Fastidious voters who hope to retain a shred of faith in the democratic system should probably avoid too close a study of the internal machinations of political parties. They are seldom less than ruthless and never pretty.
But even by those low standards of civility, recent efforts on the part of some important factions of the federal Liberal hierarchy to oust Stéphane Dion as the party’s flag-bearer in St. Laurent are notably repellent.
True, Dion’s reign as party leader was short and inglorious, and his stumble-prone campaign in 2008 culminated in one of the most humiliating defeats in Liberal history. Finally, his disastrous attempt to forge a coalition with the New Democrats to oust the Conservatives with the connivance of the Bloc Québécois dashed whatever hopes he had left of ever becoming prime minister.
Still, he deserves better than to have his back stabbed by the likes of Denis Coderre, a party apparatchik whose contributions to Canada are minimal compared with those of Dion. But Coderre apparently has the ear and the support of Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff, which greatly enhances his ability to make mischief in the ranks of the party’s Quebec wing. And Coderre seems to think, according to our columnist L.Ian MacDonald, that Dion should have the decency to disappear before the next election and leave his riding open for a “star candidate.”
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How many other liberals will Codere and Ignegative throw to the wolves. If they will do it do Dion they will do it to others. Codere better watch his back.
I agree regarding Codere. The man is a walking disaster.
Regarding Dion — I agree with the editorial. He was not right about going green because he misjudged the mood of the Canadian public. But who was giving him advice?
More to the point — what were their motives?
Nobody knows but there was a time when he bailed Chretien out using an idea first promoted by Harper and it kept this country together. It doesn’t matter where the idea came from — it DOES matter that it was acted upon and Dion was responsible for ensuring it happened.
I haven’t forgotten and I note that the same bunch of “bozos” that were pushing him at one time are now pushing “Iggy”. If you hooked them all up in series you couldn’t light a ten watt bulb with the lot of them. Frank McKenna knows that as do other Liberal leaders who have real clout and they have all walked away.
Until the Liberals change their entire structure starting at the riding level they will be in the boondocks. Tories know that.
We’ve “been there — done that”.
Iggy has no chance of being the next Canadian PM. What he does have a chance to do is fire all the movers and shakers on his team and start new. He can do that and while the process will take time the country will be better off for it. In that way he will have a “legacy” of sorts and will be remembered in the history books for restoring the Liberal party to what it used to be prior to Trudeau.
In effect he can end Canada’s pain if he so chooses and that would be quite a legacy.
I would agree with you Jack if I believed Ignegative was his own man. I don’t believe he is his own man because I think that the Liberals tried to do with Ignegative what the Democrats did with Owebama. They tried to find a blank slate, empty suit that would be their happy face while the back room boys did the actual running of the country. They imported Ignegative but forgot that the secret to their plan was to have someone who was ‘charismatic’. Ignegative is nothing if not non-charismatic. One other thing the Liberal back room boys forgot is that their man must at all times echo whatever it is the back room boys are saying. Ignegative doesn’t do the teleprompter routine and it seems runs deliberately into the land mines the back room boys set. It wouldn’t surprise me if Ignegative is forced from leadership soon which will give him a new record. He will be the first Liberal leader (not interim leader) who did not face the electorate in a general election.