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|Monday September 29, 2003 |
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MARTIN, ALONE IN THE CROWD
TORONTO - After 13 years
of hard, diligent, obscure, and, at times, humiliating work, Liberal MP Paul
Martin has finally won what he’s been striving for and what he deserves: the
leadership of the Liberal Party. This is a very special moment for the
Prime-Minister-in-Waiting. Unfortunately, I believe, he does not have either
the time to celebrate or the proper spirit to enjoy this momentous time in
Liberal political history. Mr. Martin is taking over the helm of the most
important Canadian political organization at a time when very "funny" things
are happening in Ottawa and the boundaries between reality and fiction seem to
be fogging up.
The federal political
script in Ottawa seems to be taken directly from an Ingmar Bergman movie
trilogy whose movies he wrote as dream plays where anything can happen and
anything is possible. Sometimes watching federal politics is like looking at a
televised hockey game with the "replay" shown before the "live" action takes
place. Just consider the scenario on the Hill. We have a Prime Minister who
has announced his resignation without resigning. We have his successor
mathematically elected without a convention. We have a Parliament debating
issues without having the time or the real power to affect change. And I
haven’t even started on the other political parties.
Just look at the NDP. It
was criticizing the Liberals "whose leader is having press conferences on the
lawn of the Hill" and yet, the NDP itself still has a leader without an
elected seat in the Commons and who spends his days in Ottawa wandering the
hallways of the House.
What about the
Conservatives and Alliance saga? It seems like the two parties want to perform
a reverse medical operation by re-attaching two separated Siamese twins. In
the meantime, while their respective MPs keep asking questions in the House,
the "real stuff" is happening outside, with representatives of the two groups
"secretly" meeting to plan the future.
What about the Bloc
Québécois? After the defeat of their provincial counterpart in La Belle
Province, they look like a branch without a tree to hang onto, or a tree
without roots.
It’s like a parallel
structure of power has been created outside Parliament Hill in Ottawa and it’s
really starting to look wacky. Part of the power has been moved onto the lawns
of Parliament Hill, part has been moved in the hallways and scrum areas, part
has been abdicated to the courts, and a good chunk has been deferred to
private meetings in Ottawa and Gatineau restaurants.
It’s in this eerie context
that Paul Martin is set to become the next (or isn¹t he already?) Prime
Minister of Canada. It should be a sweet moment for the Liberals, with
everybody wanting to share a piece of the pie and thousands of supplicants’
eager to jump onto the bandwagon, even the Ontario Conservative premier Ernie
Eves.
Unfortunately, as
flattering it may be, this is the real problem for the new Liberal leader: the
crowd of supplicants is increasing and the bandwagon shrinking. The same crowd
that has catapulted Mr. Martin to the top, is now surrounding him ready to
cash in the IOUs. As you know, the quest for the top is a two-pronged game: in
the first part the leader takes and in the second he gives. Martin now is in
the process of switching from the first phase and into the second one and it
is a very difficult transition. It’s the time when the leader, all of sudden,
is alone in the crowd. It is not important what he has promised. In fact, I am
convinced that he has made no promises to anybody. The point, however, is not
what he has promised to them; it is what they expect from him. Unfortunately
for Mr. Martin, the expectations are very high, and the first, and most
important test of his leadership, is how he is going to handle those
aspirations. |
