Angry in the Great White North

The federal Liberal Party in Quebec wants money, and it wants it right now:

The Liberal Party's Quebec wing has warned Leader Stephane Dion that it needs a quarter-million-dollar cash injection by Friday or it will have to close its Montreal office and lay off staff.

The threat is not a sign of a financial crunch but part of an internecine battle between the party's national headquarters, run by officials close to Mr. Dion, and its Quebec machine over the transfer of funds, according to party officials.

The real story is that there is a story at all. Just who in the Liberal Party thinks it is a good idea to tell the press about this particularly embarrassing situation:

The Montreal office will remain open, Liberal officials said, but the dire warning has piled onto a run of troubles for Mr. Dion. It all seems to be centred in Quebec, where grumbling about his leadership has been loudest since last week's poor showing in three by-elections, including the loss of the party's traditional safe seat of Outremont.

Right then. So the leak has a purpose, and that is to make Stephane Dion look bad.

But I'm wondering if this goes deeper. A faction within the Liberal Party eager to see Stephane Dion tossed out as leader would look at the squabbling between the Quebec wing and national headquarters, and be pleased that this situation has presented itself. I mean, Stephane Dion's Liberals lose Outremont and two other by-elections, and the dust has barely settled when news hits that star candidate Marc Garneau is disgusted with Stephane Dion's leadership and won't run for the Liberals, and now this.

What a lucky break!

Or not really lucky at all.

There are too many coincidences for me to swallow. I think it is more likely that the people running the Quebec wing of the Liberal Party specifically made the demand for the money, and then deliberately leaked the story. In other words, the leadership in the Quebec wing of the Liberal Party constructed and then publicized yet another embarrassment for Stephane Dion.

I really do believe this goes to the top of the Quebec wing of the Liberal Party, and quite possibly includes the participation of the Quebec caucus of the Liberal Party in Ottawa -- excluding Stephane Dion, of course.

I wouldn't be surprised if they spun the story to Marc Garneau in order to make sure he bailed out feeling as discouraged as possible. Maybe they even helped put him in touch with the press to make sure that Garneau's abandonment of a run for the nomination in Westmount hurt Stephane Dion publicly.

And of course, the Quebec wing of the Liberal Party could easily make sure the by-election in Outremont was lost by the Liberals. Indeed, we have reports that the entire election effort seemed almost designed to fail.

I think we're seeing a full-blown rebellion against Stephane Dion. I think the Quebec wing of the Liberal Party is deliberately creating situation after situation as part of a plan to either chase Stephane Dion out of the Liberal Party immediately, or to ensure that if Stephane Dion leads the Liberals in an election, the Liberals will lose and Stephane Dion will be finished.

I could be wrong, and everyone will deny it, of course. But I don't think we've heard of the last of problems for Stephane Dion coming out of Quebec. I'm certain that the Liberals there can think of a lot more things they can do to make life miserable for Stephane Dion.

Update: More things they can do? How about four out of ten Quebec Liberals in a closed meeting with Stephane Dion confidante Jamie Carroll running off to tell a Quebec journalist about a particularly stupid remark Carroll made with regards to Quebecers and Chinese-Canadians? Yeah, I'd say that counts. And I thought we'd have to wait a few days for the next move by Quebec Liberals to hurt Dion.

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