Liberals meet, greet, eat dim sum

Where is Ken Dryden's game face?

Speaking at a meet-n-greet in Vancouver's Chinatown yesterday, the Liberal leadership hopeful's nerves of steel seemed to turn to jelly over the course of a rambling, 10-minute speech that had all the eloquence of a sweaty post-game scrum.

At one point, his voice noticeably trembling, Dryden knocked over a full glass of water with a wayward flick of his glove hand.

The two-hour long session at Floata Restaurant was set up by Richmond MP Raymond Chan to showcase Dryden and other leadership hopefuls Michael Ignatieff, Stéphane Dion, Carolyn Bennett and Hedy Fry to Vancouver's Chinese Canadian community.

Perhaps sensing his NHL legend status pulled little weight yesterday, Dryden tragically benched his hockey metaphors in favour of a long-winded talk touching on his recollections of:

• Growing up in Etobicoke ("This place of immense... space")
• His parents' hope for the future ("Whatever we were then, we would be that much more in the future")
• Change ("We are an immensely different country than we were in that time")
• White people in high school yearbooks ("Page after page of white faces. That was the face of suburban Canada")
• International trade ("We can move to the east just as easily as we move to the west")

and, finishing with his discourse on multiculturalism:

"There have been mistakes along the way. But we're doing better. Things are changing. Walking down any street in Toronto or Vancouver, there are almost no double takes anymore. Nothing shocks us. We've been accustomed to those differences."

Believe me, it actually makes much more sense listed in half-formed sound niblets.

Michael Ignatieff, fresh off an endorsement from Vancouver Quadra Liberal MP Stephen Owen, knew his audience well, playing both the Chinese railroad workers card ("They died laying the steel that tied our country together") and the immigration card within minutes of taking the stage. Ignatieff promised to push for immigration wait time guarantees for families seeking to sponsor relatives.

"We have to go into the next election saying it's a matter of justice," Ignatieff said to polite applause.

The military, as well, needs to be beefed up, he said.

"I don't think you can be a serious defender of human rights unless you are capable of sending a combat-capable military who are capable of defending someone who is in danger of losing their lives," he said.

And in case Vancouverites needed a few more sturdy pillars, Stéphane Dion has three of his own: economic performance, social justice and environmental sustainability. The former environment minister is hoping his eco-friendly plan will resonate in green B.C.

"We need to reconcile humanity with the planet," Dion said in his vigorous speech. "We will make Canada the champion of sustainable economics."

Dion, whose national campaign manager, Mark Marissen, is Paul Martin's former right-hand man in B.C., predicted an amicable campaign before December's leadership convention.

"This race will be lengthy. It will be rigorous. But it will be respectful."

But it's also a race only a bilingual candidate should win, Dion said before his speech.

"If you're unable to win a debate in French, how can you win an election?"

Enter unilingual Hedy Fry, who twice broke from her no-script speech to read off an awkward phrase or two in French.

But language, Fry added, presumably referring to that of the 250 predominantly Chinese Canadians in attendance, was Canada's "secret weapon" on the global scene, a "weapon of mass inclusion."

Hmmm. Here's hoping that's the last we hear of that phrase.

Tags: vancouver, liberals, ken dryden, michael ignatieff, stephane dion, hedy fry