Perly Rae that he could return to politics if there was a national unity crisis. On November 23, 2005, Rae presented his recommendations that there should be a formal but focused inquiry into the Air India disaster. Two days later, Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan announced Rae's appointment to conduct a limited inquiry into Air India under a government order-in-council. Rae produced a comprehensive report outlining the key issues that could be addressed, leaving Air India Victims' families spokeswoman Lata Pada "encouraged that demands for answers will be addressed". On August 24, 2005, the Toronto Star reported that Rae was under "mounting pressure" to run for the federal Liberals in the 2006 general election. Though it was unclear how long the Air India inquiry was to last, Rae's appointment precluded any possibility of his running as a candidate in the January 23 election. A poll by SES Research suggested that Rae was tied for second place behind Frank McKenna as a prospective candidate to lead the federal Liberals. McKenna decided afterwards not to contest the leadership. The new government of Stephen Harper appointed a judge to handle the Air India inquiry in March 2006 thus releasing Rae from his previous commitment and freeing him for a possible run for the Liberal Party leadership. In a speech to the Canadian Club of Winnipeg on March 13, 2006, Rae expressed his interest in uniting the "progressive" forces of Canada to regain a majority government in the House of Commons of Canada. "There's a progressive record that's shared by a majority of Canadians, but so far, we have not succeeded in becoming a majority in the House of Commons, so we must think a bit about how that can happen." 2006 leadership election On April 5, 2006, Rae applied for membership in the Liberal Party of Canada. His candidacy for the federal party leadership was supported by Greg Sorbara and George Smitherman, former Chrétien aides Eddie Goldenberg and Rae's brother John, as well as former top Martin advisor John Webster and others associated with the Martin camp. He announced his candidacy on April 24, 2006. At his campaign launch he responded to his critics by saying, "I made mistakes before I was in politics, I made mistakes when I was in politics, I made mistakes as premier ... I can only tell you I have learned from those mistakes and I am the