I had a lot of hubris going into politics, but I didn't think I was Pierre Trudeau.

We have got to plant our standard firmly on the centre-left of Canadian politics.

Affirming belief that America is an exceptional nation has become a test of patriotism in American politics.

I am fighting to revive faith, not just in the Liberal party, but in politics itself. I'm a devoted Liberal, I've been one all my life. That's why I'm in the fight to renew the party I love. All my life has been inspired by Canada, and now it's my turn to try and inspire my fellow Canadians.

I'd always admired the intellectuals who had made the transition into politics - Mario Vargas Llosa in Peru, Vaclav Havel in the Czech Republic, Carlos Fuentes in Mexico - but I knew that many of them had failed, and in any event, I wasn't exactly in their league.

Politics is like getting a really bad review: a stinker that you know all your friends are reading.