Stéphane Dion deserves better
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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