Liberal riding president resigns, endorses Conservative
Last Updated: Friday, January 20, 2006 | 8:43 PM ET
CBC News
Ron Chyczij, of the Etobicoke-Lakeshore Federal Liberal Association, said he was now endorsing Conservative candidate John Capobianco adding he could no longer "in good conscience" support Ignatieff.
"After the nomination fiasco, I've purposely waited on the sidelines to see if Michael Ignatieff can in some way redeem himself as a credible Liberal candidate in this riding. I regret to conclude this has not happened," Chyczij said in a statement.
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Ignatieff, 58, is an internationally recognized scholar and journalist who was born in Toronto but has lived in the U.S. for the past two decades.
His critics in the riding have also charged that Ignatieff made disparaging comments about Ukrainians in his book Blood and Belonging: Journeys into the New Nationalism, an explosive allegation in a riding where people of Ukrainian descent make up a significant number of voters.
But Ignatieff, 58, said the passages have been taken out of context.
Chyczij said "the last straw" was at the last all-candidates meeting where he said Ignatieff "denied his controversial positions on Iraq, torture and various ethnic groups which are clearly on record."
Ignatieff supported the war in Iraq. He has been accused of supporting torture techniques, something he vehemently denies.
The Ignatieff campaign heralded the news that Chyczij resigned, saying it's a "welcome and long overdue event."
Ignatieff's campaign manager Sachin Aggawal said in a release that Chyczij was a "Liberal of convenience" and accused him and his supporters of working for the Tories for weeks.
"They have finally had the courage to come out of the shadows. Better late than never," Aggarwa said.
