BEING A MEMBER OF THE DECENT LEFT IS INDECENT TO THE LEFT:

Volpe attack jolts Liberal race (SUSAN DELACOURT, 6/18/06, Toronto Star)

Joe Volpe is spoiling to be the bad boy of the otherwise polite and low-key Liberal leadership race, now accusing his rival Michael Ignatieff of sharing the same politics as Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

At the second leadership debate, in Moncton yesterday, Volpe pointedly singled out Ignatieff in his opening remarks, waving a newspaper headline about his views on Canada's role in Afghanistan, and arguing that only Harper would agree with the former Harvard law professor.

Volpe did it deliberately and unapologetically, declaring to reporters later about Ignatieff's debate performance: "I only heard Harper's narrative." [...]

At issue, mainly, is Ignatieff's support of Canada continuing its military role in Afghanistan in a recent Commons vote.

Liberals were split on the issue, but Ignatieff has said the Afghanistan presence adheres to Canada's commitment to the "responsibility to protect" doctrine, as endorsed by the United Nations and which he helped to draft as a policy.

"The idea that I'm making nice with Mr. Harper seems a little peculiar, since I've made it clear in every intervention in the House of Commons that if he changes the mission, I will hold him to account . ..What I support is the Liberal mission that we engaged in 2001."