Former Ontario Education Minister Gerard Kennedy has officially joined the field of competitors vying to become the next leader of the Liberal Party of Canada.

Kennedy, 45, stepped down from his role as education minister earlier this month, but waited until Thursday to officially announce his candidacy.

He told Canada AM that he is running for Liberal leadership because he believes that it is "a once in a generation chance" for the party to renew itself.

"The country is a little bit at risk right now. We don't have a vision in front of us. We have a very limited program as to where Canada is going, and that makes me worried about where the country will end up," Kennedy said Friday morning.

Kennedy also said that he wants the party to progress from the not-so-secret infighting that has characterized the Liberal party over the years.

"It makes the party less effective and also it shows people outside of it, that it seems as if the party puts itself first and not the public," he said.

Kennedy announced his decision to run at Ottawa's Nepean Point flanked by about 15 MPs and other supporters, with Ottawa's Parliament Buildings forming the backdrop to the gathering.

He began his speech by illustrating his long-term commitment to the Liberal party, saying he was first involved with a Liberal leadership campaign when he was seven-years-old, and a local candidate visited his hometown of The Pas, Manitoba.

Kennedy helped carry the candidate's briefcase.

"Some 38 years later I'm here, coming to Ottawa, ready to take on a slightly bigger role -- the leadership." Kennedy said. "Today I announce my candidacy for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada."

Former labour minister Joe Fontana helped introduce Kennedy.

"Gerard brings the best of liberalism, of fiscal responsibility and social justice. He knows the balance of independent freedom and collective responsibility," Fontana said. "In short, Gerard is a true Liberal, a Liberal of ideas, values and a history of action."

Kennedy, a former director of the Daily Bread Food Bank, is one of the least known competitors outside of Ontario, though his retinue of supporters appears to be growing quickly.

Kennedy described himself as the candidate who has the ability to lead the party into the future.

"I believe members of the Liberal party, and many other Canadians who aren't members yet, are ready for a renewal," Kennedy said. "A renewal of ideas, of organization, and yes, of its leadership, so we of the Liberal Party of Canada can once again be the vehicle to help Canada reach its potential.

CTV's Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife said Kennedy represents change for many people within the Liberal party.

"They want to position him as a new force - someone who is different from the old guard, and that's why he's getting a lot of support from a lot of young rookie members of Parliament and people in the party who have been shut out of a lot of the backroom boy stuff," Fife told CTV Newsnet.

Jane Taber, co-host of CTV's Question Period, agreed. She said a number of Kennedy's supporters have been promoting him as the candidate who best embodies a generational change for the party.

"He's captivated some of them because he doesn't have any baggage from the Martin-Chretien years and the fact he's new and fresh and comes from the west and he has worked in Toronto. People think he's very pan-Canadian," Taber told CTV Newsnet.

Throughout his leadership bid Kennedy is expected to promote his deep roots in the Liberal party and run a centrist campaign.

Kennedy narrowly lost to Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty in the 1996 provincial Liberal leadership race, and has cut his political teeth first as education critic and then as education minister after McGuinty won the 2003 election.

Ken Dryden, a former NHL hockey star, announced his leadership bid on Friday, rounding out an expected field of 10 competitors for the job.

Competitors who've already entered the race include: former Ontario premier Bob Rae; veteran Vaughn MP Maurizio Bevilacqua, Toronto MPs Joe Volpe, Carolyn Bennett and Michael Ignatieff; Nova Scotia MP Scott Brison and Quebec MP Stephane Dion.

A recent poll conducted by the Strategic Counsel found that Kennedy is less well known nationally than Rae, Ignatieff, Dion or Dryden. However, he also evoked fewer negative reactions in the 1,000 Canadians who were surveyed, than the others did.

The Liberal leadership convention is scheduled for December in Montreal.