Michael Ignatieff appears on Mike Duffy Live Monday afternoon from Toronto.

Protestors held signs and chanted 'No backroom deals.'

Ignatieff confirms bid, reaches out to Ukrainians

Updated Mon. Nov. 28 2005 4:58 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

World-renown scholar Michael Ignatieff confirmed Monday that he will be fighting for a Toronto riding as a Liberal for the next federal election.

Ignatieff made the announcement on CTV's Mike Duffy Live, just moments before Liberal MP Jean Augustine rose in the House of Commons to announce she's stepping down from the riding of Etobicoke-Lakeshore.

"I'm delighted to have Jean Augustine's support," said Ignatieff. "She's been a wonderful representative for Etobicoke-Lakeshore, and my challenge is to try and be as good as Jean has been. That's going to be a tough challenge."

Ignatieff also reached out to some of his potential future constituents who, a day earlier, made it loud and clear they don't want him as their Liberal candidate in an upcoming election.

The news of Ignatieff's bid for the Etobicoke-Lakeshore riding -- which is heavily Ukrainian and Eastern European -- prompted members of Etobicoke's Ukrainian community to stage a protest outside the party's riding office on Sunday.

The group points to Ignatieff's book, Blood and Belonging, saying it's insulting to Ukrainians.

"He did not recognize Ukrainian as a language," Marika Szkambara told CTV News. "He did not recognize Ukrainians as a people with their own culture, their own history."

And in the House, Conservative MP Tom Lukiwski stood up to condemn Ignatieff for exhibiting a "disdain for Ukrainians" in his book. "Canada is a country that is tolerant and multicultural," said Lukiwski, and he demanded the Liberals condemn Ignatieff's remarks.

The Liberals did not respond, but Ignatieff attempted to quell the controversy in his interview with Duffy.

"I've always had the deepest respect for the Ukrainian national experience. I've visited Ukraine many times. I have Ukrainian friends, and I teach the Ukrainian genocide at Harvard to my human rights class," he said.

"And I've taken my students to the places where Ukrainians were interned in the First World War. I feel very, very strongly about this."

The reason his feelings run so deep, added Ignatieff, was that his Russian ancestors are buried in Ukrainian soil.

"I've been to their graves. The reason I feel so passionately about this is Ukrainian citizens have looked after my ancestors' graves for a hundred years."

But this wasn't the group's only complaint with the 58-year-old Ignatieff, who is a celebrated academic, journalist and novelist.

Liberals have long seen Ignatieff as a potential star candidate. Having just returned to Canada from Harvard University, Ignatieff wanted to run in a Toronto-area riding. But the protesters believe he has been hand-picked by the party, and other nominees need not apply.

Conservative guns are also expected to be trained on Ignatieff. Duffy said Tories will be asking how the people of Etobicoke can support someone who has lived outside of Canada for the better part of 20 years.

Ignatieff's response: "Canadians are smarter than that. ... Canadians take pride in a Canadian who has succeeded overseas. ... And it seems to me instead of criticizing me for being offshore they should be applauding me for coming back, rolling up my sleeves and getting into the trenches."

As for rumblings in Ottawa that Ignatieff aspires to contend for the country's highest post one day, Ignatieff told Duffy to do the following with the suggestion: "Take it off the table."

"I'm in this to convince more than 100,000 citizens of Toronto that I'm a worthy successor of a wonderful MP: Jean Augustine," said Ignatieff.

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