The rising cost of Stephane Dion's leadership
The Liberal Party has paid a steep price since electing Stephane Dion leader. And yet as bad as it gets, there always seems to be room for things to get worse. Now news that Marc Garneau, Canada's first man in space, and a former star candidate for the Liberal Party, won't run for the Liberals this time around. But the way in which Marc Garneau explained his decision, the way it portrays the Liberal Party in the worst possible light, especially in Quebec and in particular attributed to Stephane Dion's style of leadership, has pushed that price up even higher.
Frankly, I can't imagine how much longer Liberals are going watch idly as the cost of Stephane Dion's leadership rises.
Shocking news that potential star candidate, former astronaut Marc Garneau, is not running for the Liberal Party:
Faced with ambivalence on the part of the Liberal party and the need to support his family, former Canadian astronaut Marc Garneau said Tuesday he has closed the door on the idea of seeking the Liberal nomination in Westmount-Ville Marie or any other riding.
The news came as a surprise to a group of Liberals who had been discreetly organizing and setting up a campaign website for him, who believed up until Tuesday their star candidate was in the running. It also came as a surprise to some Liberal party officials who believed, since Garneau never officially withdrew nomination papers he had filed, that he was still interested.
Marc Garneau ran in the last election, and lost. A major media draw, he wanted to run in the safe seat of Westmount -- at least as safe a seat as any Quebec seat is for the Liberals these days. Marc Garneau lives in Westmount, and filed his papers.
And then Stephane Dion spit on a Canada's first man in space:
In the spring, when Liberal MP Lucienne Robillard announced she would not run again, Garneau filed nomination papers -- as did several other candidates.
"I said this is the fit for me. I live here, I work here, I know people here," said Garneau, a Westmount resident. "This is the natural place for me."
However, Garneau became discouraged when Liberal Leader Stephane Dion announced three or four days later he would handpick the Liberal candidate for the riding.
"Mr. Dion said he would choose the nominee and in my own mind I was not sure that I would be that nominee."
Given that Marc Garneau was a supporter of Michael Ignatieff, Garneau's suspicions were probably right. All this was a month ago or more, before the disaster in Outremont. There Stephane Dion's handpicked candidate, academic Jocelyn Coulon, was trounced by the NDP and their star candidate Thomas Mulcair.
So maybe Marc Garneau is being hasty. Maybe the situation has changed, and Stephane Dion would be willing to let Garneau fight a nomination battle, and if selected by the riding members, run for the riding in an election.
Apparently nothing has changed. Stephane Dion still thinks he can pick winning candidates for these ridings:
Normand Houde, spokesman for the Quebec wing of the party, said there are no plans for Dion to give up the power to handpick candidates for two of the party's most winnable ridings in Quebec.
The calls come barely a week after the Liberals suffered an embarrassing defeat, losing three Quebec by-elections - including in Outremont, a riding that had voted Liberal for much of the last 80 years.
So even as Marc Garneau's supporters went through the motions of preparing to run in a riding in which Stephane Dion would appoint a different candidate, Marc Garneau knew Stephane Dion was on a path and would not be diverted. And Marc Garneau was not going to be asked to come along. Garneau knew that. Even after the disaster in Outremont, after all the platitudes spoken by a subdued Stephane Dion about teamwork and pulling together, Marc Garneau was not going to be asked to be part of that team, and the Liberal Party members of the riding of Westmount were not going to be asked to pull together. Stephane Dion, team of one and pulling alone, is still working to his plan.
That plan went disastrously wrong in Outremont, Roberval-Lac-Saint-Jean, and St-Hyacinth-Bagot. But maybe it wasn't the plan. Maybe it was the people who implemented the plan. Maybe the execution was poor. Maybe Stephane Dion figures he needs to be surrounded by smarter and more loyal Liberals. And so Marc Garneau can take a hike while Stephane Dion continues to pick choice candidates in an attempt to prove to the Liberal Party that his judgment is sound and that the party did not make a mistake in electing him as leader.
The price of Stephane Dion's leadership in just the last two weeks alone has risen to three ridings, including a traditional stronghold, and a star candidate, with all the associated bad press. Liberals have to ask themselves just how much Stephane Dion's desire to show he is the right man for the job is going to cost the Liberal Party in the end. Liberals have to ask themselves whether the party can afford to pay that price, or if Stephane Dion has expended that line of credit.
For Marc Garneau not to run is bad enough. That the decision is embarrassing to the Liberal Party in the way it was reported is worse. Just when I think the Liberal Party is going to say enough is enough, the cost of Stephane Dion's leadership goes up even higher, and still the Liberal Party sits on its collective hands.
Obviously they see something in him I don't.
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Comments
Steve, I think this just goes to show that a high IQ score isn't everything. Stephane Dion obviously HAS a genius for something, but it isn't politics. I'm glad that Marc Garneau has resigned from running under a Liberal banner in the next election. For a man of his vision and determination, it was sad to see his name tarnished by the Liberal brand. He knows something about going where most men haven't gone, too bad for Mr. Dion that he didn't see fit to get some advice from him.
Posted by: Paul MacPhail at September 26, 2007 01:33 AM
Appparantly if you wear glasses and look like a geek, it qualifies you as a "genius".
I'm not sure where the "Dion is very intelligent" meme got started, but it's most certainly false.
Forget his horrible judgement for the moment, and just watch any of his non-prescripted exchanges. He's unable to string together coherent points, and is simply aweful on the fly. He seems dumb as a post.
Perhaps his stupid decisions are a result of....well...stupidity?
Posted by: chuck at September 26, 2007 03:02 AM
Perhaps instead of focusing on the 'leader' we should be noticing the power of the leader over the Party. This is supposed to be a democracy, isn't it? Then why, when our MPs are supposed to be representing us, does any leader have the power that Dion is displaying?
The Liberals are giving us a valuable lesson if we only care to recognize this. They are the epitome of everything that is rotten in our 'democracy' and yet we still focus on that dork Dion. He is just a symptom of how rotten our system has become. This happens in all parties. The 'leaders' have become tin pot dictators.
What can we do to get our country back?
Posted by: George at September 26, 2007 05:40 AM
You know what would be freaking hilarious?
If he announces that he's going to run for the Conservatives. (and it would be even better if he said "I switched to the Conservatives because they're the only viable option for Federalists in Quebec")
Posted by: S at September 26, 2007 06:25 AM
Dork is not the word!!Garneau would have won hands down thanks to his high profile as an astronaut.Dion made a stupid decision which really shows his shortcomings as a politician...Not much of a strategist...more like an astronut....
Posted by: Paul at September 26, 2007 07:28 AM
No big loss, Garneau's merely the JET-JOCKEY equivalent of a Dr.Fruit-Fly.
Posted by: Feldwebel Wolfenstool at September 26, 2007 07:46 AM
What would we be hearing from the usuals if Harper were hand picking candidates?
If Garneau wants to stick it to Dion he could run for the Conservatives, the people would be sure to reward him.
Garneau may have been out in space but Dion seems to have a vacant space between his ears when it come to leading a Political party.
Any bets there are already negotiations going on?
Posted by: Libby at September 26, 2007 07:48 AM
Steve, are you trying to goad the Liberals into switching leaders just before a potential election? This is a deliberate ruse, right? There is a point where bad leadership is better than none and that point is generally in the lead-up to an elections. No, the Liberals have to stick to him, at least until after the next election. Then all bets are off.
And Liberals do not hold the monopoly on smart leaders with no political skills. I seem to recall a certain Joe Somebody who managed to avoid acquiring them even after decades of experience.
Posted by: Walrus at September 26, 2007 08:17 AM
When Ignatieff takes over the reigns of the Liberal party, Garneau will make a sudden, miraculous comeback as Liberal candidate for Westmount.
Dion is getting squeezed out of the Liberal leadership by Harper and Ignatieff, and there can be no doubt about that. In effect, Harper is selecting the next Liberal leader, and the result ain't gonna be pretty for the Liberals.
Posted by: Observer at September 26, 2007 09:35 AM
If Garneau wants to stick it to Dion he could run for the Conservatives, the people would be sure to reward him.
Now, that would be hilarious, and oh, so ironic. It would make Dion look more and more like the Liberals' answer to Joe Clark (I remember Jack Horner's defection to the Trudeau Liberals before the 1979 election - not that it gained him anything, he lost his deposit to the new Tory candidate, and I think Garneau would fare a whole lot better, but I digress). Like Clark, Dion is a basically decent man who is sadly in over his head, and never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity.
Posted by: Brian in Calgary at September 26, 2007 11:17 AM
"in an attempt to prove to the Liberal Party that his judgment is sound"
If his judgement was sound, then he wouldn't be a member of the Liberal Party.
Posted by: Ed Minchau at September 26, 2007 12:58 PM
The problem is, most of this speculation is based on the assumption that Garneau is going to remain a politician.
I have to believe that the whole nomination / election process soured Garneau and his family on politics in general, be it federal, provincial, whatever. I don't think he'll be seeking a seat in Parliament, nor would he affiliate himself with a political party -- any political party -- again.
That doesn't mean he won't be a player in federal politics. "Private sector" suggests he may become a lobbyist for Canada's aerospace industry; his experience with CSA would prove an asset there.
Posted by: PhantomObserver at September 26, 2007 01:52 PM
Actually Marc Garneau was not a very good politician either. He ran a poor campaign in 2006 that he should have won. He garnered bad headlines during that election that hurt all Liberals in Quebec. (I can't believe I'm sticking up for Dion here.) Big names, empty suits like Justin Trudeau have to run in marginal, but winnable ridings. They don't get safe seats. Them's da rules. If you're going to get in the business of picking candidates, instead of letting the local associations do it, then you put the smart, good managers in the safe ridings. If they have little aptitude for retail politics or no name recognition that's where they go. Just like Emerson in Vancouver.
Posted by: PlaidShirt at September 26, 2007 07:05 PM
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