Angry in the Great White North
Klander: Did he quit or was he fired? Figuring out Paul Martin's rules for party members
Tuesday, December 27, 2005 at 12:39 PM

Read other posts by Steve Janke published by the National Post
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An interesting tidbit that I've only seen printed in the Vancouver Sun about Mike Klander, the Liberal party executive forced to resign when his blog containing homophobic and racist comments was made public:

[Liberal Party spokesman Stephen Heckbert] said Klander resigned on his own initiative and was not pushed. However, in an interview with CanWest News Service just before he submitted his resignation, Klander said his only plan was to apologize to Chow.

It's a minor thing...or is it? If Klander was told he had to go, one wonders if he spared a thought for Liberal Communications Director Scott Reid and for Liberal Party strategist John Duffy, both of whom kept their jobs after the "beer and popcorn" gaffe.

You could forgive him for thinking he was being treated unfairly. Klander said some pretty nasty things, but it was via a personal blog, and he was not speaking for the Liberal Party in an official capacitty.

Reid and Duffy said a stupid thing, not as nasty, but then they said it while being interviewed on national television, and while acting as spokespersons for the Liberal Party.

So which is worse? Klander for saying something very bad semi-privately, or Reid and Duffy for saying something pretty bad extremely publicly?

The fact that Klander was fired (or forced to quit), while Reid and Duffy continue to work at the centre of the campaign, means that Paul Martin thinks there was a difference.

What that difference was is probably subtle, perhaps too subtle for the likes of you, and me, and Mike Klander to fathom. I expect that over the next little while, bloggers and professional columnists alike will ponder that question. Maybe we'll get lucky and one of us will stumble into an understanding of Paul Martin's standards for acceptable behaviour for officials associated with the Liberal Party of Canada.

Until someone does, I bet more than a few Liberal workers will be wondering whether this mistake or that is a firing offense or a forgiveable misstep. That kind of second-guessing can't be good for party morale, what with everyone looking over their shoulders. Well, serves them right for not being as clever and subtle as Paul Martin.

But here's a scary thought. What if the difference between Klander on the one hand, and Reid and Duffy on the other, is too subtle and clever for Paul Martin to understand?

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