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National News: Hedy Fry set to enter Liberal leadership race Black Habits Articles CTV.ca News Staff
Veteran MP and former junior cabinet minister Hedy Fry is expected to enter the race to become the next leader of the Liberal party Thursday. The announcement will make her the first candidate from Western Canada.

"I think the West is part of Canada and I think we have a lot to offer to a national vision," Fry told Canada AM Thursday morning.

Fry is scheduled to make her announcement at the Vancouver Rowing Club, becoming the 11th candidate to officially enter the race.

The Vancouver Centre MP said women need a greater voice in national politics. Her announcement will make her only the third woman vying for the Liberal leadership, joining Toronto lawyer Martha Hall Findlay and Toronto MP Carolyn Bennett.

"I do think we need to have more women for many reasons...we do have a different way of looking at things, a different way of problem solving, and if you put men and women together doing that you get a better result," Fry said.

A physician who was born in Trinidad, Fry won her seat in 1993, knocking off then-prime minister Kim Campbell to take the riding.

She gained stature as secretary of state for multiculturalism and the status of women in Jean Chretien's government, and later became parliamentary secretary to the minister of citizenship and immigration under former prime minister Paul Martin.

In last winter's election, she successfully fended off a serious challenge by New Democratic MP Svend Robinson, holding the riding with a margin of close to 9,000 votes.

However, her career has been dogged by some controversy. Fry once faced calls for her resignation after she mistakenly claimed crosses were being burned in a northern B.C. town.

She said she believes the Liberal party needs to return to its roots in order to once again become successful and accurately represent the people of Canada.

"The success of the Liberal party has always been the fact it always had the pulse of its grass roots," Fry said.

"We always had the ability to test what people were thinking, what their concerns were and how they wanted to resolve those issues, and that made the Liberal party a party that had the pulse of Canadians."

Fry said she is excited to join the ever-broadening field of candidates for the leader's post, and said the campaign process will be healthy for the party and the country.

"I think this is a great time for the Liberal Party of Canada," Fry said. "There are so many people who are bright and who have a vision and a passion for this country ... I think it's great. It's going to lead to a debate across the country about ideas, about vision. It's going to be a great time for the Liberal party."

Fry joins a field of competitors that includes former New Democratic premier Bob Rae, former Ontario education minister Gerard Kennedy and Harvard professor Michael Ignatieff.
Posted on Friday, May 05 @ 00:00:00 UTC by jcohen



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