Liberal leader's 6-year odyssey
National Post – May 21, 2010
By Scott Stinson

The Post's Scott Stinson charts Michael Ignatieff's rise and ....

2004 Three high-powered liberals, Ian Davey, Daniel Brock and Alf Apps, travel to Harvard University, where Michael Ignatieff holds the fancy-pants title of director of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government. The Liberals tell the esteemed author and lecturer that he should return to Canada – after more than two decades in Britain and the United States – to run for office.

2005 Ignatieff takes a faculty position at the University of Toronto. Speculation begins that he will run for the Liberals. Paul Martin is the Liberal leader (and Prime Minister) at the time, but this being the Liberals there are already stories that promote Ignatieff as the leader-in-waiting. Martin supporters say this speculation is unfair to the current leader, and everyone in the media has a good chuckle about that.

November 2005 Ignatieff confirms that he will run for Liberals in the Toronto riding of Etobicoke-Lakeshore. He pledges allegiance to Paul Martin. Everyone in the media has a good chuckle about that.

January 2006 Liberals lose election to Stephen Harper. Paul Martin resigns as leader.

April 2006 Ignatieff again confirms a poorly kept secret by announcing a bid for the leadership.

December 2006 Ignatieff is the front-runner heading into the leadership convention, but loses to long-shot Stephane Dion. Seriously, Stephane Dion.

September 2007 Media reports say Ignatieff supporters have been undermining Dion's leadership during campaigning for three by-elections. Ignatieff pledges his support for Dion. Everyone has a good chuckle about that.

October 2008 Liberals lose general election. Dion says he will resign, but not just yet.

November 2008 Ignatieff says he will bid for the leadership again. This time there was only weeks, not months, of speculation.

December 2008 Coalition! The spectre of a three-party coalition, with Dion as PM, leads to the prorogation of Parliament and temporarily sends the Liberals back to the Stone Age, polling-wise. Ignatieff is said to have "reluctantly" endorsed the plan. The public does not care for such quibbles.

December 2008 Dion quits, and Ignatieff ascends to top job. It has taken three years, but the leader-in-waiting is no longer waiting.

January 2009 Amid speculation that he will not support the Tory budget and force an election, Ignatieff vows to give it a serious read first. Then he reads it, and says he doesn't much like it, but he is putting the government "On Probation," and demanding progress reports. Harper: "Sure, yeah, whatever."

August 2009 Ignatieff announces that his party is withdrawing support for the Conservatives. Probation revoked! The government responds that the Liberals are trying to force an election that no one wants, and the public seems to agree. Liberal support drops. Precipitously.

September 2009 The Bloc Quebecois and the NDP say they will support a confidence motion, meaning the Liberal attempt to force a vote has failed. The party is still paying for it in the polls.

December 2009 Ignatieff cleans house, firing chief of staff Ian Davey – yes, that Ian Davey – and bringing in former Chretien aide Peter Donolo.

January 2010 The Liberals gain in polls after Harper prorogues Parliament AGAIN. The nerve of that guy!

May 2010 Liberals have been steadily dropping in polls for weeks, with latest showing the party at 25% nationally, a number that is positively Dion-esque. Ignatieff dismisses reports of internal party strife. Everyone has a good chuckle about that.