Stephane Dion

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Shortly after Prime Minister Stephen Harper called this most recent election, Liberal leader Stephane Dion spoke to reporters in the House of Commons foyer. Media outlets reported his words and his policy positions but also hinted at a problem — his image.

The Canadian Press, for example, mentioned his environmental initiatives but also noted that the leader answered reporters’ questions in “tortured syntax and nerdy bravado.”

Dion has many achievements under his belt, but his persona is less impressive than his resume.

The son of one of the founders of the political science department at Laval University, Dion came of age during the “Quiet Revolution” and supported the sovereignty movement. He later re-evaluated his stance and became a staunch federalist.

Dion became an academic and taught political science and public administration at the University of Montreal from 1984 until 1996.

After the 1995 referendum on Quebec sovereignty, Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chretien recruited Dion to run in a parliamentary by-election. After he won, Dion joined Chretien’s cabinet as Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs.

In that position, Dion developed the position that unilateral secession by Quebec would be illegal unless it did so after a clear majority win in a referendum, and negotiations with the rest of Canada. The Supreme Court of Canada approved the position and it became legislation. Though many Quebecois disliked the Clarity Act, it was popular with many other Canadians.

When Paul Martin assumed power in 2003, he left Dion out of his cabinet. But the former academic returned as environment minister after the 2004 general election. In that capacity, Dion succeeded in achieving an international agreement for the renewal of the Kyoto Protocol after 2012.

Martin resigned in 2006 and Dion was chosen to replace him; he impressed other party members with his emphasis on environmentalism, social justice, and economic prosperity.

But Dion has yet to win over the Canadian electorate. In a recent poll, just 15 per cent of voters said he would make the best prime minister. Two per cent more said NDP leader Jack Layton would be their pick, while 35.7 percent chose Harper.

Many voters view Dion as a stodgy intellectual. Also, Dion’s command of English is less than perfect. “Dion’s English remains approximative,” notes Chantal Hébert of The Toronto Star. “When he has to improvise, the result often amounts to a dog’s breakfast.”

The Liberals are now promoting Dion as a champion of the environment, emphasizing his proposal to increase tax on carbon pollution and decrease tax on income and savings.

But by election day, will Canadians view Dion as a champion of the environment or, as Juliet O'Neill of Canwest News Service writes, “as an earnest political science professor toting a knapsack?”