A philosopher-king to rule Canada?

Peter writes about this recent piece in the Globe and Mail about Michael Ignatieff being touted as a future leader of the Liberal party and with that Canada's prime minister. Now I'd heard about this before, but it looks like it might be a reality in the not-so-distant future. Ignatieff or not, it's not surprising the Liberals would be looking for a new leader, considering Paul Martin's poor showing as their man at the helm after the politically savvy Jean Chretien.

But back to Ignatieff, he is 'seen as a philosopher-king and a progressive political thinker' says the Globe and Mail, an academic steeped in human rights discourse who I expect sits cleverly at the centre-right on the political spectrum. While I don't think he supported the war on Iraq, I used the ideas in his book The Lesser Evil - Political Ethics in an Age of Terror to make a case in PHIL 328 Human Rights last term for why the war might be justified. Orend didn't agree that it was, but he gave me an okay mark on the paper.

Ignatieff might be just the kind of man Canada needs to make its voice count a little more on the world stage, either as PM or foreign affairs minister.