LeBlanc considers Liberal leadership bid

Fresh from his personal victory in the October 14 federal election, BeausÉjour MP Dominic LeBlanc is now considering whether he'll enter the race for Liberal Party leader.
Just days after the election, which saw the Liberal Party lose 26 legislative seats in the House of Commons, StÉphane Dion announced he will be stepping down as federal party leader. The beleaguered Liberal leader, who managed to hold onto his own legislative seat, will pass over the leadership reins during the Liberal leadership convention set for May 2009 in Vancouver.
While there has been public speculation as to whether 40-year-old LeBlanc would seek his party's top position next year, he refused comment during post-election interviews.
On Tuesday, he told The Sackville Tribune Post that national media outlets had actually jumped the gun in reporting that he would be seeking the top Liberal spot.
"They ran away with themselves a bit, in the sense that I said that I'm planning a campaign for the leadership, I'm preparing one; I'll make a final decision in two or three weeks, once the national executive of the Liberal Party two weeks from now sets the rules and the timelines and so on. But I'm certainly interested in it and preparing a campaign," he said in a telephone interview.
He added that if, in fact, the leadership bid is a go, he'll formally launch the campaign in a few weeks time.
"Assuming this goes we'll do a launch in New Brunswick probably three weeks from now. There's really not much more to say than that," LeBlanc noted.