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|Monday May 17, 2004 |
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déjà vu
in york centre
by Angelo Persichilli
THE HILL TIMES
TORONTO--It all started three weeks
ago when Art Eggleton was told his seat in the government's backbenches
would not be a parking space, but his permanent residence. The former
Chrétien Cabinet minister and former mayor of Toronto decided it was time to
pack it in, and, in fact, to move out in hopes of a soft landing, knowing
that he'd never get into a Paul Martin Cabinet.
It was at that point that some advisers to Prime Minister Martin had the
idea to get in touch with Ken Dryden, a "star candidate" for York-Centre,
Ont.
But if the gurus in the Liberal Party believe that their idea is an original
one, they should think twice. Twelve years ago, the then leader of the
Liberal Party Jean Chrétien had the same idea. And, for that, Chrétien was
heavily criticized by many MPs. Some said recently that it was this decision
that gave birth to the so-called democratic deficit.
Having Dryden on the team is obviously a real scoop, especially after the
Conservatives failed to get Don Cherry.
(Sometimes I get the impression the political parties are getting ready to
win the Stanley Cup rather than win government.)
Back to Mr. Dryden: it's a brilliant idea, however, it has some thorns.
Here's why.
It was in November of 1992 that a big brawl erupted within the Liberal Party
led by Jean Chrétien. Many Liberal MPs, many of them very close to Paul
Martin, harshly criticized the then prime minister for parachuting "a star
candidate" in the Toronto riding of York-Centre, who was none other than the
former mayor of Toronto Art Eggleton.
Former solicitor general Bob Kaplan had indicated he was not going to seek
re-election, so Peter Li Preti, a local councillor for the then North York
Municipality, decided to seek the nomination. He gathered over 3,000 members
to support his candidacy. Out of the blue, Jean Chrétien appointed Eggleton
to run in one of the most highly-populated ridings of the then City of North
York. Mr. Li Preti, interviewed by Corriere Canadese last week, was
astounded when heard about the news: "They must really be convinced in the
Liberal Party that the residents of this riding are imbeciles if, for the
second time in a row, they have to choose their representative."
In a letter addressed to Jean Chrétien on Nov. 13, 1993, Mr. Li Preti wrote:
"In one of my telephone conversations with Mr. David Smith [one of your
closest advisers, Monsieur Chrétien] he told me bluntly that I would be an
excellent candidate, but because I am of Italian descent and because 'there
are too many MPs of Italian background in Ottawa, the party had to take into
consideration other alternatives.'"
It was at the time when busloads of "ethnics" were used to crash the
democratic process during nominations. They were concerned that people, not
necessarily qualified, but with money and a good organization, were
recruiting instant Liberals to swamp nomination meetings and takeover riding
executives. "Instant Liberals," The Ottawa Citizen reported on Feb.
21, 1992 quoting Jean Chrétien, "are not welcome."
Many MPs complained directly to Mr. Chrétien about his "abuse of power," but
eventually, they were "silenced on the issue by Chrétien's office," The
Star's William Walker wrote on Nov. 20 1992 issue.
It was the downfall of the "democratic deficit" in the Liberal Party.
Nothing happened, Mr. Chrétien went ahead with his plan and the only
consequence was the resignation of Alf Apps from the Metro-Toronto campaign
organization. He sent a letter to David Smith on Dec. 12, 1992 mentioning
personal reasons.
Twelve years later, there's a new government, new leader; however, in the
same riding, again, there's the possibility of a parachuted candidate in the
same contentious riding.
"Mr. Dryden is a good candidate," one source close to the Prime Minister
told The Hill Times, "and he deserves to run."
Absolutely, but what's wrong with going through the democratic process like
many other candidates? Why do people like Tony Valeri, Carolyn Parrish and
Paul Szabo, just to mention a few, have to fight for their political futures
and Mr. Dryden doesn't? Is it because they're afraid that a group with a
better organization can take over the riding? So what? Isn't that what
happened with the national leadership race? What is going to happen now?
Mr. Martin and his handlers are said not to be concerned. Nothing is going
to happen. When Chrétien was in power it was up to his people to defend the
move and up to the Martinites to complain. Funny how the tables have turned.
Twelve years after, the Chrétienites cannot criticize what they preached and
Martinites cannot preach what they slammed.
This, however, doesn't mean that there will have no consequences.
Canadians are very generous and tolerant people. They don't blink when
politicians don't keep their promises or even when there are economic and
social problems. In fact, Mr. Chrétien did not keep promises on GST, free
trade and more. However, his popularity sunk within the Liberal ranks,
despite the booming economy, and only when he was no longer the Little Guy
from Shawinigan. He was then perceived as an arrogant party leader.
The arrogance of power destroyed political giants like Pierre Trudeau and
had its effect on a rising star like the Premier of Ontario Dalton McGuinty.
Only last week, McGuinty lost a safe Liberal riding because people living in
the riding did not like the way he chose his candidate. And, I do not want
even to believe for a moment that the Liberals deserted their party because
of the dispute between Sheila Copps and Tony Valeri. The riding McGuinty
lost last week is, federally, the same riding represented for over 20 years
by Copps, Hamilton-East.
The problem with most of these so-called political gurus, is that they
consider the election a mathematical challenge. They reduce everything to
the interpretation of numbers. They forget that behind each riding's name
there are thousands of real people. There are human beings, people with
hopes, aspirations, and the desire to contribute to the democratic process.
This has nothing to do with Ken Dryden, it has to do with democracy and the
right of the little people who carry the partisan torch between two
elections. They do it for free, taking away their own free time from the
family with one goal in mind: be part of a democratic process.
They can accept politicians that make mistakes, they will not tolerate
arrogance.
Polls were telling people close to Premier McGuinty that the race was "too
close to call." They lost the riding with a two-to-one-vote to the NDP, a
riding that only a few months ago they won with a margin of over 6,000 votes
with a candidate, the late Dominc Agostino, almost without campaigning.
Mr. Martin has the right to favour one candidate over another. He can have
Mr. Dryden nominated going through a regular democratic process.
His team is the only one in town: he doesn't need to bully the men and women
of a highly-populated Toronto riding who are asking only to participate in a
democratic process. |
