Ignatieff attacked!

Liberal leadership hopeful Michael Ignatieff found himself dodging bullets over his views on Afghanistan and Iraq, as rival candidates took aim at the perceived frontrunner at a party debate in Vancouver yesterday.

Ignatieff was criticized for supporting the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, and for voting to extend Canada’s military mission in Afghanistan.

“Michael was very proud to vote with [Prime Minister Stephen] Harper,” candidate Stéphane Dion said early in the debate. “I’m much more cautious about the role of military force to spread democracy than [Ignatieff] is.”

And Bob Rae, the former Ontario NDP premier turned Liberal leadership hopeful, joined in the attack.

“The fact is [U.S. President George] Bush made the wrong decision. I have yet to hear you say Mr. Bush made the wrong decision,” Rae said. “The issue is, do you stand with George Bush?”

But Ignatieff accused his opponents of “putting words in [his] mouth.”

“I don’t stand with George Bush,” he replied. “I stand with the independence of the Kurdish and Shia people in Iraq.”

Ignatieff said he wouldn’t send Canadian troops to Iraq in the future. Afterwards, Ignatieff called his opponents' attacks "ridiculous".

Yesterday was the fourth of five leadership debates held nationwide before the Liberals choose a new leader in December.

Rae and Dion seized on the opportunity to attack Ignatieff early on, but the threeway exchange went unmatched during the rest of the two-hour debate. The event ultimately revealed little in the way of policy differences between the nine remaining candidates.

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It did, however, uncover some questionable usage of the French language, with half the candidates noticeably struggling to express themselves when faced with French questions.

At one point, his vocabulary failing him, ex-Tory Scott Brison offered up English words coated lightly in a vaguely French accent. Later, Gerard Kennedy, the former Ontario MPP, was heckled as he responded to a French question in English.

"En français, s'il vous plaît," yelled someone in the crowd.

Afterwards, bilingual Stéphane Dion said the next Liberal leader has to be able to win a debate in French.

Meanwhile, Ken Dryden apppears to have worked on his public speaking since a forgettable showing this past May.

Dryden's closing speech sounded forceful and prepared, even if it culminated in a trance-like Dryden repeating the phrase, "I can win" three times.

Tags: vancouver, liberals, ken dryden, michael ignatieff, stephane dion, bob rae