Seven years ago, Stéphane Dion resigned as Liberal leader. Today, he joins the Trudeau cabinet as the minister of foreign affairs.
In the crowded aftermath of the Liberal celebration at the Queen Elizabeth hotel in Montreal on election night, awhile after Justin Trudeau had spoken and departed, Stéphane Dion was still around, looking like one of the happiest people on the planet.
Almost exactly seven years earlier, Dion had been at another hotel in Montreal for another election night, but in that case to concede defeat. Several days later he would announce his intention to resign as party leader and so, after some unexpected moments of drama, he would become just the second leader of the Liberal party of Canada to never be prime minister.
But this bright morning at Rideau Hall, Stéphane Dion, shoulders low, body somewhat slouched, stepped forward to swear the oaths of office, first in French, then in his awkwardly enunciated English, as the minister of foreign affairs. When he attempted then to sign the official documents, the pen seemed not to work, and there were chuckles at the awkward moment. Which was sort of perfect.
Amid the change, there is the comeback and redemption of Stéphane Dion.
