COULD FRANK MCKENNA BE THE NEXT LIBERAL LEADER???

Well, the long list of liberal leader hopefuls has been growing. In my opinion Frank Mckenna and Brian Tobin may have the best chance and may in fact be the best choices. They were both former premiers and are great leaders. Speaking of former premier, Bob Rae is also said to be in the running. Also great former goalie Ken Dryden also threw his name into the hat of liberal leader hopefuls. The billion dollar princess Belinda will also be in the running, as well as Manley. The former Harvard professor Mr. Ignatieff is thought of as maybe the next Trudeau. All I gotta to say is the next leadership convention will be a lot of fun and I hope whoever wins will be a great leader for the liberals.

A sign of things just starting off for Frank Mckenna on his road to liberal leader began today.

Frank McKenna, Canada's ambassador to the United States, has resigned. He informed prime minister-designate Stephen Harper of his decision on Tuesday, Canadian Embassy officials in Washington said Wednesday.

In his two-page letter to Harper, McKenna asked to be relieved of his duty, adding he shared a mutual commitment to Canada with Harper and that he would have had no difficulty working with a Conservative government.

However, "he believes that it would compromise the position of the ambassadorship" were he to stay on, CTV's Joy Malbon -- who obtained a copy of the letter -- said on Newsnet's Mike Duffy Live.

Earlier Wednesday in Washington, McKenna brushed off the question when reporters asked him about his future.Prime Minister Paul Martin appointed McKenna to the important diplomatic post just less than a year ago.

However, Martin's Liberals were defeated in Monday's election, leading Martin to announce he was quitting as Liberal Party leader.

This started speculation almost immediately that McKenna, a former Liberal premier of New Brunswick, might seek the federal leadership himself.

"I'm not sure he's going to run for the leadership," journalist L. Ian McDonald told Newsnet, noting the Liberal Party is heavily in debt.

"He had a very good commercial law practice in Toronto before. He may want to return to that," McDonald said of McKenna.In addition, observers say that Harper might have wanted to have his own man in Washington in any event, putting McKenna's longer-term future in doubt.

Besides McKenna, some are wondering whether Allan Rock, a former Liberal cabinet minister, is long for his position as Canada's ambassador to the United Nations.

According to a Wednesday report in the Globe and Mail, Rock resisted a pro-Israel shift in policy by Martin, and the Conservatives are likely to be even more pro-Israeli. Rock himself wanted to seek the Liberal Party's leadership, but he gave up when it became clear Martin had too much of a head start.

In terms of replacing McKenna, McDonald said rumours of former Reform Party leader Preston Manning getting the job were a "non-starter."Another rumour is that Michael Wilson, finance minister in the Progressive Conservative government of Brian Mulroney, might be a candidate, said CTV's Mike Duffy.

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, a Liberal, said Harper must take care in filling the position, noting that 90 per cent of his province's exports go to the United States.