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|Monday September 22, 2003 |
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Liberal drama continues to unfold in Ottawa
TORONTO--The debate was about same-sex marriage, but the implications went
far beyond. Last week, the Canadian Parliament had to deal with the definition
of the concept of family, the fulcrum around which our society has been built
and this debate is certain to grow in the future.
Unfortunately, however, for a debate of such magnitude, the governing Liberals
were clearly lacking in any direction and for a party that has won three
consecutive majority governments it is still a divided caucus and one whose
leadership is incapacitated by internal disputes. There are now two Prime
Ministers, essentially. One holds the title, the other holds the power.
Parliament endorsed same-sex marriage in a vote of 137-132 and rejected a
Canadian Alliance motion to maintain the traditional meaning of marriage.
About 30 MPs did not vote.
Some Liberal MPs voted according to their conscience, others according to
their desire to win the next election, some to defend the Cabinet posts they
hold now and still others to protect the possibility of getting a Cabinet post
in February.
Some Liberal MPs, meanwhile, scrambled in the (hen) House like chickens being
chased by a fox, trying to respond to the attacks from the Canadian Alliance
first, and the NDP second. And despite the fact that the Liberal MPs were
running for cover and that their party is divided and in disarray, the
Liberals still enjoy the support of the majority of Canadians. This is
indicative of the effectiveness of our federal opposition in the House of
Commons.
Canadians are looking for an excuse to vote for an alternative, but the
opposition refuses to provide one.
It's in this context that more than 5,000 Liberals voted this past weekend to
choose the next leader of the Liberal Party and the next Prime Minister of
Canada.
The question is, what will be left of the Liberal Party at the end of this
dramatic, divisive interregnum and more importantly, how will the next leader
of the Liberal Party be able to sort out the mess he will inherit?
On this front, there are many rumours circulating in Ottawa these days. Some
are saying that at least 30 Liberal MPs won't run in the next election and
some are desperately seeking patronage appointments.
One of the most talked about rumours is related to the future of the popular
Toronto-Danforth MP Dennis Mills. According to many, he is the only Liberal
candidate able to defeat newly-elected NDP Leader Jack Layton, the former
Toronto councillor who has unequivocally stated he is going to run in the
riding of Toronto-Danforth, the same riding he represented as a city
councillor.
"With Dennis running there," a party organizer told The Hill Times, "we
have the chance not only to defeat the leader of the NDP, but we will keep the
NDP electoral machine busy protecting the neighbouring ridings."
Many believe that without Dennis Mills running, the NDP would win not only in
Toronto-Danforth, but also Maria Minna's Beaches-East York riding and Tony
Ianno's riding of Trinity-Spadina.
According to rumours milling around last week, Mr. Mills has been offered an
appointment from Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. Ms. Minna had also been offered
one.
Both denied those rumours to The Hill Times.
"I have not been offered any appointment" said Mills. The Toronto MP said that
"the only phone call I had from the Prime Minister was at 7:30 in the morning
of the day after the Rolling Stones concert. Mr. Chrétien congratulated me,
Sen. [Jerry] Grafstein and the team for the job done. I said, 'Thank you'‚ and
that was the end of it."
Mr. Mills, who was one of the Liberal MPs who missed last week's controversial
vote, categorically denied the rumours about being offered a patronage
appointment: "I have not had any offer directly, indirectly, about anything
that would take me out of the Toronto-Danforth riding. I've heard about the
rumours and they are not true."
Mr. Mills said that the only time the Prime Minister spoke to him about an
appointment "was two years ago. The PM asked me if [my wife] Vicky and I would
like to go abroad for an international experience, presumably he meant an
embassy. I said thank you for the offer and I'm in my mid-fifties and still I
have about 12 years to go and as long as the Toronto-Danforth people will
support me I'll stay here."
But, with or without the appointment, will Dennis Mills run again? "I have
been pondering my future and I was very direct with Paul Martin a few weeks
ago. I said to Paul, 'I do not need to offer myself for the fifth time. If you
have one of your stars like Frank McKenna, Robert Pritchard, John Campion that
you would like to run in my area, I would be happy not to offer myself for the
fifth time.' "
Mr. Martin told Mr. Mills, "I want you to run against Jack Layton."
Is he going to run? "I was loyal to the leader and I'll be loyal to the new
leader."
In the meantime, he said he was last week busy organizing his daughter's
wedding: "It's very difficult, much more stressful than organizing the Stones
concert."
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