Random Access

Well, Michael Ignatieff is definitely interested in running for the Liberals in the chilly election campaign upon which we are about to embark.
But, not in Mississauga-Erindale.
The director of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy and Professor of the Practice of Human Rights at Harvard University was back in Canada this week and spoke at a meeting of the Harvard Club in Toronto.
The acclaimed scholar and author, who's coming back to the University of Toronto to teach in January, told the alumni he is giving serious consideration to a run for the Grits. The young, bright charismatic Ignatieff is already being touted as a potential successor to Paul Martin.
He'll probably have to rely on Martin to appoint him to a seat here if he wants to run.
In a one-line e-mail response to my inquiry about his interest in succeeding Carolyn Parrish in the central Mississauga riding, Ignatieff said, "no truth to these rumours."
While the rumour mill continues to churn out more names, including one from outer space, the local association is waiting impatiently for the party to grant its request for a date for a nomination.
Yes, the name of Canadian Astronaut Marc Garneau has been floating around.
So far, four earth-bound candidates have officially submitted their papers. They include Elias Hazineh, president of the association who works in Parrish's office; Omar Algabrah, an employee of GE Canada; Youssef Harb, a self-employed concert promoter; former Peel school board trustee George Winter; and, Khaled Usman, a Markham city councillor.
Mississauga dentist Dr. Farid Ayad is planning to bring in his papers today.
"I would say we're running out of time for a nomination," said Hazineh. "With 4,000 members, there are a lot of preparations to make."
The party is obviously dragging its feet so it can parachute someone in, perhaps even Martha Hall-Findlay, the candidate displaced in Newmarket- Aurora when Belinda Stronach crossed the floor.
An appointment "would fly in the face of what Paul Martin has been saying about the democratic deficit," Hazineh said. "I just wish the party would engage us in the local decision."
Ahh, nice idea in principle, but apparently way old-fashioned when you want to stash today's flavour-of-the-week superstar candidate in a convenient seat.
Meanwhile, Bob Dechert and the Conservatives sit on the sidelines enjoying the squabbling and figuring out how many disaffected votes they can attract from Liberals turned off by the party's latest internal machinations.