French-speaking separatists strongly dislike him for his efforts to prevent them from holding a successful referendum on whether Quebec should break away from the rest of Canada.
Actually, this is probably a good thing for the Liberals, really. Now that Harper has decided to try and pull in separatists with dumb politicking, the Liberal Party would do well, in my opinion, to have someone as their leader who provides a stark contrast to what Harper is up to. You can't get anywhere politically with an issue if your guy agrees with the other guy.
As for his heavy accent... uh, remember a guy back in the 1990's? Chrétien? The guy with the ridiculously bad English? Yeah, that guy. He sure didn't do well.
All in all, I'm happy enough with Dion.
Chretien faced badly divided opposition, and in general the CA/Reform and PCs were none too friendly with each other. After all, exit polls in 2004 indicated that as many as half of former PC voters switched to the Liberals.
Dion will only further alienate the West while failing to make inroads in Quebec. He may have moderate success in Ontario, but that's not enough for the Liberals. (Not that conservatives and Conservatives should be cheering; Dion will help the NDP, Greens and Bloc, not them.)
