The contest to decide who will replace Stéphane Dion as Liberal leader should happen "sooner rather than later" to allow the party to rebuild from its loss in the latest federal election, Liberal MP and potential candidate Bob Rae said Tuesday.

Liberal MP Bob Rae says he hasn't decided whether to enter the race to succeed Stéphane Dion. (CBC)In an interview with CBC News, Rae insisted he had not yet decided whether he would run for the position, which Dion announced a day earlier he would vacate once a successor was chosen.

But Rae, who finished third behind Dion and Liberal MP Michael Ignatieff in the 2006 leadership race, also acknowledged he has had discussions about a potential run.

The party’s national executive is scheduled to meet Nov. 8 and there has been speculation a policy convention booked for May 1-4 in Vancouver could be turned into a leadership convention.

"I think there is a sense in the party that we need to get on with this," Rae said. "And I think the leader's decision yesterday kind of makes that possible now."

But Rae said "there may be other views" as many former candidates continue to recuperate emotionally and financially from the gruelling 2006 contest, while he added that he didn't expect anyone to jump into the race for the next few weeks.

"People don't understand the last race was a long race," he said. "It took a lot out of people. It financially was a big deal because of the funding rules that are now in place."

Rae, Ignatieff agree race should be civil

Rae said Tuesday it was important to keep the race civil and to minimize infighting. The 2006 leadership race was a polarizing affair that saw the two favoured candidates, Rae and Ignatieff, eventually both shut out of the race.

Rae said he had spoken to Ignatieff about another leadership race and the manner in which it should be conducted.

"We've talked about the importance of civility, … the importance of people working together, … the importance of how we build the party, … the importance of how we make sure that we can defeat the Conservatives," he told the Canadian Press.

"That's the objective ... and that's a much more important objective than who wins the leadership."

Ignatieff was not readily available to comment. Neither Rae nor Ignatieff have said they would be running in the race, but political observers have said both are unlikely to pass up another opportunity to claim the Liberal leadership.

Rae and Ignatieff have both paid off their debts from the last leadership contest. Dion still owes about $200,000.

Some of his other former rivals who are contemplating a second stab at the top job, including Martha Hall Findlay and Gerard Kennedy, are also still in debt.

'Practical problems' in rushing leadership vote, says strategist

On Monday, Dion said he would step down after a leadership convention "in order to ensure a smooth and successful transition."

He blamed his party's 19-seat loss in the federal election mainly on its inability to counter Conservative "propaganda" against Dion and the proposed Green Shift carbon tax.

“If people are asking why, it's because I failed," Dion said. "In my consultations, it became very clear that in the door-to-door canvassing, my colleagues, my friends were told, 'We don't like your leader'."

Following his announcement, some Liberals suggested the party would be better served by Dion stepping aside immediately to allow an interim leader to fill in until a successor is chosen.

But Rae said Dion has a right to stay on, adding he didn't see his presence as "problematic" for potential leadership candidates.

"I think Mr. Dion is a leader who was elected by the convention," he said. "He won fair and square. He beat me and he beat Michael and beat others and he's there. He's just there.

"He's entitled to stay on as leader and to do his best in the House and to do the things that he wants to do as he makes his departure, and that's perfectly legitimate. That's fine."

Liberal strategist Tim Murphy said those who wish to move up the date of the leadership convention fail to acknowledge the reasons why the process of choosing a party leader usually takes about six months.

"I think it's just a practical problem when you look at booking that big a convention because it's 10,000 people that come, including friends in the media," Murphy told CBC News on Monday.

"You want to give your candidates enough time to talk to Liberals, to recruit people to the party because we need new members to elect them to the convention."

Tory attack ads could 'dissuade' potential candidates: Hall Findlay

Liberal MP and former leadership candidate Martha Hall Findlay says her respect for Stéphane Dion "has only increased watching what he's been through for almost two years." (CBC)Liberal MP Martha Hall Findlay, who has said her leadership run in 2006 was done in part to encourage women and young people to get into politics, told CBC News on Monday that the tone of the Conservative advertising attacks against Dion since he became party leader is bound to influence anyone considering a run.

"Nobody is perfect, but to see somebody of such honesty and integrity being subject to such awful, awful attacks … you have to think pretty seriously if you want to do it too, right?" said Hall Findlay, who insisted she needed "time to digest" Dion's announcement and has not decided whether to vie for the leadership again.

"It has to dissuade anybody. I see that as a descent of Canadian politics to a level that doesn’t belong here."

Rae suggested it's time to turn the page and look ahead, not back.

"The race that has to happen is a race that has to be about the future. It isn't going to be about the past. It's going to be about the future of the party and the future of the country."

Rae and Ignatieff were seen greeting each other warmly on Monday night at an event honouring former Liberal prime minister John Turner in Toronto.

But Rae hinted Monday the Liberals could ill afford the damage similar to that caused by the feud between Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin, saying the party and all candidates must ensure a "civil" race.

"Whoever wins or whoever loses doesn't walk away saying, 'Well, that's the end for me and all my people will leave and that's the end'," he said. "You can't have that. This has got to be about building the party."

Dion, who served as intergovernmental affairs minister under Chrétien and environment minister under Martin, claimed the party leadership on Dec. 2, 2006. His victory came as a surprise to most after he finished third with less than 18 per cent of the vote on the first ballot.

But with the backing of leadership candidate Gerard Kennedy, Dion was able to vault past Ignatieff and Rae, who are now considered the front-runners in the upcoming leadership race.

Kennedy, along with former New Brunswick premier Frank McKenna and former deputy prime minister John Manley, have also been suggested as possible leadership candidates.

Murphy said it was critical that the party executive sets very low spending levels on the next leadership campaign to allow the party to continue to raise money, while also permitting "the next generation" of candidates, such as bilingual New Brunswick Liberal MP Dominic LeBlanc, to participate.

"You want a race that is fair," he said.

"You want a race that exposes these people to Canadians. So you have a race that is not dominated by a few and lots of money, but a race dominated by debate and excitement and engaging Liberals."

With files from the Canadian Press