Michael grant ignatieff biography

It was a finalist for the Lionel Gelber Prizebut also earned him some criticism. Inhe was criticized by his peers on the editorial board for the Index on Censorshipwhere human rights advocate Conor Gearty said Ignatieff fell into a category of "hand-wringing, apologetic apologists for human-rights abuses". Ignatieff responded by resigning from the editorial board for the Index[ 31 ] and has maintained that he supports a complete ban on torture.

ByIgnatieff's writings on human rights and foreign affairs earned him the 37th rank on a list of most influential public intellectuals prepared by Prospect and Foreign Policy magazines. AroundIgnatieff became more frequently mentioned as a possible Liberal candidate for the next federal election, and rumours swirled about the beginnings of a political career.

He continued to write about the subject of Iraq, reiterating his support, if not the method in which it was conducted. According to Ignatieff, "what Saddam Hussein had done to the Kurds and the Shia " in Iraq was sufficient justification for the invasion. Now I realize that intentions do shape consequences. In a New York Times Magazine article, he wrote: "The unfolding catastrophe in Iraq has condemned the political judgment of a president, but it has also condemned the judgment of many others, myself included, who as commentators supported the invasion.

In politics, by contrast, "Specifics matter more than generalities". In mid, following his electoral defeat, Ignatieff became a senior resident with the University of Toronto 's Massey Collegewhere he taught courses in law and political science for the Munk School of Global Affairsthe School of Public Policy and Governanceand the Faculty of Law.

Ignatieff oversaw a tumultuous period in the university's history, during which it accused the Hungarian government of challenging its legal right to continue to operate in Hungary. InIgnatieff was awarded the Dan David Prize for his contribution to defending democracy. Ignatieff is a historian, a fiction writer and public intellectual [ 33 ] who has written several books on michael grant ignatieff biography relations and nation building.

He has written seventeen books, [ 48 ] and has been described by the British Arts Council as "an extraordinarily versatile writer", in both the style and the subjects he writes about. His fictional works, AsyaScar Tissueand Charlie Johnson in the Flames cover, respectively, the life and travels of a Russian girl, the disintegration of one's mother due to neurological disease, and the haunting memories of a journalist in Kosovo.

The works are to some extent autobiographical; for instance, Ignatieff travelled to the Balkans and Kurdistan while working as a journalist, witnessing first hand the consequences of modern ethnic warfare. His biography of Isaiah Berlin reveals the strong impression the celebrated philosopher made on Ignatieff. The latter work explores social welfare and community, and shows Berlin's influence on Ignatieff.

These tie closely to Ignatieff's political writings on national self-determination and the imperatives of democratic self-government. Ignatieff has also written extensively on international affairs. In The Rights RevolutionIgnatieff identifies three aspects of Canada's approach to human rights that give the country its distinctive culture: 1 On moral issues, Canadian law is secular and liberal, approximating European standards more closely than American ones; 2 Canadian political culture is social democraticand Canadians take it for granted that citizens have the right to free health care and public assistance; 3 Canadians place a particular emphasis on group rights, expressed in Quebec's language laws and in treaty agreements that recognize collective aboriginal rights.

Ignatieff states that despite its admirable commitment to equality and group rights, Canadian society still places an unjust burden on women and gays and lesbians, and he says it is still difficult for newcomers of non-British or French descent to form an enduring sense of michael grant ignatieff biography. He attributes this to the "patch-work quilt of distinctive societies", emphasizing that civic bonds will only be easier when the understanding of Canada as a multinational community is more widely shared.

Ignatieff has written extensively on international development, peacekeeping and the international responsibilities of Western nations. Blood and Belonginga work, explores the duality of nationalism, from Yugoslavia to Northern Ireland. It is the first of a trilogy of books that explore modern conflicts. The Warrior's Honourpublished indeals with ethnically motivated conflicts, including the conflicts in Afghanistan and Rwanda.

His book Empire Lite attracted considerable attention for suggesting that America, the world's last remaining superpower, should create a "humanitarian empire". This book continued his criticism of the limited-risk approach practiced by NATO in conflicts like the Kosovo War and the Rwandan genocide. Ignatieff was originally a prominent supporter of the Invasion of Iraq.

Ignatieff's book The Lesser Evil: Political Ethics in an Age of Terror[ 52 ] argued that Western democracies may have to resort to " lesser evils " like indefinite detention of suspects, coercive interrogations[ 28 ] assassinations, and pre-emptive wars in order to combat the greater evil of terrorism. Ignatieff has adamantly maintained that he supports a complete ban on torture.

After months of rumours and several denials, Ignatieff confirmed in November that he would run for a seat in the House of Commons in the winter election. It was announced that Ignatieff would seek the Liberal nomination in the Toronto riding of Etobicoke—Lakeshore. Some Ukrainian-Canadian members of the riding association objected to the nomination, citing a perceived anti-Ukrainian sentiment in Blood and Belongingwhere Ignatieff said: "I have reasons to take the Ukraine seriously indeed.

But, to be honest, I'm having trouble. Ukrainian independence conjures up images of peasants in embroidered shirts, the nasal whine of ethnic instruments, phony Cossacks in cloaks and boots When asked about it by Peter Newman in a Maclean's interview published on April 6,Ignatieff said: "Sometimes you want to increase your influence over your audience by appropriating their voice, but it was a mistake.

Every single one of the students from 85 countries who took my courses at Harvard knew one thing about me: I was that funny Canadian. Ignatieff went on to defeat the Conservative candidate by a margin of roughly 5, votes to win the seat. After the Liberal government was defeated in the January federal election, Paul Martin resigned the party leadership in March that same year.

On April 7,Ignatieff announced his candidacy in the upcoming Liberal leadership racejoining several others who had already declared their candidacy. Ignatieff received several high-profile endorsements of his candidacy. In AugustIgnatieff said he was "not losing any sleep" over dozens of civilian deaths caused by Israel's attack on Qana during its military actions in Lebanon.

Then, on October 11,Ignatieff described the Qana attack as a war crime committed by Israel. Susan Kadiswho had been Ignatieff's campaign co-chair, withdrew her support following the comment. Other Liberal leadership candidates have also criticized Ignatieff's comments. That doesn't change the fact that Qana was a terrible tragedy.

On October 14, Ignatieff announced that he would visit Israel, to meet with Israeli and Palestinian leaders and "learn first-hand their view of the situation". He noted that Amnesty InternationalHuman Rights Watch and Israel's own B'Tselem have stated that war crimes were committed in Qana, describing the suggestion as "a serious matter precisely because Israel has a record of compliance, concern and respect for the laws of war and human rights".

However, the Jewish organization sponsoring the trip subsequently cancelled it, because of too much media attention. However, polls consistently showed he had weak second-ballot support, and those delegates not already tied to him would be unlikely to support him later. However, due to massive movement towards Dion by delegates who supported Gerard KennedyIgnatieff dropped to second on the third ballot.

Shortly before voting for the third ballot was completed, with the realization that there was a Dion—Kennedy pact, Ignatieff campaign co-chair Denis Coderre made an appeal to Rae to join forces and prevent Dion from winning the Liberal Party leadership on the basis that Stephane Dion's ardent federalism would alienate Quebecersbut Rae turned down the offer and opted to release his delegates.

Rae was eliminated and the bulk of his delegates opted to vote for Dion rather than Ignatieff. In the fourth and final round of voting, Ignatieff took votes and lost the contest to Dion, who won with 2, votes. Ignatieff confirmed that he would run as the Liberal MP for Etobicoke—Lakeshore in the next federal election. During three by-elections held on September 18,the Halifax Chronicle-Herald reported that unidentified Dion supporters were accusing Ignatieff's supporters of undermining by-election efforts, with the goal of showing that Dion could not hold on to the party's Quebec base.

Since then, Ignatieff has urged the Liberals to put aside their differences, saying "united we win, divided we lose". Dion announced that he would schedule his departure as Liberal leader for the next party convention, after the Liberals lost seats and support in the federal election. Ignatieff held a news conference on November 13,to once again announce his candidacy for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada.

When the Liberals reached an accord with the other opposition parties to form a coalition and defeat the government, Ignatieff reluctantly endorsed it. Leadership contender Dominic LeBlanc dropped out and threw his support behind Ignatieff. On December 9, the other remaining opponent for the Liberal Party leadership, Bob Raewithdrew from the race, leaving Ignatieff as the presumptive winner.

On February 19,during U. President Barack Obama 's election visit to Ottawa to meet Prime Minister Stephen Harperwhich was the President's first foreign trip since taking office, Obama also met with Ignatieff as per parliamentary protocol where the leader of the opposition meets foreign dignitaries. Their discussion included climate change, Afghanistan and human rights.

Ignatieff's popularity as well as that of the Liberals dropped off considerably immediately afterwards. On March 25,Ignatieff introduced a motion of non-confidence against the Harper government to attempt to force a May federal election after the government was found to be in contempt of Parliamentthe first such occurrence in Commonwealth history.

The House of Commons passed the motion by — The Liberals had considerable momentum when the writ was dropped, and Ignatieff successfully squeezed NDP leader Jack Layton out of media attention, by issuing challenges to Harper for one-on-one debates. In the first couple weeks of the campaign, Ignatieff kept his party in second place in the polls, and his personal ratings exceeded that of Layton for the first time.

Michael grant ignatieff biography

However opponents frequently criticized Ignatieff's perceived political opportunism, particularly during the leaders debates when Layton criticized Ignatieff for having a poor attendance record for Commons votes saying "You know, most Canadians, if they don't show up for work, they don't get a promotion". Ignatieff failed to defend himself against these charges, and the debates were said to be a turning point for his party's campaign.

When Michael Ignatieff resigned as leader of Canada's Liberals at a press conference in Toronto on May 3rd, members of his team were seen at the back of the room in tears On May 2,Ignatieff's Liberals lost 43 seats only winning 34 and thus slipped to third party status behind the NDP and the Conservatives, who gained a majority in Parliament.

It was the worst result in the history of the Liberal Party, the worst result in Canadian history for an incumbent Official Opposition party, and the first time since Confederation the Liberals failed to finish first or second. Ignatieff was defeated by Conservative challenger Bernard Trottierbeing the first incumbent Leader of the Official Opposition to lose his own seat since Charles Tupper 's defeat in Cape Breton inas well as the first sitting Liberal leader since Mackenzie King lost his riding in the election.

Reports suggested that Ignatieff had initially promised to move into a home inside his riding, but instead he resided in the michael grant ignatieff biography Toronto neighbourhood of Yorkville, which rankled Etobicoke—Lakeshore residents and reinforced perceptions of Ignatieff's political opportunism. On May 3,Ignatieff announced that he would be resigning as leader of the party pending the appointment of an interim leader ; his resignation went into effect on May 25 when Bob Rae was appointed as Ignatieff's interim replacement.

InIgnatieff published a book about his political career called Fire and Ashes: Success and Failure in Politics. The British reviewer David Runciman commented in a book review, "for a clear-eyed, sharply observed, mordant but ultimately hopeful account of contemporary politics this memoir is hard to beat. After his defeat, a friend tries to comfort him by telling him that at least he'll get a book out of it.

Ignatieff reacts with understandable fury. He didn't go into politics and through all that followed just to write a book. Still, it's some book. In OctoberIgnatieff indicated that he personally would not support ballistic missile defence nor the weaponization of space. On June 3,and on March 30,Ignatieff voted in support of non-binding motions in the House of Commons calling on the government to "allow conscientious objectors During his time in Parliament, Ignatieff was one of the few opposition members supporting the minority Conservative government's commitment to Canadian military activity in Afghanistan.

During the debate, Ignatieff expressed his "unequivocal support for the troops in Afghanistan, for the mission, and also for the renewal of the mission. Among Liberal leadership candidates, Ignatieff and Scott Brison voted for the extension. Ignatieff led the largest Liberal contingent of votes in favour, with at least five of his caucus supporters voting along with him to extend the mission.

He stated: "the thing that Canadians have to understand about Afghanistan is that we are well past the era of Pearsonian peacekeeping. In the Liberal leadership race, Ignatieff advocated for measures to address climate changeincluding a carbon tax. In a speech to the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce in Februaryhe said; "You can't win michaels grant ignatieff biography if you're adding to the input costs of a farmer putting diesel into his tractor, or you're adding to the input costs of a fisherman putting diesel into his fishing boat, or a trucker transporting goods".

He went onto say that; "You've got to work with the grain of Canadians and not against them. I think we learned a lesson in the last election. During the spring federal electionIgnatieff ruled out the formation of a coalition government with the NDP and Bloc parties. Contrary to the suggestion from the Conservative party that he was planning to form a government with the other opposition parties, Ignatieff issued a statement on March 26,stating that "[t]he party that wins the most seats on election day will form the government".

Bold indicates parties with members elected to the House of Commons. Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikinews Wikiquote Wikidata item. Canadian author, academic and former politician. The Honourable. PC CM. Susan Barrowclough.

Zsuzsanna Zsohar. Early life and education [ edit ]. Family [ edit ]. His parents were foreign service officers. After graduating from high school in Toronto, he attended the University of Toronto, graduating with a first class honors degree in history. He entered the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University in September and graduated in with a doctorate in history.

Learn more about citation styles Citation styles Encyclopedia. More From encyclopedia. Ignatian spirituality. Ignath, Lujza Linczegh b. Ignat, Doina —. Ignarro, Louis Joseph. Ignacio Navarro Madrazo. Iglulik Inuit. Igloo Products Corp. Igloi, Thomas George. Iglesias, Miguel — Iglesias, Miguel. Inhe moved to the United Kingdom, where he worked at the University of Cambridge untilwhen he relocated to London and engaged in journalistic activities.

During his time in the UK, Ignatieff became well-known as a radio and television presenter. Inhe joined Harvard University as a professor and taught there untilwhen he returned to Canada and began working at the University of Toronto. Ignatieff has been active in politics since his youth and participated in the election campaigns of Pierre Trudeau and Lester Pearson.

Ina group of Canadian Liberal Party members approached Ignatieff with an offer to run for the position of party leader. In NovemberIgnatieff was elected as a member of the House of Commons of Canada and was re-elected in