Canada's Liberals choose long shot as leader

MONTREAL, Dec 3 (Reuters) Canada's opposition Liberals unexpectedly chose former Environment Minister Stephane Dion as their new leader, overlooking his political shortcomings that could undermine the party in an election widely expected next year.

Dion, 51, who was in fourth place at the start of the race, beat favourite and former Harvard academic Michael Ignatieff on the fourth and final ballot at a Montreal leadership convention yesterday. He won by 2,521 votes to 2,084.

The Liberals dominated Canadian politics for the past century but lost power to the Conservatives in a January election. The Conservatives have a minority government that looks set to fall in 2007, sparking a new election.

Dion focused his campaign on the need to do more to protect the environment -- a topic that polls show is increasingly important to Canadians -- and the need to defeat Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper as soon as possible.

''It will not be difficult to find the priorities by which we'll show that our vision for the country is much more generous than the one of Mr Harper,'' he said afterward.

Ignatieff conceded gracefully, asking the results be changed to show all delegates had voted for Dion.

When asked what his surprise win showed, Dion eplied, ''Everything is possible in Canada, even the greatest dream.'' Dion has two potential strikes against him. He speaks English with a heavy French accent, which could make it hard to win over voters in what is a predominantly English-speaking country.

He is also unpopular in his home province of Quebec, which accounts for a quarter of the seats in the federal Parliament.

French-speaking separatists strongly dislike him for his efforts to make it harder for them to hold a successful referendum in the future on whether Quebec should break away from the rest of Canada.

Separatist Quebec governments lost two previous referendums on the issue.

An Ipsos-Reid opinion poll published on Friday said that if Dion won the leadership, the Liberals would win 27 per cent support if a federal election were held now, compared with 35 per cent for the Conservatives.

Since Canada became a country in 1867, only one Liberal leader has failed to become prime minister.

CABINET EXPERIENCE Dion was the only one of the four front-runners to have any experience in a federal Cabinet. He served in the previous two Liberal governments.

Ignatieff's fate was sealed when former Ontario Premier Bob Rae -- who was eliminated after the penultimate ballot -- told his supporters they could decide which of the final two contenders to back.

When the eight contenders to head the party arrived at the convention on Wednesday, Dion was fourth. After an impassioned speech to delegates on Friday night in which he stressed the importance of environmental sustainability, he began to make up ground.

Ignatieff came into the convention as the clear leader in the most open Liberal leadership race since the 1968 contest that brought Pierre Trudeau to power.

Although Ignatieff had the support of many Liberal legislators, rivals accused him of backing the policies of US President George W Bush -- an unpopular figure in Canada.

Ignatieff had been a polarizing figure since he returned to Canada after almost 30 years abroad and entered the race.

Opponents cited his initial support for the war in Iraq and remarks he made that appeared to back the use of torture.

REUTERS SRS BST0626