A governing coalition is forming to replace the Conservatives, who have lost the confidence of the majority of Canadian MPs. But the key question of who should lead that coalition remains. Given they have the largest caucus, it’s clear that a Liberal will lead the coalition. However, since Liberal leader Stephane Dion just lost an election and has decided to step down in May, he may not be the best choice. Nor would Deputy Leader Michael Ignatieff, the perceived front-runner for Liberal leader and who has the support of the lion’s share of Liberal MPs. The choice of Ignatieff would be seen as a power grab by rival leadership contenders such as Bob Rae and Dominic Leblanc. The coalition would start off divided if Ignatieff took over now. A neutral third party within the Liberal Party that can also win the confidence of the NDP and Bloc would be the best choice.

Why not John McCallum? The coalition’s legitimacy and survival depends on gaining the confidence of Canadians to deal with the economic crisis. An economic stimulus package is priority #1. John McCallum has the gravitas and economic bonafides to present the competence and seriousness of purpose required at this time. He is an economist, being formerly the Chief Economist for the Royal Bank of Canada and economics professor at McGill, U Manitoba and Simon Fraser. He represents Markham in the House but is from Montreal. So he’s lived in Quebec, Ontario, the Prairies and B.C., so likely has a reasonable understanding of the geographic diversity of the country, and speaks french. And he’s been a senior cabinet minister in government, as well as chair of the Expenditure Review Committee (responsible for cutting wasteful spending).

So why not John McCallum as interim Coalition leader?

Update: It appears that Dion as potential coalition leader is not a done deal. The Toronto Star is reporting that he is likely to step down before Christmas. John McCallum and Ralph Goodale are mentioned as possible interim leaders.