Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff must restore the party's presence "in every part of Canada," experts say, if he is to convince Canadians that he can be the country's next prime minister.

Ignatieff, who took over as interim party leader when Stephane Dion stepped down last December, will be formally named as leader at this weekend's Liberal convention in Vancouver.

The party appeared to be in tatters after losing 26 seats in last fall's election, which preceded a leadership contest that led to bitter infighting between Ignatieff and leadership hopeful Bob Rae.

When Rae stepped aside and Ignatieff took the post, Ignatieff hailed the moment as an opportunity for the party to move forward and rebuild in advance of the next election.

Since then, Ignatieff has crisscrossed the country, pitching the party to Canadians who have felt alienated from the Liberals, particularly Quebecers and Western Canadians.

"I think he's getting a running start on rebuilding the Liberal Party in every part of the country," Liberal strategist Steve MacKinnon, who served as Ignatieff's leadership campaign director, told CTV.ca.

"It's going to require continued persistence and drive and an unbelievable amount of energy to do it, but yes, it's a very visible and not a secret part of Liberal strategy that we need to restore our presence in every part of Canada."

In a speech to the Quebec wing of the party in late March, Ignatieff said the Liberals are the best choice for Quebecers who want their province to gain more influence in Ottawa.

"Quebecers do not deserve to be in a permanent opposition in Ottawa. Their place is in power," Ignatieff said.

"The red has returned. I am so proud to be a Liberal; I am so proud to be Canadian. The time has come for Quebecers to get their place back in Ottawa," he added later.

The overture appeared to pay off, as this week, a LaPresse/CROP poll found that the Liberals have moved ahead of the Bloc Quebecois among Quebec voters for the first time in five years.

Earlier in the year, Ignatieff reached out to voters in the West, telling an audience in Edmonton that protecting the oilsands is a national unity issue, but warned that they must be made more environmentally sustainable.

Former Paul Martin advisor Robert Asselin said Ignatieff's objective is likely to reach out to every region of Canada, but he points out that he has a difficult task ahead.

"Each region has its own grievances: Quebec identity, the West feels that the centre doesn't always listen to them. So I don't underestimate his task," Asselin, assistant director of the graduate school of public and international affairs at the University of Ottawa, told CTV.ca.

"But I think one of the big differences he could make up with Harper is that he will be much more a uniter as a prime minister, and I think he's right to play that card now, and also in the future. But will he succeed? That's a big question."

Polls indicate that national support for the Liberal Party under Ignatieff is on the rise. A Strategic Counsel poll conducted in early April found the Liberals to be in a virtual tie with the Conservatives.

The poll found the Liberals had 34 per cent of voter support, while the Conservatives were at 32 per cent, a 10 percentage-point gain for the Liberals since Ignatieff took over the party leadership.

Do Canadians like Ignatieff?

But it's yet unclear whether Canadians are enamoured of Ignatieff or tired of the Stephen Harper government.

What the Liberal leader needs to do, Asselin said, is spend the coming months introducing himself to Canadians after spending 30 years living outside of the country, and defining what a Liberal government would look like.

"I think he needs to give some sense, and I think he will, of what he stands for, what his vision of the country's future is," Asselin said "How would he do things differently from the current government? What he does envisage as his main priorities as prime minister on the international affairs front, on the domestic side?"

A big part of differentiating himself from the Conservatives, both men agree, will be to prove that he can help the country recover from the ongoing economic crisis.

"It would be unwise to think that he could get away without addressing this main thing. But in a crisis, I think a leader sees opportunities for the future, and I think Ignatieff's challenge is to define how he will address this big crisis and make Canada stronger for it," according to Asselin.

"You have two choices when you're leader. You can manage a crisis to make sure you don't get hurt too much, or you can take more the Obama approach and try to do a small revolution in how you do things going forward."

Speaking of Obama, much has been made of Ignatieff's ties to officials within the U.S. president's administration.

He's close friends with Larry Summer, Obama's economic adviser and a former president of Harvard, as well as with White House foreign policy adviser Samantha Power.

Ignatieff travelled to Washington last week to meet with U.S. officials, and took a 30-minute meeting with Obama when he made his first official trip to Canada in February.

But Ignatieff should not, and likely will not, emphasize his personal ties with the Obama administration just to hitch his wagon to the popular president's train, Asselin said.

The two men share liberal political views, such as a more interventionist government and a pro-active foreign policy.

So Ignatieff "will try to convince Canadians that the policies both believe in are the best solutions for the problems we have now," Asselin said.

But what about issues that could hinder Ignatieff's political aims, such as last winter's attempt by the Liberals and NDP to bring down the Conservatives and form a coalition government supported by the Bloc Quebecois?

Both men agree it's a non-issue.

Ignatieff noticed early on that Canadians did not support the concept and was quick to distance himself from it, MacKinnon said.

"Do I think there's a residue? No, I think Mr. Ignatieff's views on that notion have been pretty well communicated and well known from day one," he said.

As for Ignatieff's image of a patrician academic who lacks the common touch, Asselin said that while being smart is not a weakness, particularly in someone hoping to become prime minister, he should get out of the so-called Ottawa bubble of pundits and politicians and talk about day-to-day issues with ordinary Canadians.

"I think if he keeps that touch, he'll be fine. He's a very charismatic man. He's able to connect well with most Canadians," Asselin said. "But obviously that's something that as a politician you need to always work on."