Angry in the Great White North

Update: Gilles Duceppe has denied that he will quit after the next election. Predictable, really.

CBC News is reporting that Jamie Carroll, the National Director of the Liberal Party of Canada and close advisor to Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion, is about to resign his post in the wake of controversial comments he was alleged to have made to Quebec Liberals last Sunday:

The federal Liberal party's national director is expected to resign Tuesday over comments he made last week regarding hiring more francophone Quebecers, CBC News has learned.

Although Stephane Dion's office denies that Jamie Carroll will step down, sources told CBC's Susan Bonner that it will happen some time Tuesday.

"Clearly this has been simmering for days and now [there's] word that the leader has taken some action or will at least accept Mr. Carroll's resignation," Bonner said.

On Friday, Dion rejected calls by some senior Liberals to fire Carroll, who came under fire after a meeting last week where he was urged to hire more francophones for Dion's staff.

Amusingly, whoever leaked this news could not figure out if Stephane Dion is taking action by forcing Carroll's resignation, or if Dion is sitting passively, while allowing events to take their course around him.

That tells me this leak is not coming from Stephane Dion's camp, since the purpose of a leak like that would be to paint Stephane Dion in the best possible light. Instead, the situation looks confused and murky.

So Stephane Dion loses a key advisor in a very ugly public fight with the Quebec wing of the Liberal Party. And how many Quebec Liberals are going to be punished for speaking out of turn to the press about what had happened in a closed party meeting?

None, of course.

Now the question will be this: Which key Bob Rae or Michael Ignatieff supporter will Stephane Dion be told to appoint to replace Jamie Carroll? [Turns out a Dion supporter is going to get the spot -- see the update.]

Liberal Leader Stephane Dion is poised to replace the party's national director amid criticism over alleged controversial comments and questionable judgment.

The decision to drop Jamie Carroll -- who was hand picked by Dion for the job -- is part of an effort to quell dissent in the party. It also follows calls for Carroll's head from deputy leader Michael Ignatieff and senior Quebec Liberals.

Sources say Carroll, who is expected to be given a new role, will be replaced by Marc Lavigne, who quit last month as Carroll's deputy.

The move is part of a broader shakeup Dion is expected to make Wednesday aimed at shoring up his shaky leadership and restoring party unity in the wake of the Liberals' dismal showing in three Quebec byelections last month.

Dion plans to shuffle his shadow cabinet and make changes in his office, including bringing more Quebecers into his inner circle and naming Johanne Senecal as his principal secretary.

Marc Lavigne was the chief Quebec organizer for Stephane Dion's leadership campaign. Now why would Marc Lavigne be appointed? Marc Lavigne quit his job as Jamie Carroll's deputy when he realized the Liberals were going to lose Outremont:

Earlier this summer, Marc Lavigne – the chief Quebec organizer on the Dion leadership campaign – quietly handed in his resignation as deputy national director of the party.

According to Liberal sources, the resignation stated that he "was unable to implement organizational plans."

That sentence may be a polite euphemism for a disaster-in-the-making in the three ridings that go to the polls on Monday.

How many Quebec Liberals are going to be happy with Lavigne in that job?

On the flip side, how many of Jamie Carroll's supporters will be furious that Stephane Dion's defense of Jamie Carroll has collapsed?

So Marc Lavigne gets the chance to show Stephane Dion how the National Director's job is supposed to get done. I doubt Marc Lavigne will turn to Stephane Dion and say, "I told you so." But I'd bet he's thinking it.

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