Federal Liberal leadership front-runner Michael Ignatieff held an initial lead early Saturday in the first ballot, but nowhere near the 50 per cent plus one majority needed to claim the job outright, forcing at least a second ballot to determine the winner.

Wheeling and dealing for delegate support heading into Saturday morning's second-round vote in Montreal is expected to run well through the night as delegates are now free to vote for the candidate of their choice.

Michael Ignatieff says he's the best candidate to defeat Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
(CBC)

Ignatieff received 1,412 votes, or about 29.3 per cent of the delegates, ahead of his chief rival, former Ontario premier Bob Rae, who garnered 977 votes, or about 20.3 per cent. Stéphane Dion narrowly finished third with 856 votes, just two votes ahead of Gerard Kennedy. 

Michael Ignatieff	1,412
Bob Rae	977
Stéphane Dion	856
Gerard Kennedy	854
Ken Dryden	238
Scott Brison	192
Joe Volpe	156
Martha Hall Findlay	130

Dion and Kennedy have made no secret they've been holding talks. Rumours of a pact between the two candidates that would see one supporting the other if one was ahead circulated throughout the days leading to the vote.

But the dramatically close finish was sure to cast even more uncertainty upon the two candidates' plans.

Martha Hall Findlay, a relatively unknown figure who impressed as a fresh face during the campaign, was to be dropped off the second ballot after finishing last with 130 votes. She told CBC News after the results that she would make a decision in the morning over which candidate she would back.

The vote ended at 10 p.m. ET, one hour after the final speech ended. Results from the first round came just after midnight.

The candidate with the lowest support is dropped from each ballot until someone gets 50 per cent plus one of the votes. 

Volpe backs Rae

The results came following speeches by the eight remaining candidates on Friday evening. The first dramatic move came as Toronto MP Joe Volpe crossed the packed convention floor to support Rae before the results of the first ballot were announced. 

The two men clasped hands surrounded by Rae's supporters and a throng of television cameras.

Bob Rae took a big gamble by speaking without notes and acknowledging his past failings.
(CBC)

Ignatieff, who had by far the largest crowd of supporters in the audience, pledged to give the party victory amid signs bearing the message "Defeat Harper."

After a lengthy introduction video, Ignatieff slammed Prime Minister Stephen Harper's "mean-spirited vision," which he said would leave Canada "less progressive, less fair, less just and less equal."

"Here's a politician of conviction with all the wrong convictions," he said.

Rae, breaking with the mould by stepping away from the podium with a hand-held microphone and speaking without the help of a teleprompter, acknowledged his past defeats up front, but called for Liberals to look together to the future.

"We have become friends, competitors and rivals," Rae said. "We cannot afford any further argument between us as we go forward."

During his speech, Rae focused on his record after his departure from provincial politics, citing his work with the Canadian Red Cross after the tainted blood scandal and as special adviser to Ottawa on the Air India inquiry.

Harper popular target

Earlier candidates also took dead aim at Harper during their final speeches to delegates choosing who will take on the PM in the next federal election.

During his speech, third-place candidate Kennedy called on Canadians to prevent Harper from "doing to Canada what Mike Harris did to Ontario," in reference to the former Progressive Conservative premier Kennedy faced in provincial opposition. 

Stéphane Dion said he'll deliver on climate change if he is chosen to lead the party.
(CBC)

Following an impassioned introduction by Justin Trudeau, Kennedy appeared comfortable in the French segments of his prepared speech. His support with Quebec delegates trailed far behind the other top-tier candidates before Friday's vote.

Gerard Kennedy challenged delegates to begin 'a new era' for Liberals.
(CBC)

"The concerns of Quebecers are the concerns of Canadians," he said, in reference to his opposition to the motion supporting Québécois as a "nation."

Trying to draw his appeal beyond Ontario's western borders, the Manitoba-born Kennedy said he would be proud to be the first Liberal prime minister born and raised in Western Canada and wouldn't "spot the Conservatives 80 seats west of Kenora every election."

Dion, the first of the four top-tier candidates to speak, accused Harper of "copying his hero so much that [U.S. President] George Bush should be getting royalties."

During a speech that was cut short at the end by music for going beyond his allotted 25 minutes, Dion cited his experience as environment minister and decried the Harper government's Clean Air Act as "inept" and "nothing more than a smokescreen."

Ken Dryden earned a massive roar of applause when he took the stage.
(CBC)

"I know Canadians are listening," he said of climate change. "The problem is we have a prime minister who is not listening."

Six-time Stanley Cup winner and Liberal leadership hopeful Ken Dryden garnered a massive reception as he took the podium and delivered his vision of a "Big Canada" in the global stage.

The Hall of Fame goaltender with the Montreal Canadiens accused the Conservatives of mirroring Bush's policies and wanting to keep Canada as "forever an economic, military, and cultural echo of the U.S."

Dryden also slammed Harper for not attending the World AIDS Conference in Toronto in the summer and shelving the national early learning and child-care program Dryden had worked to secure with the provinces before the last election.

Volpe first to pull out

Volpe acknowledged in his speech that he had little chance of winning the federal party leadership.

"At the end of the voting, there will only be one, and mathematics tell me it's not likely to be me," said the beleaguered Toronto MP, whose campaign has had to deal with a flap over delegate recruiting practices.

Before Volpe's address, Scott Brison slammed Harper's environmental policies during his impassioned speech, saying action on climate change would serve as the Liberals' "legacy for the 21st century."

But Volpe's move may prove less swaying than it first appeared. His campaign chair, Nick Discepola, said he was going to Ignatieff's camp and was taking up to 40 of Volpe's estimated 140 delegates with him.

Brison, among the second-tier of leadership candidates, called for Canada to be the world leader in green energy.

"Smart money is going green," the 39-year-old Nova Scotia MP told delegates. "Canada has a ticket to the best economic game in the world, but Stephen Harper wants to rip up that ticket like he did to Kyoto, and we won't let them do it."

Martha Hall Findlay said she'll rest before making a decision on which candidate she'll support.
(CBC)

The speech order was set by the Liberals to reflect the number of delegates each candidate had before the first ballot, with Hall Findlay — who garnered the least support — at the beginning and Ignatieff at the end.

Earlier Friday evening, Hall Findlay attacked Harper's strict stance on limiting media access to cabinet ministers and MPs. 

"Leadership is not to control," she said. "Leadership is to inspire." 

Biggest convention in Canada's history: officials

The Liberal convention is the biggest in Canadian history, national director Steve MacKinnon said.

By late Friday afternoon, 4,942 voting delegates were officially registered, leaving about 600 alternates out of luck in their hopes of replacing no-shows.

Voting was supposed to start at 3 p.m. ET Friday, but was delayed by at least an hour to give delegates more time to sign in. 

Some delegates expressed anger that they were missing the speeches of their favourite candidates while waiting in long lineups to vote, while others said they were delayed because of a severe storm hitting Quebec.