finished in a very respectable third). As for the photo, this should be one of those that Rick Mercer posts on his blog, challenging people to come up with the funniest caption or photoshop version they can.
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