Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, 2009
| Winner | Michael Ignatieff |
|---|---|
| Resigning leader | Stéphane Dion |
| Convention |
Vancouver Convention Centre Vancouver, British Columbia |
| Date | April 30 - May 2, 2009 |
| Ballots | 1 |
| Candidates | 1 |
| Entrance Fee | $90,000 |
| Spending limit | $1,500,000 |
The Liberal Party of Canada leadership election of 2009 was prompted by Stéphane Dion's announcement that he would not lead the Liberal Party of Canada into another election, following his party's defeat in the 2008 federal election in Canada. The Liberals, who captured just slightly over 26 per cent of the total votes, scored their lowest percentage in the party's history to that date.
The party's national executive met on November 8, 2008, to set rules for the contest, and chose a date and location for the convention. A biennial and leadership convention was held in Vancouver, British Columbia from April 30 to May 3, 2009, with the new leader being chosen on May 2. Delegates to the convention were chosen from March 6–10, 2009 by those Liberal Party members who joined on or before February 6, 2009.
As a result of the 2008 Canadian parliamentary crisis, culminating in Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper's successful appeal on December 4, 2008, to Governor General Michaëlle Jean to prorogue Parliament until January 26, 2009, there were calls by a number of prominent Liberals, including Michael Ignatieff and Bob Rae, for the leadership election process to be accelerated, so that there would be an interim leader in place by the time that Parliament resumed. Former Deputy Prime Minister and former Finance Minister John Manley, writing in The Globe and Mail on December 6, 2008, called for Dion to resign immediately. Dion issued a statement on December 8 agreeing to move up his resignation.
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