I, like a good number of Canadians, was casually following the Liberal leadership race over the past number of months, and listened to the (terrible) coverage of the convention on CBC radio. And like most everyone else, the result caught me completely by surprise.

Jack Layton once called Dion

…a man who is, if I may say so across the partisan divide, distinct from his principal opponents in being a committed Canadian and a man of principle and conviction.

And therefore almost certain not to be elected leader of the Liberal party.

As many others have noted, it will be interesting to watch Layton race to retract that comment and begin painting Dion as a partisan politician who would take Canada down a dangerous road.

I’m not sure Dion would take Canada down the right track, but I am pleased to see Canada’s two mainline political parties represented by two intelligent, policy-focused, and frankly rather boring politicians. To perpetuate a potentially unhelpful stereotype, neither Stephen Harper nor Stephane Dion would make a good American presidential candidate.

I’m waiting to see if Dion’s apparent commitment to social justice and the environment is genuine, or if it’s a deliberate attempt to recapture the left wing vote that moved toward the NDP and Green parties in the last election. Maybe it’s both.